Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Pigeons. Also Called Rock Doves (Pigeons) or Feral Pigeons. I introduced racing pigeons to my little educational farm (1980's), So I could demonstrate their remarkable homing abilities. Andrew D. Blechman has written a book called 'Pigeons', With a subtitle: 'The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird.' The common pigeon is an Old World (Europe, Asia, N.Africa) species of bird. It was introduced to the New World by European settlers In the 16th and 17th centuries. Being called a Rock Dove defined its original roosting and nesting habitat as cliffs. The great buildings of Europe and later the Americas, Were the coveted new nesting places of this species, commensal with humans. They were associated with humans for perhaps 10,000 years, And selectively bred from 4500 BC.. Rock Doves have four main plumage types: natural, checkered, dark, or brown. They were trained and utilized by the ancient world for communication, And especially for vital messaging between warring parties. They were used by Hannibal.s military; by Ghengis Khan in his vast empire; The Egyptian pharaohs announced the Nile's annual flooding; The Persians used them to maintain control over their great empire; And, of course, they were vital during both WWI and WWII. Pigeon racing has been practiced since the 19th century in Belgium. Of course, as with most creatures domesticated by humans, They were selected for large, edible carcasses (the King Pigeons). The King originated in the US, during the 1890's, crossing four older varieties: The Duchess for grace, the Homer for alertness, the Maltese for style (and compactness), And the Runt for body and size. This is a creature which has shared life with humans, 'almost forever', And as a result, has been genetically altered for many human-determined tasks, Including the 'task' of eliciting just plain pleasure from its commensal partner. Also, don't forget the publication in 1859 and Darwin's use of pigeon breeding, To demonstrate, abstracted from human animal breeding systems, The selective breeding system in Nature which 'created' the various species. 26 October 2025 1240 Hours.