# Pigeons aren't good for my anxiety!!



## Insomniac (Aug 21, 2007)

Kidding, sort of...!

Every day when I let the pigeons out, Luna, Castor, and Pollux, I am extremely nervous that they won't return. I let them out at 6pm...by this point they have already emptied their food dish, and are eager to get out, fly around, and get back to eat and go to bed. They used to be allowed out for longer periods of time, but we started seeing hawks around...and decided that it wasn't worth the risk!

Anyways, every night while the pigeons are out, I am on pins and needles, checking outside every 15 minutes to see if they've come home. They used to just fly huge laps, returning withing minutes...but now they fly up up and away, and don't return for at least an hour. Every day, I think that they won't come back, that one of them will get hurt, and every day I say to my family "I see two, but the third....where's the third??!" 

Does anybody else have this problem?  I love them so much, and because of that, I can't NOT let them out...the love it too much, as soon as they see me they are at the door of their cage, flapping and pacing, wanting to be let out...and letting them out is always the high point of my day, seeing them take to the sky, obviously enjoying their freedom...but at the same time, I am exposing them to all of the many dangers in the world! And the thought of one of my pigeons suffering a painful death, the terror that they would go through...it's worth the risk...right?

Tonight, only two of them game home. Luna and Pollux. Castor is still out there. This has happened before...Luna was gone for four days...Castor was late the other night, but came home...but I can't sleep, thinking that he may be out there, injured and lost......I wish I could outfit them with little GPS trackers....


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## TheSnipes (Apr 9, 2007)

Insomniac said:


> K...obviously enjoying their freedom...but at the same time, I am exposing them to all of the many dangers in the world! And the thought of one of my pigeons suffering a painful death, the terror that they would go through...it's worth the risk...right?



Ha...just like children. tough question. some people keep their birds in to keep them safe, others take the risk. I can say it's horrible to lose birds forever and makes you think twice about letting others out.



> ......I wish I could outfit them with little GPS trackers....


LOL...I've thought the same thing before! I wish we could too. Maybe someone will figure that out. Surprised the racers haven't come up with a tracking microchip  

One thing..I've read where it's better to fly them hungry. Reasons given are that it increases their desire to get back to the loft when they hear the 'dinner bell' and that flying them full of food might make them slow or heavy and increase their vulnerability to predators. You mentioned you fly yours after eating. Maybe you should think about flying them hungry.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I used to have the same anxiety each and everytime I let my birds fly and they were trained properly. That is why I don't let them fly anymore, especially my two pet pigeons, Skye and Sonica.

I sure hope Castor returns. Yes, you need to fly them when they are hungry, that is what motivates them to go inside the safety of their coop quickly. Also, its better to fly them in numbers, they are safer in numbers.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

This is so hard.
Right now I can't let my birds out because of a neighbor and that makes me very sad because I know how much they love to fly. How amazing it must be to see the world from way up high.How good that must feel to them to exercise their wings. From on the ground, looking up, the way they circle is magical.
I guess I'm lucky that I don't have a choice.


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## TheSnipes (Apr 9, 2007)

I live in fear of mean neighbors rearing their heads! Every neighborhood has one (or more)  

today I noticed my birds were watching the sky while they were in their aviary so I looked up to see waaaay up high a lone white bird, my first thought was 'what sort of hawk is all white?' I thought maybe someone's pidgie, but it was coasting too much up there, then there were two...then three. They veered away and I lost them but later I looked in a little bit different direction and suddenly there were dozens of them, I realized---seagulls, lol. But I stood there watching these white specks float in circles so high up there and thought the same thing, how lucky they are to be able to do that


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## Insomniac (Aug 21, 2007)

I meant, by them emptying their food dish, that by that time it has already been empty for a bit, so they are hungry and eager to get back to eat. I refill it while they are out flying. Sorry for the misunderstanding


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