Brave Irina

Irina commutes a long ways to the Coliseum BART Station every day on her way to and from work. Along the way, she feeds the pigeons. One pigeon, who she named Chernish (pronounced Chair-neesh, Russian for Blackie), was hobbled by string tangled around and cutting into its feet. Irina started contacting animal agencies for help. Most said there was nothing they could do to help a pigeon. One said that if she caught it and brought it in, they would help. Irina tried to coax it within reach and, while Chernish would come close to eat the food, she would not come close enough to be caught. Irina brought a cat carrier and tried to lure Chernish into it with a trail of food. Another pigeon put a foot on the threshold but Chernish avoided it.

When Irina contacted Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue, a nonprofit, entirely volunteer-run parrot rescue organization, Nancy, the Operations Manager posted to the group's members asking for help with catching the injured pigeon. When no one else was available, Nancy took one of her oil-spill bird rescue nets and went to the BART station to meet Irina and try to catch Chernish.

Despite their best efforts, they couldn't catch her. Chernish showed up as soon as Irina did but she took off every time anything unusual happened- like when Irina reached for a net or when Nancy approached. After that effort, Nancy left the net with Irina so that she could continue trying and, despite the fact that the net is over 8 feet long, Irina commuted to and from work toting it and her cat carrier on the crowded rush-hour trains.

Friday, I made plans to meet Irina at the BART station the next morning to try again. I told her that we would do our best but that feral pigeons are VERY hard to catch and that our chances weren't very good. I have a collection of nets but didn't think any of them would be any more useful than the one Irina had been (amazingly) commuting with. I went to the fabric store to see if I could buy netting material to make something like a mist nest with the hopes that if the bird walked on it, we might be able to entangle it enough to slow it down enough to catch it.

The only thing the fabric store had other than tulle (with it's too fine a weave) was bright red fishnet fabric. The clerk was surprised when I bought it. I didn't tell him what it was for. I ended up knotting metal washers along the edges so I could also use it as a throw-net. It laid flat and wasn't very tangle-y, not at all mist-net like, and I've never thrown a throw-net so it seemed like a pretty wasted effort. I could have practiced on my king pigeons but that seemed mean and distrust-building so I didn't.

I felt idiotic the moment I pulled up to the BART stop. Even though it was 9 am on a Saturday, there were still more people there than I wanted to make a fool of myself in front of. Oh well. Irina showed up a minute later and then so did Chernish. The spot that she fed her in was perfect- a deep corner backed by high walls, so we had a slight chance.

Chernish had come down to eat when Irina showed up but flew off when I approached her. We huddled at a distance to game plan and I offered my pigeon-catching tips: move fast; don't hesitate at the last second, just rush through; and hold tight- they are surprisingly strong and will squirm and twist like crazy to get away. I told Irina I'd be there right with her, as soon as she made her move. I asked Irina if she thought Chernish would walk across the bright red throw-net if we laid it out and she said, no. She was probably wondering why the hell it was bright red but was too nice to ask. I gave her a more maneuverable hand-net to try and backed off to my spot.

Irina went to their spot, put more food out and spoke softly to Chernish and a couple of other pigeons who had returned to the food immediately. As the bird ate, Irina would slowly inch her hand towards the hand net but, as soon as she touched it, Chernish would fly off. Every time.

At one point, I made a rush in with bare hands and actually touched the bird but didn't catch it. Irina was stricken and afraid Chernish wouldn't come back (so was I) but when I backed off, the bird returned. Irina couldn't quite bring herself to pounce on the poor bird and her slow efforts always worked only up until the point at which Chernish flew off.

I decided to try again but with the bright red, fishnet throw-net this time. Amazingly, it worked. I got close and crowded the birds as close to the corner as I could and then rushed in throwing the crazy, bright red, fishnet net up and over them and then jumping into the middle of it all. I had caught Chernish in midair and she fought like crazy to get away and almost did but Irina was right there with the cat carrier and we got Chernish in. We were all amazed.

I drove Irina home and we cut the string that was hobbling the poor bird's legs together. We left the real work of picking all the threads and fibers out of the wounds for my friend and pigeon expert Dan to handle. I picked up the Mickaboo net that Irina had been schlepping around and could barely fit it in my car. Irina had called me brave when I pounced on the pigeon but she was the brave one. I've done (and continue to do) plenty of wacky things but I wouldn't have the nerve to commute on BART with that net. Irina's also generous. She made a donation to Mickaboo on Chernish's behalf. Many people don't.

Chernish is recovering well at Dan's and will have the chance of living with his flock in the indoor loft or flying free if she chooses. The pigeon door is always open. Most of his guests choose to stay, probably because of the gourmet, organic, all-you-can-eat pigeon grains, legumes, seeds and veggies, the on-site medical care and the maid service. It's a sweet deal.

UPDATE: Chernish has chosen to stay in the loft and has recovered well. He's not yet committed to a mate (yes, as Irina originally thought, Chernish is a he) but he is watching a couple of adolescent hens with interest.

Gurumina: First king that I really met

I regret to say that, when I started volunteering, the first couple of King Pigeons came and went (were euthanized) without a lot of notice on my part. I did notice that they were there and that they were scared and I knew I'd never heard of them before but I didn't know what to do about them or how to help them. You come in one shift and animals are there, you come in another and they're not. Hopefully they got adopted, but sometimes they don't. That's what happens in a shelter.

One night when I came in there was a huge pigeon named Gurumina there. She was so big that she was in one of the rabbit cages instead of the usual bird cage. The rabbit cages are like stainless steel cupboards stacked one row on top of the other, each with a cage door. This huge pigeon was in there jumping up and down and she was so big that every jump made this big "boom" on the stainless steel. The other King Pigeons had always sat quietly frozen in the bird cages. They didn't invite any kind of attention and, since they were obviously terrified, we didn't give them any attention.

After I finished up with the rabbits, I opened up Gurumina's cage but figured that she would become frightened. Instead, it was exactly what she had been asking for and she calmly stepped out on my arm. To this day, Gurumina is the biggest pigeon I've seen in person (she weighs 740 grams). I've seen photos of bigger ones (the biggest breed of pigeon is, perversely, called a Runt and they get REALLY big) but having her on my arm was like having a good size chicken perched there. She could easily look me in the eye and probably over the top of my head. She was completely calm- something birds never are at the shelter. She happily stepped on to my fellow volunteer's arm (which sagged under the surprise of her weight) and clearly had been somebody's very tame pet. She trusted people. I wrote a note about her on her 'visit card' exclaiming what a big sweetie she was and encouraging people to interact with her. I was worried about what would happen. I was going to Massachusetts for two weeks to attend my mom's 50th high school reunion and her sister's 90th birthday. The occasions had grown into a family reunion.

While away on my vacation, I called SF ACC to check on her (I love my cell phone!) and was both relieved to learn she had been adopted by one of the shelter staff (or Gurumina would have been euthanized) but also a little sad because I'd gotten attached to her. But I REALLY did not need another pet. I already had a rescue dog, two rescue cats and two rescue parrots.

The next time I went in to volunteer, one of the staff asked if I could still help out with Gurumina. The woman who had adopted her was having unexpected roommate-cat-attack problems and wasn't going to be able to keep her. My heart leapt a little bit. I said of course and that I could help publicize her and find her a new home. A couple days later, I ended up going and picking her up because I had the space to foster her and the cat was getting serious.

The situation wasn't ideal. I needed to keep her in quarantine (to protect my birds from her germs and visa versa). I put her, all by herself, in an unused room off my garage. She was way too big for the cage she was in so I promoted her to an unused parrot cage stored there. I positioned her next to the window so she'd have some entertainment and put a mirror in her cage, for company. I also put bird food out on the sidewalk in front of her window. Wild pigeons found it the first day and came every morning to have breakfast with Gurumina. (So many started coming that, after Gurumina was placed, I stopped putting food out there. Even so, a few still come and check every day. Sometimes I give in to their hopeful looks and put some food out which is, of course, why they still come and check every day.)

What a sweet, good guest she was! While I felt badly about her set-up, she seemed content and peaceful. I'd spend about 30 minutes down there with her in the morning and another half-hour at night, cleaning out her cage, changing her food and water, petting her. She loved to sit in my lap and was incredibly easy to care for. I'm used to parrots- noisy, loud, bitey, destructive (and wonderful all the same). Gurumina, on the other hand, was SO easy. I ended up leaving the bird cage door open so that she could use the whole room and she split her time about 50/50 in the cage and out. When I came to visit her, she always greeted me with expressive coos and trills. She was in perfect condition (blindingly white) and extremely soft- a real pleasure to pet.

I had posted her on craigslist.org and was contacted by a wonderful family who was interested in adopting her. I took her over to meet them (Mom & 3 kids ages 7 to 13). I explained that she might be shy (after the night-time car ride in the crate and finding herself in a strange environment) and, as the family sat against the far wall of the kitchen, I opened her crate. She calmly (sublimely?) stepped out and looked all around, cocking her head to see the kitchen cupboards high above her and the people around her. Within minutes, she was standing on the kids' arms and enjoying the attention. Gurumina was quite an amazing bird. The wonderful family loved her and she and I loved them but they had underestimated the amount of space her cage would require and so we were still on the hunt for a home.

Thanks to the generosity of Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue, I was also able to publicize her to potential adopters on their website. A couple of weeks later, Gurumina was adopted by a young woman who'd had a King Pigeon as a pet when she was a child. She'd completed the Mickaboo Adoption Application, attended their Bird Care Training, and welcomed me in to do a Home Visit. I had decided early on that, if I didn't feel comfortable about an adoption, I'd take my bird and leave. It's worked out. I have walked away from a couple of homes. The birds might have been fine (you never know) but I wouldn't have. I'd be worrying. As long as I have a better situation to take them home to, I've reserved for myself the right to refuse an adoption.

In this case, Gurumina got a wonderful home with people who love her and understand her and take great care of her. I still get updates about her, which I love. Gurumina was the first King Pigeon that I really met and she started all this.