May 2009 Rescue Updates

OMG! I wonder if I can find a used air traffic control radar screen on Craigslist? I need one to keep track of all the PIGEONS!

There's one king pij at Hayward Animal Shelter, one at SF ACC, another at Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority... there's lucky Dovee who's being fostered by his rescuer and Wendell at Bay Area Bird Hospital, not to mention B.B & Bubbles at Andy's Pet Shop and Frances, the recovering-from-PMV-and-requires-hand-feeding pij plus all my fosters... oh yeah- and the ooops babies!




I'm working with two long-distance potential adopters (thank goodness) but need some folks locally. These are SF king pij, more SF than Rice-A-Roni.

Please help get the word out about what sweet pets king pigeons make. Their needs are simple and their gifts, many.


Friday, May 15 Update:
Finally- a moment's peace with the pigeons. There's been a lot of drama these past two weeks. Everything worked out OK but there were some scary, stressful times.

On Monday, 5/4, I was cleaning the loft when Tess flew around my head and out the semi-open door of the loft. She circled the patio twice and then took off like she had someplace to be even though this has been the only home she's had since she was three weeks old. She left her mate, the real eggs they were sitting on (though they were about to be traded for fake) and just took off. Tess is a super fit, super feisty little feral hen with a funky feather-do. I hoped she'd be OK but was worried about her and very sad for her childhood sweetheart, Dill. I never saw a glimpse of her the whole rest of the day. The following morning though, she was back and wanting in the loft. I don't have a trapdoor (because it's not a fly out loft) and she was focused on trying to get into the (impenetrable) "penthouse" rather than the door so I netted her (for which she grunted at and scolded me with great heat) and returned her to the loft.





She was the youngest pij I had ever rescued and she and her friend Dill were just too impossibly cute together for me to consider releasing her but I regret having pulled her DNA out of the gene pool because Tess is a very special pij. For example, in the pictures below, Tess insists on having one of the four seed dishes (for 17 pigeons) all to herself and she doesn't care even a little bit if her challenger is twice her size. Dill and I are very glad to have her home.




Then on 5/11, there was the stress of the shipped birds that were guaranteed to arrive by 3pm the following day but were missing with no info available until the PO finally called the adopter at 11:45 PM (!) Wisconsin time and they went and picked them up. Safe and sound but nerve-wracking until they got there.

And then yesterday.

I was cleaning the loft again (still?) and Santino pulled a Tess and flew up and around and over my head and out the semi-opened loft door. (Mind you- this is two fly outs within a week after going a year and a half without one!) The wind was howling here yesterday (sustained winds of 30mph with gusts up to 50) and he looked surprised by the strength of the wind. I called his name and watched helplessly as the wind carried him higher and backward and away.

Santino's a king/feral cross and kings have had just about all their instincts bred out of them (which is why they don't survive long in the streets). I didn't know if he could find his way home and the relentless wind would likely push him much farther than he would have gone on his own.

Plus Santino's a dad. I missed him instantly and I knew his family would too, even though the first thing his mate, Charlie, did with her new found freedom was jump in the bathtub.




I took my dog for a walk and looked and called for Santino. I didn't see him but I did hear a hummingbird chittering and when I spotted it, this is what I saw-

Late in the afternoon, hating the wind I usually love and flinching with every gust, I got in the car and drove slowly up and down the neighborhood streets for an hour looking for my white and red pigeon.

I checked for him out by the loft late last night and went driving around looking for him again this morning. And then, around noon, I looked out the window for the umpteenth time, and he was on the loft. I actually did that double take thing because I didn't know if I was really seeing him or just really wanting to see him. But he was back. And I picked him up and put him back in the loft and he had make-up sex with his mate and drank a bunch of water and ate a bunch of seeds and fed his babies and then ate a bunch more.

Everything I've been taught tells me kings can't fly out safely and they can't survive on the streets for long but I wish they could fly out and make it home reliably. That would be true joy.



So it's been a really hectic couple of weeks but the kings are out of the shelters (for now), eight more were placed in a great home, the babies are growing beautifully (they're going to be mostly white with some red- no doubt who their daddy is) and the sick birds, Frances and June Bug are doing well and finally, I'm looking forward to a little pigeon peace and quiet. There's actually lots more that happened but I can't keep up with it all! And Saturday's the Marin Humane Society Adoption Fair. I think I'm going old school and take my girl Rocky.







And don't forget Frances!