You can't eat money

“Only when the last tree has died, and the last river has been poisoned, and the last fish has been caught, will we realize that we cannot eat money.” –Native American proverb

We are in the midst of downsizing, getting ready to retire and travel. I am selling my birds, the lofts and large items that won't fit in a motorhome. 

I have had some pretty strange people contact me, like the guy who offered me $100 for everything to do with the pigeons. When I told him to come out and see the birds, the loft and the equipment; then make me a reasonable offer, he was offended.

His response: 

"Im sorry to bother you, I thought that was a fair price to offer. I could buy New materials for 80 dollars and put it together myself in a few hours. I just thought you were trying to get rid of it so I thought I would check......."

I don't know about you, but to build an 8x8 loft with two sections, including nest boxes and perches costs me about $800...if this guy can build them for $80...he should be doing that for a living.

Okay, so we want to downsize and selling some of our items on craigslist or KSL.com seemed like a good way to get them out there...but I wasn't ready for the crazies to come out...lol

And the 9 foot church pew, and the military 10 man tent sold within minutes...anyone need a 35 mm camera???

'I think I could turn and live with the animals, they are so placid and self contained; I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition; They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins; They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God; Not one is dissatisfied-not one is demented with the mania of owning things; Not one kneels to another, nor his kind that lived thousands of years ago; Not one is responsible or industrious over the whole earth.'-Walt Whitman

New study on how pigeons navigate and who is who in the flock

A very interesting study to understand more about pigeons.
Thanks Dennis for sending this along.
Take a moment and read the results.

Do the laws stop criminals?

A year and a half after the infamous raids in Blanding, are the artifact laws reducing theft? In a great article that covers a wider view of the facts than most, The Salt Lake Tribune takes a look at Blanding and the artifact trade 18 months after BLM agents descended on the town and arrested many of the upstanding citizens. Decide for yourself, and leave a comment to let others know what your view is on this. Although I do my best to leave things as I find them, I will admit to having stuck an arrowhead in my pocket while hiking, and once while fishing on the banks of the Tennessee River. Does that make me a federal felon?

“It’s like drug laws,” Spangler said ( Jerry Spangler is executive director of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance). “The minimum mandatory [drug sentences] are on the books, but it sure hasn’t stopped people from selling drugs.”

Check out the view of my European friends on "Pigeons as Pets"--a blog that always has something I find of interest...and I tend to be able answer some of the questions they put out to the public with my knowledge of 30 years around pigeons. The subject today was an interesting one on pigeon's feet and the feet of other birds. BTW, did you know pigeons and doves are the only birds that can drink with their head down?

Birds: I'm excited for the few eggs I have in the nest to hatch...experimental pairings that should be great racers...but, who can tell. My friend and fellow flyer, Tom Barnhart, in Ohio, is dealing with freezing high temperatures, reminding me why I added a heater (40 degrees) to my breeder loft. Of course, my breeder loft has no free flying birds, only individual breeding pens. I'll post pictures as soon as I have baby birds in the nest.

Honey: My favorite mead drinker broke her ankle over the holidays...official story is she was attacked by a Himalayan Yeti who heard I would pay out in mead as a ransom. Wishing a speedy recovery to her. I have the must in the bucket for the next batch, I added a quart of Blackberry concentrate from the backyard to this one.

Pigeon Rescue

I got a call early this morning about a bird that had been found. This has happened fairly often since I used to be the president of the Ogden Racing Pigeon Club.

What made this call unique, was that it came from my son who is stationed in Spokane, WA, with the US Air Force...Stranger still, the band number he was inquiring about was one of the bands registered to me.

You might wonder how something like this could happen, so I decided this was a good opportunity to explain a little about racing pigeons. These are not the birds you see perched on the side of building, or roosting under overpasses.  These birds are genetically bred for one thing: to fly home, and to fly home fast, from distances out to 600 miles (for our club). There are clubs that hold longer races, and there are even speed records recorded out to 2000 miles.

 Every bird is given a unique seamless band when it is 5-10 days old. 

That band is registered to a specific national organization, in our case, the American Racing Pigeon Union or AU.  Each band is clearly marked with four identifying features: National Association; Year; Club Identification; and a unique identifying number.

The bird in question this moring, wore the band AU 2010 OGN 642, signifying American Racing Pigeon Union, hatched in the year 2010, member OGN (OGDEN) club, and unique number 642.  Since I have all OGN bands in the 600s, I know that this is one of my bands.  Checking my band register, I see that I actually gave this band to my partner at Stealth Lofts when he ran out of bands in late July.

I asked my son how he found the bird in Washington, over 400 miles away since the bird is, at best, only a few months old.  He relayed a story of having a friend from down here in Utah call and tell him about finding the bird and wanting to know if there was a way for her to get it back to the owner.  I told him to give her my number and I would arrange to pick up the bird. Then I contacted my friend and told him about the found bird and that I would retrieve it.

I am always impressed by the people that find our hurt or injured birds and the bond they develop in such a short time. 

If you should find a lost bird, go to the AU website, and follow the steps on caring for a lost bird.  Contact the club secretary listed on the Web site.  And if that doesn't work, leave a comment on my blog and I will do all I can to help get the little fellow home.