racing/homing pigeon in my garden what do i do????

misslisam

This morning I noticed there was a racing pigeon in my garden, I thought nothing off it, but he keeps returning and I am not sure what to do.
I looked on the websites about racing pigeons and it tells you to catch them (but how???).
We hae lots of cats in my area and I am worried he is at risk off getting caught as they are so tame. Please can any1 help x

leveller2911

Best thing to do is give it access to water and maybe some food.You will probably find after a day or two it will find its way back home.A friend of mine raced pigeons for years and loved everyone,however he told me that when he got other peoples pigeons in his loft he would contact them, they would generally say "keep it" because if they get lost then they're not really good at homing,some even "neck" (kill)them when they get home.
My advice is ,its probably knackered,needs rest and will make its way home when it has rested,unless its unjured of coarse.

As far as the cats are concerned, if you can catch it then stick it in a shed for a day or so, if not then it will have to take its chances.............good luck

misslisam

thanks so much for your reply, i was getting a bit concerened about him, really was not sure what to do, I will just monitor him/her for the next few days and see how it gets on if still about will try and catch him then (if I can), wil put some water and seed out too, thanks x

maninthestreet

Give it a map and a compass?

misslisam

Myabe you dont care, but I do!!!!

paulwellerfan

hey i think maninthestreet was just being flipant.
no harm intended i am sure.
but yeah if i were you i would just put some seeds and water out for it.
if in a few days time if he is still hanging around you may have found a new sport for your self.
you ever fancied yourself as a bird keeper???
All the best.

misslisam

ok no worries lol, seem to get some nasty people that intend to be hurtful, I just feel real sorry for it , looks so lost (well apart from the fact he is lol). will keep looking out for him the next few days see how he goes.
Cant see myself being a bird keeper!!!!

maninthestreet

It's a pigeon, it can probably look after itself. By all means put some seed and water out if you want. It will probably leave of it's own accord.

leveller2911

He will probably just hang around a while and rest, then get his/her bearings and pop off home. Amazing birds racing pigeons, had one named after me once, on his 1st race he went missing , presumed shacked up with some bird in Scotland.............bless him ..

Becles

We had one once for a couple of days. We had a tray of seed and water out on the bird table, and it just ate there and lazed about our garden for two days, and then it flew off.

It was very tame and I think it was just tired or maybe felt under the weather.

Treyz32

Hi,
We've been in the same situation.
The pigeon that landed in our garden made no attempt to fly away, in fact it walked right up to us!
We waited during the day to see if it would fly away, but as night fell we found it was still walking around near the back door. As we have lots of foxes and cats around, to keep it safe we picked it up (it wont run or flap it wings) and put it in a large cardboard box lined with newspaper, water and food.

There should be a ID ring with a number, this can be identified via the rpra.org website. There may also be a marking on one of the wings with the owners contact number.

Once the owner is contacted there should be a local handler who will pick up the pigeon from you (there's a network of people who return lost racing pigeons back to their homes it seems).

We recived a nice thank you letter from the owner a few days after the pigeon was returned home.

Cheers,