# Found a Lost Racing Pigeon



## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

Good evening all. I received a call from a friend this afternoon. He was at work, when a pigeon came walking into the open door of the shop. He called the local animal control officer, who told him to shoo the bird out of the shop and to not worry about it. He went to shoo the bird out, noticed that it is banded, and called me. I told him that if he could catch the bird, we could see if we could find the owner. He showed up at my house later today with this handsome fellow in a cardboard box.

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It appears to be a male, although I don't know for sure. (My rollers only show that iridescence around the neck and chest if they are males, and this is bigger than almost all of the other homers in my loft.) I put him in a cage outside my loft, and gave him food and water. He ate and drank immediately, then settled down. He is very docile, and doesn't seem to mind (much) if he is handled. His band information is as follows:

*AU 2010 PLY587*

I assume that the PLY has something to do with Plymouth, MA, as I am in eastern Massachusetts less than ten miles from Plymouth. In addition to his AU band, he has a unmarked snap-on band on his other leg. Over the past few days, we have had some pretty wild weather in this area, so he could have been blown off course during a training toss or even while loft flying.

Anyone know who/where to contact to find the owner?


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

She's cute! 

25. Club Name : PLYMOUTH VETERANS RPC 
Club Code : PLY 
Club Secretary : JEFF MORINI 
City : KINGSTON 
State : MA 
Phone No. : 781-228-1193 
Email Address : [email protected]


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

MaryOfExeter said:


> She's cute!
> 
> 25. Club Name : PLYMOUTH VETERANS RPC
> Club Code : PLY
> ...


Thanks Becky! 

Sounds about right, as Kingston is the town between Plymouth and Pembroke. I will email Mr. Morini tonight, and plan on calling him tomorrow. Easy return when the owner is located...I drive through Kingston twice a day commuting to work.


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

ptras said:


> Thanks Becky!
> 
> Sounds about right, as Kingston is the town between Plymouth and Pembroke. I will email Mr. Morini tonight, and plan on calling him tomorrow. Easy return when the owner is located...I drive through Kingston twice a day commuting to work.


I sent an email to Jeff Morini. I asked him to identify the owner for me. I also asked him to make sure the bird will not be culled for not returning to its loft. I told him that I won't return the bird unless the owner intends to keep it. I would rather keep it or find another home for it if it was to be culled.


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

*That Homer walked into the right shop !!!*


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Nice save!..........Lucky fella 
Were those tornado's near you?  We had a 'watch', never got to a 'warning'.


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

Msfreebird said:


> Nice save!..........Lucky fella
> Were those tornado's near you?  We had a 'watch', never got to a 'warning'.


No...fortunately! They were out in western Mass - the Springfield area. We had a watch also, but they say it is highly unlikely that we would ever have a tornado due to the weather patterns and topography of the area.

We did have an unbelievable thunderstorm Wednesday night. It lasted for over two hours. Constant thunder and lightning, pouring rain, and some hail from 9:00pm until 11:00pm. I got to be awake for the whole thing because my eight year old daughter woke up terrified. I had to sit and soothe her. She went back to sleep, but I had to stay with her and hold her hand the entire time. My ten year old son slept through the whole thing, despite some claps of thunder that shook the house!


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

ptras said:


> No...fortunately! They were out in western Mass - the Springfield area. We had a watch also, but they say it is highly unlikely that we would ever have a tornado due to the weather patterns and topology of the area.
> 
> We did have an unbelievable thunderstorm Wednesday night. It lasted for over two hours. Constant thunder and lightning, pouring rain, and some hail from 9:00pm until 11:00pm. I got to be awake for the whole thing because my eight year old daughter woke up terrified. I had to sit and soothe her. She went back to sleep, but I had to stay with her and hold her hand the entire time. My ten year old son slept through the whole thing, despite some claps of thunder that shook the house!


 Your poor daughter....I know how she feels, I love thunder storms, but the lighting does scare me.
We had a wild thunder storm Wednesday morning, I was driving on Rt 4 in NH and had to pull under an overpass (squeezed in with about 8 other vehicles and a motorcycle!) The hail was HUGE, thought my sunroof was going to break


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

It is so weird how pigeons find pigeon people... hope all goes smooth with this nice looking bird.


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> It is so weird how pigeons find pigeon people... hope all goes smooth with this nice looking bird.


I'll keep everyone updated on how it goes.


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## Nomad_Lofts (Apr 12, 2011)

Well if they are not going to keep him put himin my box


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

*Update*



ptras said:


> I'll keep everyone updated on how it goes.


I spoke with the owner of the bird. He told me that he hasn't flown any old birds this year, so it had been missing since last fall. I asked him right out if he wanted the bird back or would it be culled. He responded that he has just banded his 50th bird for this year's young bird season, and he told me that if I wanted to keep it I could.

I have the bird quarantined in a cage by himself as a precaution. He appears pretty healthy, eating and pooping normally, but he definitely has feather mites. I will be spraying him down with Permethrin II this evening when I get home from work.

I'm guessing that if he has truly been missing since last year, someone must have taken him in and cared for him. He is pretty robust for a pigeon that was out in the feral world over the winter here. That would also explain why he seems so docile and friendly. I can pick him right up without any of the struggling or wing-slapping that I get from my birds.

I will be shipping some rollers to PT member Nomad_Lofts on Monday June 13th. Provided he remains healthy, I will be sending him along to take up a new life in Atlanta.


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## Gnuretiree (May 29, 2009)

Sounds like this had a happy ending! Nice looking pigeon - I hope she enjoys the warm weather in the South.


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Great...

"I love it when a plan comes together"

-Hannibal Smith, The A Team_

_


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## pigeon is fun (Sep 6, 2010)

happy ending!!!!!!!!


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

pigeon is fun said:


> happy ending!!!!!!!!


LOVE IT!!!


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

*Update*

I received a call yesterday from a man looking for this bird. Turns out that the other guy I spoke with had sold some bands to this guy, and the bird was his fourteen year old daughter's. They wanted it back. It had been lost returning from a 500 mile race the weekend before my friend found it. I went over to his house last evening, and they were very grateful. She races in a junior division of the Plymouth Veterans RPC.

By the way...whoever said the bird was a female (Becky?), you were right. It's a hen!


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

ptras said:


> I received a call yesterday from a man looking for this bird. Turns out that the other guy I spoke with had sold some bands to this guy, and the bird was his fourteen year old daughter's. They wanted it back. It had been lost returning from a 500 mile race the weekend before my friend found it. I went over to his house last evening, and they were very grateful. She races in a junior division of the Plymouth Veterans RPC.
> 
> By the way...whoever said the bird was a female (Becky?), you were right. It's a hen!


Oh, that's great news! Was that the week of the tornado's in Mass?


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

Msfreebird said:


> Oh, that's great news! Was that the week of the tornado's in Mass?


It was. The bird was released in western Pennsylvania, and would have had to fly through western Mass to get home. Maybe that was the cause of it getting lost. It had overshot its loft by about twelve miles.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

ptras said:


> I received a call yesterday from a man looking for this bird. Turns out that the other guy I spoke with had sold some bands to this guy, and the bird was his fourteen year old daughter's. They wanted it back. It had been lost returning from a 500 mile race the weekend before my friend found it. I went over to his house last evening, and they were very grateful. She races in a junior division of the Plymouth Veterans RPC.
> 
> By the way...whoever said the bird was a female (Becky?), you were right. It's a hen!


Very cool  Glad to hear there's some more young people racing too!


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

MaryOfExeter said:


> Very cool  Glad to hear there's some more young people racing too!


I brought my son (age 10) with me, and the guy did his best to sign Zachary up for the junior division of the club. He told me they have 16 youth members between the ages of 8 and 16. I don't mind if Zachary races, but he has to buy his own clock!


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

COME-ON Ptras [Peter ]
Buy your son the clock---It will be the BEST investment you will ever make.


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