OFFSHORE RESCUE

“This bird #1538 has been on deck of the vessel Thebaud Sea 27 miles offshore Brownsville for three + days plan to send to the beach on a crew boat. Erik.” The Thebaud Sea is an international leisure travel boat chartered out of Canada.

It was not a frequent type of message; however, it was also not unusual, for the 911 Pigeon Alert group, fielding reports of lost banded homing pigeons. The typical procedure in that situation is to locate the club or individual that would utilize that particular band lettering. Within minutes a series of email messages and telephone calls circulated to trace the bird’s owner. 

In the meantime, moderators on the 911 PA site were communicating back and forth with the finder: What is the status of the pigeon? Do you intend to bring him to shore? What is the year on the band? And so on. It turns out the bird was safely contained and the idea was to release him on the beach and see if he would take off.

The finders made every effort to get the pigeon onto land and thought they succeeded, only to find that the bird had returned to the ship. The ship’s personnel continued attempts to release #1538, but he lingered on the ship. “The pigeon keeps homing back to the boat because of the goodies on board. Apparently the little fellow is fond of dry oatmeal.”

Finally the owner was reached. He explained that the bird was out on a toss and didn’t return. That was in 2004. All this time, the pigeon had been living a life of leisure, enjoying the considerate feedings. #1538 was relayed back to the owner, comfortable in his own loft, to dream about his adventures at sea.