# Trying to fly my pet pigeon in Seattle/Bellevue area need an advice



## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

Hi all,

Does anyone who lives in Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond (WA) area know a good place to fly pigeons without having to worry about hawks? 

I have a pet feral pigeon which I rescued since she was a baby. I have had her for about 4 years so far. She's been a home pigeon that sleeps and eats in my bedroom with not much time spent flying outside. She does get her outdoor time on a small backyard we have. When she goes out to the yard, she usually walks around grass and then flies up to the second floor balcony. I occasionally take her on a car ride which she really loves, but sometimes she gets car sick when her car riding time is too long.

Recently, with much free time I have these days, I decided to take her to a local park (Marymoor Park near Redmond) and then let her fly. At first, she was scared of flying away from my shoulders, but with couple more tryouts she now flies around me at about 7-8 feet high from the ground.

About a week ago, she did her usual flight, and she flew back to my car, and when I walked to my car to grab her, I noticed a hawk flying towards us slowly at about 10-15 feet high. So, I grabbed her and went inside of the car and went home.

And now, I am kind of scared of flying her due to hawks.

Does anyone with a pet pigeon knows a good place to fly a pigeon in Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond (WA) area? If not, any advice on preventing hawk attacks? 

I was thinking of getting RC flying hawk to see if I can scare a hawk away. Although I don't know if it's gonna work or not.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Please don't take her out that way again. You are just asking for tragedy. Countless other members have had to learn the hard way. One even had her pet pigeon taken from her shoulder by a hawk. The pigeon had a leash on and she watched it fly away, with the leash hanging and she was helpless to do a thing about it.
I know that in theory taking your pet to a park to fly sounds like a good thing but if he were to get spooked and fly off, he wouldn't survive on his own... so please, give up on this idea.


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## amoonswirl (Nov 14, 2006)

I agree with Charis. It is not safe to take your pet bird away from home and let her fly outside. There's no good reason to do it - the bird was raised indoors as a pet and has no survival skills. She does not need to fly outdoors in order to be happy. 

Taking her outdoors is a recipe for tragedy - if she got frightened and flew off, she'd likely starve to death if a predator didn't catch her first. And unlike trained Homing pigeons, ferals do not have homing ability.

Do you let her fly around your room? A couple of hours of freedom in a bird-safe room in your house everyday is plenty for a bird who has been raised indoors.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Flying ALONE is a danger in itself, as she is easily targeted by hawks. Pigeons are safer in numbers.

I wouldn't do it, there have been far too many tragedies here on this board, more then I can count.


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## Startail Fan (Oct 20, 2009)

Perhaps you could rent a batting cage ??

ITs outside ,but she cant fly off and a hawk cant get her.

Plus the cages are like 100 feet long and 20 feet wide.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Feral pigeons DO have homing abilities, but that won't help much if it gets grabbed by a hawk. Your bird will be content if it doesn't go outdoors. Having outside time in the sunshine and air is good for the bird, but do it in the safety of an enclosure if you value your bird. A lone pigeon is in more danger than if it were in a flock.


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## FeralNinja (Oct 15, 2005)

Well, after reading everyones responses, I decided to not take her out to a hawk infested areas anymore. Kinda feel bad for her, but I wouldn't risk it. Last time I took her out(as posted in early in this post) the hawk was flying towards us as it knew that my pigeon was an easy meal. 

As far as my pigeon flying off is concerned, she will fly towards me when she gets frightened. Last time (before the hawk incident) I took her out, when she heard the plane noise, she got frightened and flied towards my shoulder. Besides the fact that she thinks I'm her mate, she knows that when shes right next to me, she's safe.

But, just as you advised I will not take her out. Once hawk grabs my pigeon, there is no other way to retrieve her, unless if I have a superpower to fly like a bird (really that would be nice).

@Startail Fan Yeah, I think that's an awesome idea. Perhaps, an indoor football or baseball stadium would be nice too, that is if they let me in with the pigeon.

@amoonswirl Yes, she pretty much flies everywhere in the house, and poops everwhere . And she always follows me around as she thinks that I am her mate . One thing I do to give her some flying exercise is to jog around the house, and she flies towards me to catch up with me.

Thank you all for your advises.


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## Raisindust (Apr 8, 2010)

My pet dove was wearing a leash a foot away from me at the park. I was about to head on home and turned my back on him for just a second to pull my coat on, and then I heard the most terrible noise ever and I saw a hawk carrying a miserable bundle of white feathers with a handsome yellow leash dangling from his talons.

Do not let your bird fly free. If you take it outside, make sure its in a shady area underneath a tree, or that you have an umbrella or something to deter hawks. Do not let it fly if you can help it.


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## Raisindust (Apr 8, 2010)

Also, if you can't get an outdoor cage -- open the window and put a perch on the sill! My aforementioned dove LOVE basking on this horse statue I have which was the perfect stability for a sun-bathing perch, and because he wouldn't accept hardly any food from me unless it was a seed, window time was his version of a treat.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

FeralNinja said:


> Well, after reading everyones responses, I decided to not take her out to a hawk infested areas anymore. Kinda feel bad for her, but I wouldn't risk it. Last time I took her out(as posted in early in this post) the hawk was flying towards us as it knew that my pigeon was an easy meal.
> 
> As far as my pigeon flying off is concerned, she will fly towards me when she gets frightened. Last time (before the hawk incident) I took her out, when she heard the plane noise, she got frightened and flied towards my shoulder. Besides the fact that she thinks I'm her mate, she knows that when shes right next to me, she's safe.
> 
> ...


Someone here sells "pigeon wear" - a little pair of pants for flying around inside! Not sure who it is, maybe someone can answer this?


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## Raisindust (Apr 8, 2010)

Msfreebird said:


> Someone here sells "pigeon wear" - a little pair of pants for flying around inside! Not sure who it is, maybe someone can answer this?


http://www.birdwearonline.com/PGWearStore.html

This site has a bad layout but from what I've seen of happy customers here, its got a good product.  I have it bookmarked for when I get my own pigeon, haha.


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