| Author: Bob Rowland | Title: Hawks and Settling your Pigeons |
| Date: 2006-02-11 14:58:35 | Uploaded by: webmaster |
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A little advice on reducing the problems of hawks when settling your pigeons.
I have found the best way to have a chance against the hawks is to be right there when the birds are outside. If you walk away from the loft for just a moment or two, the hawks will be right on them. You cannot be inside the loft or you might as well be in your house. The hawk must know you are there and they will generally avoid you unless they are super hungry. This is an absolute must if you expect your pigeons to have any chance. When I am settling my babies, I stay right there and never leave the front of my loft. By sitting right in front of my landing board, my pigeons are tame and have no fear of me. I can walk them right in without them trying to fly away from me. I start them when they are only just out of the nest. If you let them get too strong on the wing before you let them out, one hawk pass and they could be lost right from the loft.
It also seems that we have a period of time when the hawk population is not active on the pigeons. I believe this may be as when they are feeding babies, they have easier pickings as all the other birds are also nesting so the food source for the hawk is readily available without them having to chase a pigeon down. I also think that when the hawks are really onto our pigeons, this is because they kill to eat right on the spot but when they have babies, then they must carry the kill back to the nest. The pigeon is certainly heavier than say a dove or songbird.
When I lived in Wisconsin, my loft was on the top of the garage with a deck around it so I was able to see quite a distance. Anyway, I saw a hawk coming towards my place but it ended up diving into a large pine tree and then came out carrying a dove underneath of it and headed away. The kill was easy for the hawk and transporting to the nest was easier than trying to carry something larger.
Now there is another part of this equation that we must take into consideration and that is for us to race a pigeon, it must first survive the basic challenges of their life. For those that cannot survive the basics, they are just not part of your solutions. Next, after surviving from the hawks, they must be capable of finding their way home from even a short distance. They must also be able to stay healthy or Mother Nature will remove them from being part of the future.
In conclusion, our pigeons must first be a survivor from all the daily things that are part of their life. Being the best racer can never happen unless they have overcome the daily challenges of survival.
Hope this helps
Bob Rowland
Spring Hill, Florida.
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