By Lorraine Wascher Woods
During our February snowstorm, the Schullers had a handsome pigeon trapped on their balcony for three days. Not just any pigeon; it turns out he was a specially bred and valuable racing pigeon. Nichole Griepentrog (Skyline HR Associate) offered to help. The pigeon did not appear to be injured although he had hit a bedroom window. A website suggested that pigeons eat rice, so Chef Mark kindly cooked rice but the bird wouldn’t touch it. Turns out this bird preferred uncooked rice and water. Appreciating animals in general, Nichole decided to care for him at home.
When packaging the pigeon into a cardboard box, Nichole noticed numbers on his metal leg tag. After checking online, she determined he was a racing pigeon and called the Snohomish and King County Racing Pigeon Club. The bird was a special breed of racing pigeon whose average flying distance is 600 miles at a rate of 60 to 100 mph.
Racing pigeons are similar to homing pigeons, who carried messages for the U.S. Army in both world wars. The sport of pigeon racing achieved popularity in Belgium in the mid 19th century when pigeon fanciers cultivated pigeons for fast flight and long endurance. Flemish fanciers spread the sport to most parts of the world. Once quite popular, this sport has experienced a downturn in recent years due to aging fanciers and lack of public interest.
The happy ending to this story is that a racing club member drove the next day in a heavy snowstorm to collect his beloved pigeon. You never know what to expect when you remain open to new experiences here at Skyline!
IT also takes a village (or community) to get lost pigeons home. Congrats to all who played roles in this lovely story.