HI, after finding that lurcher puppy last week now we have another waif and stray! On Monday morning I was taking JImmy and Bella down to the kennel - luckily on leads and there on the path was a ringed pigeon. It was too exhausted to fly away. So I managed to catch it and pop it in a carrier and rang the RSPCA! They were actually very helpful and just said to give it some breadcrumbs/grain and let it go the next morning. So Homer ( doh!) rested up for the duration, stuffed himself with pearl barley which was the only grains I had and and we duly let him go with great ceremony yesterday morning. At 5 pm he was back standing by the door of the shed where we had put him for safety the previous night!
Does this mean he now thinks he's our pigeon - anyone know??!! The trouble is we have our cat Amber - a wonderful ratter/mouser who also loves the occasional feathered friend if it comes his way. I am quite concerned that Amber will get him - Homer is so tame he does not try to fly away, he just sat outside the door - I opened it-in he marched and straight into the carrier- and looked around for supper, he is very comical!! A crate trained bird in les than 24 hours!!! I even had to shoo him gently out of his carrier this am. He flew away but I bet he'll be back tonight!! I think that even if I put a belled collar on Amber he would not bother to fly away. Any suggestions? (No cracks about pigeon pie pleeeeease!!) :-)

Also does anyone know how much food I should give him - I dont want to feed him too much so that he's too heavy to fly away - if thats possible!!

The ring on his leg will have his or his owner's ID number on it. If you can discover who has the register....? Try typing Racing Pigeon Society or something similar into google and see what you come up with.
:)

We had a racing pigeon come down last Monday in our works yard.

As it was still there on Wednesday we caught it, found the ring and rang the Racing Pigeon people. They gave us the owners name and number to contact. We then kept it in a box with food and water.

1st - catch your bird and find the numbers on the leg tag.

2nd - Ring the Racing Society on 01452 713529 and press 1 when it answers. They will be able to tell you who it belongs to what to do with it etc

The owner SHOULD arrange and Immediate carrier (Amtrak) to come and collect it - apparently that is the rule.

The owener of ours didn't so we arranged for a local pigeon man to have it until it could be collected to well enought to fly.

Julia

Hi
not sure if you mean a ringed dove (ie the breeds name!) or a pigeon with a ring on its leg!!!
if the latter then follow others advice, if the former, well they do get rather overfriendly, I have them breeding by the dozen here....probably have to shoo it away for its own safety!

Ooh, I never thought it might be the species name!! :o D'oh!

Hi all, its a pigeon with a ring on its leg. I have rung and rung the number that Julia gave - thanks - and constantly engaged. However I have managed to contact ther racing pigeon society and have left an email on their web site - they say they will get back to me with details about how he can be got back to his owner. Each morning I hav elet him go and each day he just comes back!! So now he is ensconced in a carrier and will stay there til I can make arrangemnts for getting him home. He is completely clueless - when he returned "home" yesterday he just landed in the yard and sat there and I only just got there before the dogs and cat did. Now I've looked after him for days I would be devastated to find a pile of feathers and a contented cat!! Thanks for all the relies and hopefully he'll be back home soon.
Julia - As you one land on Monday - same day as "mine" I wonder if they were in the same race, I am in west Wales where are you?

We are in Wellington, Somerset. I gather "ours" was released from Taunton on 21st or 22nd June.

The chap in Welington that took him in had to arrange the carrier to take him home :(

You're right, they are hopeless, so friendly.

We had a small disaster at home on Tuesday night, when The Small One yelled from the garden that Ash had a bird - he did - a young blackbird that the cats had caught and let go. Can't blame him for doing his job I suppose

Julia

P.S Did you hear about the racing piegon that was release in Calais to come to Southampton.
BA are bringing it back from New York today!!!!

Crikey - what a pigeon!!
At long last I found his owner, who actually lived only about 40 miles away so arranged to meet them last evening near where I live. Two morons who didn't greet me, look at me or even speak directly to me. What they did say could be written on the back of a small envelope!! : "He's like a razor" "have you fed him?" GGGRRRRR I could have screamed - I have been tearing my hair out with worry about the poor bird - tried to do the right things even went out and bought some grain when the pearl barley ran out. I didn't even get a thankyou let alone any offer of re imbursement for the many phone calls I had made.
If you saw where I live you would realise how lucky this bird was to drop out of the sky into my garden. We are surrounded by hundreds of acres of farm land and very very few houses and what houses/farms there are are scattered over a really wide area. The place is teeming with Buzzards - foxes etc. The chances of it landing round here and be found and kept safe were sooooooo small - and many people could not even bring themselves to touch a bird - I know lots of capable women who couldn't!! I know that my blood boils more easily than some people but these two really took the biscuit!

Some people have no manners. :(

If it were me I would call the registry number again and mention how rude these people were. I'm sure its against their rules to give the 'fancy' such a bad reputation. My husband says he's sure there's supposed to be a £10 'finding fee'.....but then again, a homing pigeon that doesn't come home is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

The pigeon society didn't take too kindly to the fact that "our" owner didn't immediately collect his bird. They do have certain rules they are supposed to follow.

Doesn't give you any incentive to help next time when they are so rude.

I don't know....I'm suer i ccould find a use for a chocolate teapot!!! but it wouldn't help my diet.

Julia

Nor would pigeon pie, Julia! ;) :)

:D ;D

Ah, I prefer them pate'd on thin toast ;)