A very friendly pigeon

We found a very friendly pigeon at the weekend or, rather, a very friendly pigeon found us. We’d been called out to Fife for bird control to get rid of pest pigeons. These unpleasant birds were plaguing the residents of a street by nesting in gaps in the roof and leaving mess and droppings on the roof, in the gutters and on the ground. Infestations of pest pigeons like this are pretty unpleasant because the birds carry diseases that will make humans very ill, their mess and nests are smelly and insects breed on the birds and in the mess they make; you really don’t want something like that in the roof and so close to bedrooms.

We noticed that one of the pigeons was very friendly and kept flying down to the works van and resting next to it; it wasn’t at all bothered by the activity and followed us as we walked around. Then we saw the ring on its leg and realised that it wasn’t a pest pigeon but a racing pigeon.  Lost racing pigeons will often join a flock of pest feral pigeons or wood pigeons but really they’re very used to people, like company and expect to be handled and fed. So we popped him into a carrying cage, gave him some water and maize, which he wolfed down, and brought him back home after we’d finished work.

We put him into a spare pen with the door open so he could rest or fly away, whichever he wanted. He’s still there, with his suitcase unpacked, eating maize and wheat and keeping us company.  If he decides to stay then we’ll contact his owner by reading the ring on his leg, but we think he’ll probably fly away in the next couple of days. He won’t be winning the race trophy though!