Stomping through slush and knee-high snowdrifts, I finally reached my mailbox. Imagine my joy when I found the first seed catalog of the season.
Once I was back inside my warm house I started looking at all the pages. Pictures of gorgeous flowers, bedazzled trellises, and ripe fruit were like eye candy for my winter-weary soul.
I decided it wasn’t too early to start planning a layout of the garden on graph paper. When I went to the cabinet with our art supplies, I discovered someone had beat me to the scissor and supplies.
I followed the trail of scraps to find my youngest son creating a 3D model of something. If this paints a picture that my kids are always using their imaginations and creating masterpieces, I must admit he was banned from anything that had a screen.
It’s the modern-day equivalent of a child being grounded to his room or not being allowed to use his bike. Losing screens, including TV shows and tablets, is a very effective form of punishment in our house.
Without the glowing dimness of a screen, it’s like the creative side of the brain is rejuvenated. I am reminded that it needs to happen more often, especially in the dead of winter.
Pigeon plans
Just like I was making plans for the summer, he had his own plans. He was creating a very detailed model pigeon loft. He even went as far as to build it to scale with one inch representing one foot.
He might have a future in architecture, but for the moment he can’t see past this summer. After reading about homing pigeons sending messages during wars, he is determined to have his own birds.
We see mourning doves at our bird feeder every day. I love to hear their distinct soft cooing. Pigeons and doves are both in the Columbidae family. While there is not a technical difference, the smaller species are categorized as doves and the larger species are pigeons.
Mate for life
The birds mate for life and raise two chicks at a time. They share the responsibilities of raising their young; both the male and female incubate the eggs.
Both sexes also feed their young “crop milk.” This special substance is created in their crop, the area at their lower esophagus where food is stored before digestion. Crop milk is produced by special cells, not mammary glands, but it still contains antioxidants and immune boosters which help hatchlings to survive.
Pigeons and doves are sometimes viewed as a nuisance in urban areas. However, they are quite intelligent and not prone to diseases.
Pigeons and doves are one of the few non-primate species that pass the mirror test, recognizing themselves in reflective images. They can also be trained to recognize all letters of the alphabet and to distinguish among different people in photographs.
Navigators
My son is most interested in their sophisticated navigational abilities. They use a set of skills to travel long distances, between 500-800 miles in a day. Researchers believe they have something similar to an internal magnetic compass that helps them to navigate over long distances.
Pigeons also use the sun and recognize landmarks during their flights. Surprisingly, they have been known to follow man-made roadways, even turning at intersections. Their average traveling speed is around 75 mph, but the fastest recorded speed is 92.5 mph.
Homing pigeons, flying at a high altitude and swift speed, were successfully used in many wars to relay messages during distress.
Carrier pigeons of the Racing Homer breed were used during World Wars 1 and 2. They would carry messages about troop location back to their home coop, dodging enemy bullets and saving hundreds of lives.
Cher Ami
The most famous war pigeon is likely Cher Ami, one of the 600 birds flown by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in France. Cher Ami was assigned to the 77th Infantry Division in 1918.
The commander, recognizing that he was surrounded by German troops, sent Cher Ami back to his home coop with their location slipped into the tube on his leg. The steadfast superhero of a pigeon was hit by two bullets and severely injured.
Arriving with only one leg and the messenger tube dangling by a tendon, his message led to the rescue of 194 battalion members.
It is easy to see why my son wants a couple of pairs of pigeons to be his feathered friends. As the days get longer, hinting at the latter half of winter, his plans become more elaborate.
My garden and flower bed plans are also becoming more detailed. I am reminded of the lyrics, “In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move.”
