[Leica] IMG: The Return of the Pigeon

[Douglas Barry]

I discovered the internet lied to me.

After a day without some beady eye affection, I realised I was missing 
the pigeon. However, my temporary pigeon deprivation wasn't to last. My 
wife went out to her car today, saw a movement behind it, and discovered 
a pigeon.  I came out on her call, realised that it was the same one, 
and that the poor thing was obviously entranced by the quality of the 
Flahavans Pinhead Oats that I had given it when it was here before. I 
say this confident in my understanding of the knowing and hopeful looks 
it gave me. With our cat asleep in the house, my wife headed off, and I 
cycled down for my daily swim in the sea. When I pedalled back a half 
hour later, there was the pigeon waiting for me.

However, being a pigeon hotel proprietor is not in my life plan, so I 
rang John the owner of the stray pigeon to say that it was back with me, 
and had it returned to him, and then changed its mind? He said that, 
according to his records, it hadn't been raced by him for at least a 
year, and that someone else must retrieved it. After some desultory chit 
chat, I got the distinct impression that John didn't really see himself 
getting back with this pigeon, especially as he lived on the far side of 
Dublin. "Could I give it to someone else - a local pigeon owner?" I 
suggested. He didn't think so, as he thought they would be afraid that 
all their pigeons might get some sort of plague. He thought that maybe I 
might like it permanently. I said I couldn't see it living happily, or 
very long, with my pet cat. After a silence, he then suggested I let it 
revert to its feral state.

I asked him how I would accomplish that. He recommended that I shoo it 
away, and, above all, not to feed it or give it water, as it was clearly 
bonding with our garage which it now associated with rest and 
refreshment. The internet site I had read a couple of days earlier had 
recommended feeding and rest and stated that once it recovered (24 to 48 
hours) it would fly back to its loving owner. Some chance with this one, 
I thought. I asked about our cat, and John said that once it sees a cat, 
it'll clear off anyway. I went out to it and did some heavy shooing. It 
shot under one of the cars and there it stayed until I went back into 
the house.

At lunch, my wife spotted it just outside the patio window staring in at 
us eating. I went in and woke the sleeping cat and put it on the other 
side of the window. The cat spotted it, stiffened, flicked its tail, 
paused for a minute or so, and then leapt at the window. The pigeon did 
its best Kim Jong-un impression and didn't look in the least bit phased 
by the Trumpian showboating. It stared back and didn't move. The cat got 
more enraged. Eventually, I had to go out another way and flap my 
swimming towel until the bird retreated and flew off to the garden wall. 
I then let the cat out, and it became clear that this was one cool bird 
who knew how to deal with cats. It remained high enough to keep well 
away from it, and stayed staring down at an excited cat.

I decided that I wasn't really abandoning an ingenue to its fate, but 
really reminding a mature thing of the limitations of its expectations. 
I went off and did other things. However, here is a photo my son took of 
the cat and the pigeon.

http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/NHLFs/Target+Acquired.jpg.html

I hope the bloody thing has moved to pastures new by tomorrow.

Douglas