Driving east towards Jerrys Chevrolet, a flock of pigeons dance amid the afternoon thermals. To most, a pigeon is one of those annoying feathered fiends who leave their calling card on newly washed cars, courthouse steps and stately statues.
At A & A Lofts, though, pigeons are a love and a way of life for Al Carlson, president of the Weatherford Racing Pigeon Club.
Growing up with these cooing barn yard birds, his interest in pigeons started young. It wasnt until 1954, during a stay at Fort Sam Houston did his interested peaked for these feathered wonders. The Army Signal Corp was phasing out courier pigeons and he got a few of the birds.
"Though I've had birds for years," noted Carlson, "it wasn't until I retired that I had a chance to get into racing them."
It was the Belgians who are credited for the development of pigeon racing, and the homing pigeon. By the middle 1820's, almost every village in Belgium had its own pigeon club. Pigeon racing was taken up by the Brits, and by 1881 they were organizing races between cities in the British Isles.
Racing pigeons can be a profitable business says Carlson. "Though money is in young bird races," he continued, "it's the older birds that I like to race."
Last year, he won $1,000.00 when one of his racing homers placed first in the North Texas 1000 Mile Championship. The bird flew an average of 941.252 yards per minute. One of the best times ever recoded.
The larger races such as the Snowbird 2003 has a $50,0000 first prize, with over $500,000 paid out in the Classic and Futurity each year. The Chesapeake Bay Classic's first price is $10,000.
But racing pigeons has its perils, cautions Carlson. Hawks are the pigeon's natural enemy, but humans take their toll also.
"Once, I let a flock of 40 homers out near Millsap, and suddenly I heard . . . BLAM . . . BLAM . . . BLAM over the distant hill," said Carlson. "It was the start of dove season. Of the 40 birds, only 15 came back to the loft."
Another enemy to racing pigeons is technology. Radio and cell phone towers are the main problem. "Birds who fly near towers," said Carlson, "become confused and fly aimlessly around in circles. In fact, the 800 mile races are now rare," he notes. Besides radio towers, satellite beams seem to be causing havoc with the birds internal navigation also."
Though technology can be a bane to pigeons, it was these birds who helped humans when technology failed humans during World War II. Nearly 40,000 racing pigeons were given to the Army Signal Corps by civilian pigeon fanciers during the war. When total radio silence or when communications were cut off, it was these birds who flew through shell fire, over mountains, through fog and rain, over stormy seas, and ferocious winds to carry vital messages to troops.
These feathered heroes of the air, were credited for saving thousands of troops and civilians. A pigeon named "G.I. Joe" saved 1000 British troops at Colvi Vecchia, Italy.
These birds have been used in peacetime also. Pigeons have been used for many centuries to relay messages. The Greeks used the birds during their Olympic Games, relaying results to outlying areas. In the 12th century, the Sultan of Baghdad set up a pigeon-post service that stretched to every prominent city of the Sultan's empire.
The Weatherford Racing Pigeon Club has between 10-12 active members. They race around a hundred birds every week during racing season. Races range in distance from 100 miles to 600 miles, with 300 miles being the most popular. Two series of races are flown each year by a club: one in the Fall with young birds bred in the same calendar year; and in the Spring with old birds, who are at least one year old.
Pigeon racing can be a family affair. It teaches sportsmanship, and allows the family to be out in nature. It also helps children to learn about nutrition, genetics, physiology, psychology, weather, mathematics and caring for an animal.
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