[xc_burner]

So one of my prisoners got out accidentally from my loft today.

I'm a brand new pigeon keeper so he's only been at my loft for about a week. Anyway, he was out on his own for about 2 hours and then right around sunset, I find him on the roof of my house!! I just can't coax him into the loft. Any tricks?

 

[maryjane]

I'm sorry he got out, it can be scary for you both. Do you know if he was flown at his former home? If so he will likely return there so call them. You can try coaxing him down tomorrow with seed, and a long-handled fishing net handy, or set up a box trap near the loft with seed as bait. If you can reach him tonight in the dark, he should be easy to catch that way. He'll be looking for food tomorrow so it should be easy to get him if he's still around. In a pinch you can even use a laundry basket and a broom handle with some duct tape. . . trust me, it works.

 

[xc_burner]

Thank you so much!!! The laundry basket and broom handle worked perfectly. Thank you. I was terribly worried and my buddy looked tired and confused. I was happy to recover him.

So this brings up another question in my mind. He is about 5 months old. He was never out of the loft before I picked him up. I just assumed that he was a little older that I could never settle him so I figured he would just be a prisoner. Since he was outside of my loft for 2 hours before he returned to my roof, would I be able to settle him to my loft?

Thanks again for the help. I'm forever grateful.

 

[RodSD]

Congrats on the prisoner's return. It seems that it resettled itself without your help much. It is time for you to trap train that bird using a settling cage or so. Have you trained it to respond to your food call as well? It is time to do that, too.

You can always rely on Maryjane's ingenuity and resourcefulness. I have not thought of that broom and laundry before. Learned something today as well. Thanks Maryjane!

 

[Jay3]

Glad you got him back. Thank God for laundry baskets and broom handles!

 

[maryjane]

Glad it worked! Hehe, yeah, I've had to do it when my puppy ate my net and I had an escapee. He was just sitting on the side of the aviary, going back and forth. I found my old trusty plastic laundry basket, some tape, and just taped the whole thing to the end of a mop. Going for the scoop in the daytime is pretty nerve wracking, all you're thinking is Oh please don't fly away. Now that I think about it, that's how I caught my first dove years ago when someone let her out. . .and also why I always have a fishing net around now lol. Much easier! Good job on the catch. I wonder who's more relieved, him or you??

 

[Jay3]

Probably the bird! LOL.