The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
ATHLETES OF SKY HEAD BACK HOME
Demonstration and release of the pigeons happened for the first time this year
With speed, endurance and an outstanding sense of direction, homing pigeons are athletes of the sky, said an expert who led a release of the birds at the Lorain County Fair on Aug. 24.
For years pigeons have been among the poultry exhibited at the fair. This year, the cages were opened for some to get out — intentionally, led by Todd Clement, a pigeon keeper from LaGrange.
Clement also is a member of the Independent Homing Club of Columbia Station, which serves owners and their homing pigeons within a 65-mile radius of Cleveland.
Clement presented the pigeons as part of the 174th annual Lorain County Fair, held Aug. 19 to 25 at 23000 Fairgrounds Road, Wellington.
It was the first such interactive display with homing pigeons and parlor rollers, another ground-bound breed of domesticated pigeons, said Kelly Squire, Lorain County Fair board director.
“We did this as an education for the rolling and the homing pigeons,” she said. Squire’s sons, Logan, 13, and Keith, 11, also raise pigeons.
Clement said he hopes
"We did this as an education for the rolling and the homing pigeons." — Kelly Squire, Lorain County Fair board director
to return to next year’s fair with more informational programs.
For decades, raising pigeons was a rooftop inner city hobby because the birds are easy to care for and take up little room, Clement said.
Owners would socialize with their birds around their lofts, along with flying and racing them.
Before modern radio communications, humans used the birds to carry messages over distance.
The practice started at least with the ancient Greeks and continued into the 20th century.
For ages, armies used pigeons to relay messages about troop movements, a practice that lasted into the 1950s.
The birds saved lives in World War I, when they could move far more quickly than masses of soldiers, Clement said.
In 21st century pigeon care, the birds continue with the same characteristics: friendly and easy to care for. Clement said his racing flock eats about an ounce of feed a day, and the food is available at just about any feed store.
The real action happens when the birds get out. Owners ships their pigeons to various locations and they are timed to fly home.
When they are released, “they come out like their tail’s on fire,” Clement said.
“Their love of flight is phenomenal,” he said. And
For ages, armies used pigeons to relay messages about troop movements, a practice that lasted into the 1950s.
fast — birds have been timed at speeds approaching 75 mph or more, outpacing larger birds of prey.
To finish his presentation, Clement asked for volunteers to carry the 17 pigeons out of the barn.
“It’s great to see the excitement in everybody’s faces,” Clement said, although he was unsure how the pigeons might react to a crowd.
The birds did well, generally relaxing when encased gently in hands of children or adults.
“Today I was trying to find everybody that’s never handled a bird before,” Clement said. “To put them in their hands I think is instrumental in getting them even more excited about taking on the sport or the raising of birds or just having them.”
He led a countdown to the release of the 17 pigeons, which took to the air, circled in the sky a few times and then headed for Clement’s home.
He predicted it would take about 11 or 12 minutes for the birds to arrive home to a reward of feed.