February 2010 Rescue Updates
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Tuesday 2/2
I had to drive downtown today so I risked going to SFACC to check in on their birds. They had two stray king pigeons, two roosters, a chukar and two budgies in the Small Animals room. I checked in the back just in case and sure enough, there were three more king pigeons there.
It's pretty sad for me to go see them because MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue is past full up and I don't have a whole lot of ways to help these guys. I spend all my time trying to find adopters for them and others help too and still we have so many more birds that homes...
There was a bit of fun. Friends of SFACC, an all volunteer organization that works to help SFACC and its rescue partners to enrich the lives of and find homes for the shelter animals, generously donated funds so that mirrors could be purchased to keep the isolated pigeons company.
Pigeons LOVE mirrors. They are, according to the research, one of very few animals that pass the self-recognition test (along with dolphins, chimpanzees and elephants) but they don't let that stop their fun. A mirror to a pij is like a TV to us- they take a lot of comfort and entertainment from mirrors. Within just a few minutes of me putting them in their cages, they were irresistibly drawn to them- dancing and strutting and making faces in front of them.
From there, I took Rio back to Montclair Vet Hospital for a recheck. She's doing well, has gained almost 100 grams and is feistier and in less pain. Her right ankle joint isn't completely healed yet but the swelling is way down and she's more active, more willing to bear weight on it.
Before I left today, I noticed someone's lost banded pigeon (probably a roller) hanging around on the outside of my coop. He's smart and knows he should be in a nice, safe and well stocked coop but mine doesn't have a "trap" (door used by pigeons to enter) and so he's locked out. And it doesn't look like he's feeling very well.
The sun is just about set and, once it is full dark, I'm going to go outside and try to net him. He needs some help.
Friday 2/5
#5121's owner contacted me last night and I returned his bird to him this morning. His loft is only a mile from me. He has a lot of racing pij and loves them in the way racers love their birds. I don't think he culls but not all of his racers make it home. He's a nice guy and I envy his ability to open his coop and let them fly.
Saturday 2/6 Update
About 8 weeks ago, Louie, an old king that I adopted over two years ago (rescued from SFACC) wasn't feeling well and I brought her indoors to recuperate in a downstairs room. I also brought Dee Dee Detroit who was looking a little worse for the wear to keep Louie company. They enjoyed the warm, dry and spacious accomodations and not having to compete with all the young whipper-snappers for feed and perch space. Shortly after, that small population blossomed into a colony with the arrival of flightless former racer Frankie, injured stray Clarita and eventually Rio and Teddy who were not well enough to go to Marin Humane Society when seven other shelter birds made that trip. Along the way, we were visited by rescued and adopted racers Chauncey and Clive and rescued stray king Jan.
I spend way too much time on this pigeon rescue thing anyway and when I have both the outdoor coop and the downstairs room occupied, things are even more out of control than normal.
Lately, I've been giving some of the inside birds outdoor time during the day to get fresh air and a change of scene. (The downstairs room seems so dull compared to the outdoor coop.) While out there, older woman Dee Dee Detroit struck up a thing with young and virginal Peppermint!
Next to return outdoors was Teddy. And then today I decided to close up the downstairs room completely and move everybody outside.
It's crowded- there are 22 pigeons out there, seven are my pets and the other fifteen are fosters. But Louie's been feeling better, Clarita's healed, Rio's ankle is much better and it is just better for me to only have one pigeon coop to wrangle.
So today, I spent all day cleaning out the downstairs and spiffing up the coop. That and a bunch of e-mails to a range of folks about trying to cut down the number of king pigeons that are wrongfully released into the wild.
Tuesday 2/2
I had to drive downtown today so I risked going to SFACC to check in on their birds. They had two stray king pigeons, two roosters, a chukar and two budgies in the Small Animals room. I checked in the back just in case and sure enough, there were three more king pigeons there.
It's pretty sad for me to go see them because MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue is past full up and I don't have a whole lot of ways to help these guys. I spend all my time trying to find adopters for them and others help too and still we have so many more birds that homes...
There was a bit of fun. Friends of SFACC, an all volunteer organization that works to help SFACC and its rescue partners to enrich the lives of and find homes for the shelter animals, generously donated funds so that mirrors could be purchased to keep the isolated pigeons company.
Pigeons LOVE mirrors. They are, according to the research, one of very few animals that pass the self-recognition test (along with dolphins, chimpanzees and elephants) but they don't let that stop their fun. A mirror to a pij is like a TV to us- they take a lot of comfort and entertainment from mirrors. Within just a few minutes of me putting them in their cages, they were irresistibly drawn to them- dancing and strutting and making faces in front of them.
From there, I took Rio back to Montclair Vet Hospital for a recheck. She's doing well, has gained almost 100 grams and is feistier and in less pain. Her right ankle joint isn't completely healed yet but the swelling is way down and she's more active, more willing to bear weight on it.
Before I left today, I noticed someone's lost banded pigeon (probably a roller) hanging around on the outside of my coop. He's smart and knows he should be in a nice, safe and well stocked coop but mine doesn't have a "trap" (door used by pigeons to enter) and so he's locked out. And it doesn't look like he's feeling very well.
The sun is just about set and, once it is full dark, I'm going to go outside and try to net him. He needs some help.
Wednesday 2/3
This poor lost racer was exhausted (as you can see in the picture above) and didn't wake up until I had him in the net. His yellow band reads AU 2009 Reno 5121 and, thanks to the research of a fellow pigeon rescuer, I now know that he's likely owned by a club headquartered out of Reno but that his owner's loft is here in SF. They know he's been found but I haven't heard back from them yet. Truthfully, I'm a little worried that the owner won't want him since he didn't make it home like he was supposed to. He's just a young bird- hatched 2009 according to his band. He slept like a bump on a log right where I set him down last night but is looking better this morning and appears healthy and uninjured.
Friday 2/5
#5121's owner contacted me last night and I returned his bird to him this morning. His loft is only a mile from me. He has a lot of racing pij and loves them in the way racers love their birds. I don't think he culls but not all of his racers make it home. He's a nice guy and I envy his ability to open his coop and let them fly.
Saturday 2/6 Update
About 8 weeks ago, Louie, an old king that I adopted over two years ago (rescued from SFACC) wasn't feeling well and I brought her indoors to recuperate in a downstairs room. I also brought Dee Dee Detroit who was looking a little worse for the wear to keep Louie company. They enjoyed the warm, dry and spacious accomodations and not having to compete with all the young whipper-snappers for feed and perch space. Shortly after, that small population blossomed into a colony with the arrival of flightless former racer Frankie, injured stray Clarita and eventually Rio and Teddy who were not well enough to go to Marin Humane Society when seven other shelter birds made that trip. Along the way, we were visited by rescued and adopted racers Chauncey and Clive and rescued stray king Jan.
I spend way too much time on this pigeon rescue thing anyway and when I have both the outdoor coop and the downstairs room occupied, things are even more out of control than normal.
Lately, I've been giving some of the inside birds outdoor time during the day to get fresh air and a change of scene. (The downstairs room seems so dull compared to the outdoor coop.) While out there, older woman Dee Dee Detroit struck up a thing with young and virginal Peppermint!
Next to return outdoors was Teddy. And then today I decided to close up the downstairs room completely and move everybody outside.
It's crowded- there are 22 pigeons out there, seven are my pets and the other fifteen are fosters. But Louie's been feeling better, Clarita's healed, Rio's ankle is much better and it is just better for me to only have one pigeon coop to wrangle.
So today, I spent all day cleaning out the downstairs and spiffing up the coop. That and a bunch of e-mails to a range of folks about trying to cut down the number of king pigeons that are wrongfully released into the wild.
posted by Elizabeth at
5:21 PM
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