Pigeons

I just saw a documentary on homing pigeons in China. It is amazing how the pigeons can find their way home after they were released 500 km away. Furthermore the pigeons were bought from overseas and sold to local breeders. This brings back memories of how I had wanted to keep pigeons when I was a young boy.

When I was a boy, I had this love for animals, fishes, birds and four legged animals. They formed the background of my dreams besides aeroplanes and guns. I even dreamt of owning a horse or pony! I was also thinking of being with the veterinarian services, but being in the Arts stream, that eluded me. In my future postings, I will write about my other pet keeping episodes.

My eldest brother, was working as an Air Traffic Controller, in Alor Star Aerodrome up north in Kedah state. He had a pigeon loft and kept many pigeons successfully. Below the loft, he had kept rabbits, and they were multiplying like there was no tomorrow.

One day, he brought some pigeon chicks home. I was thrilled by this and decided to keep them as pets. Unfortunately after a couple of days they all died.

A friend of mine, a pigeon fancier, invited me to see his pigeons. Seeing his big flock of various pigeon breeds, I was enthralled by the beauty of the birds. I decided to read up on the pigeons and bought some fascinating books. I was to learn of the different breeds - Turbit, Rollers, Pouters, Carriers, Fantails and the Runt, a giant pigeon the size of a chicken! My friend had all these in his loft. I quickly fell in love with the Fantails - a beautiful white pigeon with crested head, tail like an open fan and fluff legs like white feather stockings. They certainly looked cute and elegant. Rollers are pigeons that fly and perform rolls in the air like aerobatics. Pouters are pigeons that blow wind into their crop which expands like a big electric bulb. They may appear rather grotesque. Carriers are racing pigeons with very pronounced Ceres on their nose and circled eyes.

One day, this friend of mine gave me a few pigeons, much to my delight. Among the three birds, one was a Turbid - a cute pigeon with crested and frilled head and frilled legs. A small and elegant pigeon with grey wings and a white body.

I had five wooden boxes stacked two on top of the three, and nailed them to the wall at the back of the house. A wire mesh covered the entire make-shift loft to keep the pigeons inside. I was instructed to keep the pigeons inside for several days and with their droppings, the pigeons will make it their home and will not fly away.

After a week, I decided to release them. Except for the Turbit, the two ordinary pigeons flew off. They sat on the roof refusing to come home. To make matters worst, they joined other pigeons belonging to a neighbour across the street. I quickly caught the Turbit and put him inside a basket so as not to lose him. Days went by and the pigeons refused to come home. This caused me great distress. To add to my troubles, I had a scolding from my father and was told to get rid of the pigeons. My pigeon dream world came crashing down!

Deeply distressed, I brought out the Turbit and holding a knife in one hand, I wanted to kill it. But I could not do it and broke down in tears. My mother saw me and quickly took the pigeon and knife away. I simply stood there sobbing uncontrollably. The next day, I returned the Turbid to my friend, giving him all my books as well. It was a very sad end to my dreams of keeping pigeons.

Till then....