# My new friend Leroy...



## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

Found this little guy around the property. He's been here a couple days now. He's sorta followed me around a little. I tried feeding him some bread, but I've since read they might not be use to eating that. I also gave him some water, but I'm not sure if he's drank any. 

I think I need some help getting him back to where he should be. He's tagged on each leg...


















He's let me get pretty close but does not want me to get right up to him. I know I'm going to have to get a better look at his tags to see if that tells us anything. Also, he can fly, so his flight feathers are intact. 

I have a little experience with birds (quaker parrot). But I am unsure how to go about handling/catching Leroy. 

So if anyone can give me some feedback and maybe help me get Leroy home I'd really appreciate. He's cool and all, but he's not in a safe place. Lots of cars and lots of hawks. 

By the way, I'm in southeast Indiana. About 25 miles from Downtown Cincinnati though.


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

You did not say where you lived--close to Lancaster Ohio?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

By the way, I'm in southeast Indiana. About 25 miles from Downtown Cincinnati though.


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

I'm not "close" to Lancaster, but it's certainly not that far. Dearborn county Indiana


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## FloridaLuv (Dec 19, 2008)

Pigeons can't see well in the dark so now, is the best time to catch him...


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

It looks like the numbers may be --2009 is a young bird--LFO????Lancaster Ohio club the the club letters.
That club sec's phone--740-654-3665
Sorry thats the best I can do


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

sky tx said:


> It looks like the numbers may be --2009 is a young bird--LFO????Lancaster Ohio club the the club letters.
> That club sec's phone--740-654-3665
> Sorry thats the best I can do


May I ask how you can tell by seeing so little? Are tags pretty easy to identify?


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

FloridaLuv said:


> Pigeons can't see well in the dark so now, is the best time to catch him...


But how? With a towel? In a box? I have a cat carrier, maybe that?


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## FloridaLuv (Dec 19, 2008)

Yep... you can catch him with a towel... usually if its dark they cant see you coming... so shut off all the lights. He may just let you pick him right up.... Then YEP- put him in the cat carrier. After you catch him, let us know here on the thread and we will see how we can help you out.


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

O K Folks--allproock asked for help getting the bird home--Now he is questioning me-Sorry I just thought I had info that might help him locate the owner.
Maybe someone else can give him more info
I only raced pigeons for 31 years--so guess I am just a dumb 73 y/o


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## FloridaLuv (Dec 19, 2008)

Im confused!


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

sky tx said:


> O K Folks--allproock asked for help getting the bird home--Now he is questioning me-Sorry I just thought I had info that might help him locate the owner.
> Maybe someone else can give him more info
> I only raced pigeons for 31 years--so guess I am just a dumb 73 y/o


Wow. I was just surprised it was that easy to identify. I know nothing about this. You took that completely the wrong way.


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

allprorock said:


> Wow. I was just surprised it was that easy to identify. I know nothing about this. You took that completely the wrong way.


not sure how he took that the wrong way myself but yes the bands are pretty easy to help you locate the owners by the color and lettering on them .. the yellow means its a 2009 bird and an AU band and the "LF" that you see is part of a club idenification for the name of their club 
there are two clubs listed with the LF intials on the AU page so depending on what comes after the LF it could be either of these but the second one down is closer to you so would most likely be that one .

club code : LFL 
Club Secretary : JOHN LONGAKER 
City : BEND 
State : OR 
Phone No. : 541-330-6214 
Email Address : 

Club Name : LANCASTER PC 
Club Code : LFO 
Club Secretary : DAVID BREHM 
City : LANCASTER 
State : OH 
Phone No. : 740-654-3665


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

FloridaLuv said:


> Yep... you can catch him with a towel... usually if its dark they cant see you coming... so shut off all the lights. He may just let you pick him right up.... Then YEP- put him in the cat carrier. After you catch him, let us know here on the thread and we will see how we can help you out.


He's not hanging out on my car anymore because it started to rain I guess. I'm not sure if he's found it, but there is a large wide open on one side pole barn that would be perfect for him to chill out in. 

I think between me and my girl we can catch him and find out exactly what his tags read. I'll report back tomorrow with my progress.


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## FloridaLuv (Dec 19, 2008)

That is how I read that too.... ((( meaning you were just inquiring..not questioning)) NO hard feelings mate. You are doing a GREAT thing trying to help the bird.

The bands do give us information that can tell what club the owner of the bird flys with and the year band in which ithe bird is born... 

At any rate... please do try and catch him/her.... That has to happen first...


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

LokotaLoft said:


> not sure how he took that the wrong way myself but yes the bands are pretty easy to help you locate the owners by the color and lettering on them .. the yellow means its a 2009 bird and an AU band and the "LF" that you see is part of a club idenification for the name of their club


Ah, I wasn't seeing that was an F. I thought it was a R. So does LF indicate Lancaster OH club? It's not all that far from me, so it would make sense.


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

FloridaLuv said:


> That is how I read that too.... ((( meaning you were just inquiring..not questioning)) NO hard feelings mate. You are doing a GREAT thing trying to help the bird.
> 
> The bands do give us information that can tell what club the owner of the bird flys with and the year band in which ithe bird is born...
> 
> At any rate... please do try and catch him/her.... That has to happen first...


Yeah, I was only questioning how it all works, not if he was capable of knowing. 

I'm an animal person, mainly dogs. I try to help all the critters. Leroy isn't too fond of my lab. But my lab is very well trained so he doesn't bother him. (he's always with me). My mom had a quaker parrot. She was completely obsessed with me. So I'm pretty cool with birds.

But anyway, if Leroy is tagged, that means somebody wants him back. So I think I'm gonna have to help him get there.


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2009)

allprorock said:


> Ah, I wasn't seeing that was an F. I thought it was a R. So does LF indicate Lancaster OH club? It's not all that far from me, so it would make sense.


well my guess that it has something to do with their name though it doesnt say anything other then LANCASTER PC for their club name so maybe it means Lancaster flying org. ??


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

LokotaLoft said:


> Club Name : LANCASTER PC
> Club Code : LFO
> Club Secretary : DAVID BREHM
> City : LANCASTER
> ...


I'm gonna call them tomorrow.


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

Well Leroy is still hangin around. We got him some feed today and he seems to be pretty thankful. We still can't get him to drink any water. We were only a foot or two from him, splashing the water so he might notice, but he never seemed interested. It has rained around here the last couple of days, so hopefully he was able to get water that way. 

We were able to get a closer look at his yellow band, but can't fully read it cause of some dirt on it. But it looks to say "LFO and I think a T, as well as AU 2009. There's also three letters on the red band. Can someone tell me what that might be?...


















We're havin a lot of fun with this little guy.


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

I can't make out the letters on the red band--may be just a marker for the owner--cock? or hen?


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

sky tx said:


> I can't make out the letters on the red band--may be just a marker for the owner--cock? or hen?


Well I'm not sure. Forgive me if it's a dumb question, but how would I know? I know that in parrots it's very hard to tell, so I assumed it was the same with a pigeon, I dunno. Leroy might be Loretta!! 

I talked to the Lancaster club guy. He was very helpful. He needs a bit more of the number to know who's it is, but he's the one that administered the band so he can find the owner. That's awesome! I'm gonna catch him tonight when it gets dark. They guy said he won't bite, which is a plus. 

Once I have him in the cat carrier (that sounds weird, putting a bird in a cat carier), should I keep him inside or leave him outside? I have a cat, but she's a pretty mellow non hunter type. We can keep her away easily. I do worry about a wild animal coming around. We do live around a lot of farmland.


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

Keep it safe---inside Cock or hen--I have to wait till they mate-then mark the one that laid the egg---hen. Sorry but the best I can say.


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## FloridaLuv (Dec 19, 2008)

Well... IMHO-- he needs to be caught and secured... Then the band can be read- You will need to keep him safe ... meaning contained. Can you catch him... Here is a link on how to trap him.

PLEASE SEE this thread: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f20/1st-step-in-helping-a-bird-secure-it-links-on-securing-38776.html


Then if at all possible keep it in the bathroom .. in the carrier, if it is big enough... never under estimate predators...


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## Hillybean (Oct 30, 2005)

Yep, it needs to be caught either way.. You know how you pick up a parrot that is untame...by putting you hands around the wings (close to the body) and picking it up. You can do the same with the pigeon...with better results because they don't have a hookbill.

You could try a large havahart trap (live animal trap) put seed in to get the pigeon in. You could even try an old sheet....get close and fling it over the top of the bird, then pick it up.

He'll have to get hungry in order to catch him...so you might want to lay off the food.

You can then keep him in a kennel or carrier for the time being. He most likely isn't able to get home, and is most likely endanger of being eaten by a hawk, cat or other predator. Once/If the owner can be located you go from there. The owner may or may not want the bird back.

-Hilly


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

FloridaLuv said:


> Well... IMHO-- he needs to be caught and secured... Then the band can be read- You will need to keep him safe ... meaning contained. Can you catch him... Here is a link on how to trap him.
> 
> PLEASE SEE this thread: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f20/1st-step-in-helping-a-bird-secure-it-links-on-securing-38776.html
> 
> ...


Don't worry, I'll catch him and get him safe. He's been on my roof most of the day just hangin out. When I get off work I'll get to catchin him. The guy on the phone said he shouldn't bite me, so that's a plus. And as you mentioned, he doesn't have a hook beak, so that's a big plus. 

I'm enjoying having him around, but he has a home (at least did) and hopefully they want their buddy back.


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

sky tx said:


> Keep it safe---inside Cock or hen--I have to wait till they mate-then mark the one that laid the egg---hen. Sorry but the best I can say.


That's how it was with our quaker parrto. We thought it was a boy, then she laid an egg. Oops!


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

Well maybe we gave Leroy too much food this afternoon. I can't seem to sway him off the roof with some more. I left a pile out with some water and I'm "patiently" waiting for his next move. 

Should I be making certain noises? Do they like to be talked to?


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## Hillybean (Oct 30, 2005)

Right now the only noise he needs to hear is that of food. Leaving some out, will just feed him when he IS hungry...so recommend that you not leave any out for any of the birds. He has to get hungry in order to be caught.

-Hilly


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Thank you for your care and concern over this bird.

Please follow instructions carefully for trap or other method used for catching him, and only feed him under the trap. Once you try to catch him and fail, he will be harder to catch after that....as he knows what you are up to, so make sure to try and catch him the first time around.


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## allprorock (Sep 10, 2009)

Well Leroy wouldn't come down from anything last night. He went around the property and perched on just about all the buildings. Then he ended up on a billboard on the property and he's been there ever since. I'm just going to wait it out I suppose. 

And when it rains it pours. My girl went outside at 1am last night and saw someone drop a dog off. What a worthless human that is. So now I have another new friend that I have to help...


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