RACING PIGEON GETS ASSIST

Our thanks to kind folks that come upon wayward racers.  Normally highly reliable in their ability to navigate to their home loft, sometimes adverse conditions disrupt the birds' homing faculties.  They get an assist getting back home from good folks such as these.


The Natchez Democrat reports: 
Racing pigeon finds saviors
The photo is by Hannah Reel


. . . Two weeks ago, Ginger Mims pulled into her store on Main Street and found an injured pigeon that could only hop away from her as she approached it. Unable to catch the pigeon, she decided that she’d feed it Cheerios and water.


After returning to work a couple days in a row and finding the pigeon still by her parking spot, she noticed a tag around it’s ankle and knew that is must be a racing bird. The next thing that came to her mind was to call local pigeon racer Modie Mascagni.


Mascagni immediately made his way to Mims’ store with a cage and other birds to help coax the pigeon into the cage. After a few tries, Mims, Mascagni and Mims’ son Fletcher, 7, successfully caught the bird . . . 


. . . After Mascagni got the pigeon home he immediately treated a wound on her chest, that had almost healed on its own, with antibiotics. Mascagni believes that she probably received the wound from hitting a cell phone tower that then caused her to slow down and get lost in Natchez.


Mascagni then took the code off her tag and entered it into the American Racing Pigeon Union database and found out that she was lost five weeks ago racing from Hoxie, Ark., to her owner’s home in Houston, Texas.


He also found that she was a grand racing pigeon that had won first place on a 400-mile race and second place on a 500-mile race.

“It’s exciting for me to find a bird that has won,” Mascagni said.
He said that the birds fly up to 45 miles an hour and can make those 400 and 500 mile races in a day. So, for the bird not to be back in Houston, with its owner after five weeks from the start of the race, Mascagni figured the owner had probably thought the bird was lost forever.


Mascagni said when he called the owner to tell him he’d found his bird, the man was more than excited to hear that his award-winning pigeon was well and safe.


In six to eight weeks, when the pigeon has fully recuperated, Mascagni said he’ll either let her fly back or ship her back to Houston . . . 


“I feel pretty good to know I saved (the pigeon),” Fletcher said. “I’m an animal lover . . . 

IOWA YOUTH AWARENESS UPDATE

Walter and Brenda Codney of Council Bluffs, Iowa, shared an hour and a half presentation with 35 pre-school children and teachers on the joys of raising pigeons. 

The event was a huge success! When contacted by his grandson’s school, Walter’s mission was set. He would put on an unforgettable event for his grandson’s fellow students. Walter raises mostly racing homing pigeons and does have a few old fashion frills. However, a simple bird release and showing off a frill just didn’t fit the bill of an unforgettable event. After all, the goal was to leave a long lasting impression.


Walter went right to work and contacted many fellow fanciers to see what birds he could line up for the kid’s viewing pleasure. What Walter found out was that pigeon fanciers were both eager and proud to help out! At the end of Walter’s quest, he had collected over 20 species of pigeons to show the children. Even though all the pigeons were special, some of the more impressive pigeons (the one’s that brought on the most “oooohs & ahhhhs”) were the Jacobin, Saint, Archangel, Fantail, Indian Fantail, English Long-Faced/Volga/Novalcheski-Russ Tumblers, Fairy Swallow, & Pigmy Pouter. Through the generosity of his fellow fanciers, Walter also had several breeds and colors of rollers, tumblers, trumpeters, an Ice Pigeon, Damascene, Modena, Show King, Dutch Highflier, Old Fashion Frill, along with several different colored Racing Homers to show the children.
Pictures displayed growth of a baby pigeon, the banding process, loft styles, and bird releases. Since children like the hands-on approach to learning, a wooden pigeon egg was passed along for them to see. Of course any opportunity to allow the children to have a hands-on experience with the birds was a priority.


To cap off the event, the children were escorted outside to the playground for a Homing Pigeon release and explanation of the traits of this sporting breed. After the Homers were released and on their way home, Walter ended his presentation with a Parlor Roller demonstration. The children whooped, hollered, and laughed seeing them rolling across the ground! In addition to what is sure to be long lasting memories, each child left that day with some children activity items, compliments of the American Racing Pigeon Union and a necklace made by Brenda with a ribbon and an old pigeon band. 


Special thanks go out to the sponsors who made this event possible. American Racing Pigeon Union, Eastern Nebraska Racing Pigeon Inv., Randall "Chili" Carney, Jeff Clark, Ted Golka, Gene Hochlan, Larry Jansen, Jackie Moyers, Mort Moyers, and Don Paltani.

ILLINOIS PIGEON FANCIER FEATURED

The State Journal-Register featured AU member Bill Leskovisek.  The photo was taken by Dave Bakke.

Excerpt: Bill Leskovisek is the biggest pigeon fan this side of Bert from Sesame Street. Sometime today, some of Bill’s racing pigeons will arrive at Bill’s home in Virden after a 500-mile flight from Oklahoma City.

Sometime tomorrow, other racing pigeons Bill owns will arrive at Bill’s home in Virden after a 650-mile flight from Shamrock, Texas.

The racers have computer-coded bands on their legs. When one lights at Bill’s pigeon pen, the band will be scanned, just as if the bird was a bag of celery on the checkout conveyor belt at the Piggly Wiggly, and the time of its arrival will be recorded. Owners with birds in the race will then compare times to see which bird won.

Bill’s Most Memorable Pigeons Numbers One and Two: He and his brother, Sonny Leskovisek, got their first two pigeons when they were just kids. Their father brought them two “barn pigeons.” Those aren’t racing pigeons, but “that got me going,” Bill says. He and Sonny named those two pigeons Mama and Papa.

Bill was about 10 when he got into the pigeon game. He’s 78 years old now. That’s a lot of pigeons.

At one time, Auburn, Bill’s hometown, had more pigeon fanciers per capita than any other town in the United States. There are only a handful of true pigeon people remaining in central Illinois. Most have died.

Bill’s Most Memorable Pigeon Number Three: She was a yearling hen known only by her band number, 1449. What did you think, he named them all? He got this one from “Bone” Helms, who was a butcher in Auburn. Bone didn’t like that bird. Bill did.

“I liked something about its personality,” he says. “Pigeons have personalities. Oh yes, just like dogs and people.”

That pigeon made it home from Oklahoma City in a day, making it what they call a “day bird.” This was about 30 years ago.