And You Thought You Had A Bad Day ..

[TAWhatley]

My name is AU 2008 MVI 0840, and I am a racing pigeon. I experienced the very worst day of my life on Sunday, November 30, 2008. I am thankful to be alive though I am a little worse for the wear. I wanted to tell my story, and Mrs. Whatley who came and got me said she would type it in for me.

Before I get started, here's what I look like .. pretty handsome bird, huh?



My owner (who hasn't contacted Mrs. Whatley yet) let me and my loft mates out for a fly on a beautiful Sunday morning. It wasn't long however before things got dicey. I had a giant hawk right on my tail, and I mean quite literally on my tail! I'm sad to say that I do not have a single tail feather left and my entire butt is bare!

I flew and flew and flew trying to escape the sharp talons and beak of the hawk, but it finally got me. I was terrified but somehow managed to escape. I took a huge dive and ended up in a swimming pool .. guess that was far better than hitting the ground at warp speed.

Some big, goofy dog that looks a lot like this one pitched a fit when he saw me in the swimming pool and some humans came running to see what was going on ..



Turns out the lady human is terrified of birds, but she did get brave enough to scoop me out of the water with a pool net and then kind of dumped me out. She went into her house and started calling around for someone to help me and ended up with Mrs. Whatley. I could hear what was being said through the open patio door and was so relieved when I knew that Mrs. Whatley was telling the lady to please pick me up, wrap me in a towel, and bring me inside where I would be safe. Well, the lady is bird-phobic and wasn't having any of that, so I hurried on over to the side of the yard and hid in some shrubs in case the hawk came back looking for me. When the lady came back outside she couldn't find me, but Mrs. Whatley told her that I had to be hiding somewhere in the yard and to keep looking for me. Sure enough, the lady finally found me and then threw a big blanket over the shrub I was under and barricaded me in with lawn furniture. I guess she figured I might be stupid enough to come out of hiding .. obviously she doesn't know that pigeons are way smarter than that.

I heard her giving directions to Mrs. Whatley so she could come and get me. Whew! I was relieved. I thought Mrs. Whatley probably likes pigeons and wouldn't be afraid of me.

Finally Mrs. Whatley arrived and after making friends with BooBoo, the dog, she came right out and picked me up from my hiding place. I was soaking wet and cold .. scared .. and also had some injuries. I was very happy to have a nice warm box with a big fluffy towel to snuggle in on the way to Mrs. Whatley's house.

When we got to Mrs. Whatley's house, she fixed up a nice carrier on a heating pad for me and put in some drinking water and yummy seeds. She did make me hold still while she examined my wounds and put medicine on them, and then .. adding insult to injury .. she took pictures. I am so embarrassed by my naked butt and missing flight feathers! Mrs. Whatley said it would be OK and that the folks on Pigeon-Talk would understand .. I sure hope she is right. So here's the pictures:





So, that's the story .. I'll be staying with Mrs. Whatley until my owner calls her. And .. if he doesn't, then I will be living with Mrs. Whatley and her pigeons.