I had a very strange morning ; which isn't in itself unusual. But I had some spare time before lunch and decided to walk into the old city to the post office as I had rather a lot to send. On the way there, all was normal , the Chinese were doing their pigeon thing at Tapae Gate. On the way back which couldn't have been more than half an hour, as I didn't stop for lunch but decided to pick something up to have back at home, it was very strange. Walked through Tapae Gate and after a second or two got that feeling that something wasn't quite right. So stopped in my tracks and had a look around as it took a few seconds to process. There wasn't a single pigeon in sight , not one! (Actually I tell a lie , there was one (only one), and he was standing on the ground with his head hung, looking as though he had witnessed a mass murder).

There were also some army and I think pigeon food sellers in a rather heated discussion. I am presuming within that half hour that one of the biggest pigeon kidnappings in history occurred. Was this only temporary , did they fly off somewhere but I saw none on the surrounding buildings. ??????

I think the government is collecting them. I passed by about a week ago and some guys from the government were throwing large nets over flocks of them and putting them in cages and removing them.

2 hours ago, elektrified said:

I think the government is collecting them. I passed by about a week ago and some guys from the government were throwing large nets over flocks of them and putting them in cages and removing them.

I hope the Government realises the pigeons,will just fly back to where they were collected from, 

so it will be catch and release,catch and release....................unless they are killing them somewhere.

regards worgeordie

Somebody coined the name "flying rats" to them....

Periodically, they do sweep & remove them.....

12 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I hope the Government realises the pigeons,will just fly back to where they were collected from, 

so it will be catch and release,catch and release....................unless they are killing them somewhere.

regards worgeordie

My guess they are not the catch & release types...

I would be wary of cheap Gai Yang... 

Not sure if it's related, but I noticed the restaurants in that area are all having specials on "chicken."

3 hours ago, cmsally said:

I am presuming within that half hour that one of the biggest pigeon kidnappings in history occurred.

I believe they have been taken away for attitude adjustment.

 

Well, the PM did warn everyone that anti-coo tweets wouldn't be tolerated.

 

 

I'll get my coat.

They can come and remove ours any time.

Maybe they sell them so people can release them and make merit.

Hopefully they're all on the way to the glue factory.

Sent from my Cray II supercomputer

They are disgusting carriers of mites and ticks. Their poo strips buildings with it's acidity. The only good pigeon is a dead pigeon.

11 hours ago, sfokevin said:

My guess they are not the catch & release types...

I would be wary of cheap Gai Yang... 

Yeah, I thought this mornings buy was smaller in size than normal. 

Tasted like chicken tho.   

These guys tried for years and failed, the Thai army are not as dumb as you think !

Army to capture pigeons? I suppose if there are more than 5 in a flock they will be in contravention of some law or other, but why is the army being used? Surely there is a more appropriate authority to deal with the pigeon problem. Have the army any idea how to dispose of them humanely?

3 minutes ago, fantom said:

Army to capture pigeons? I suppose if there are more than 5 in a flock they will be in contravention of some law or other, but why is the army being used? Surely there is a more appropriate authority to deal with the pigeon problem. Have the army any idea how to dispose of them humanely?

The army have been sitting in that little quadrant at Tapae Gate for 3 yrs now ! I guess they got bored of watching the pigeons every day. The funny thing was , on my way across the gate pre pigeon capture I saw them all group together for photos, that is normally a sign of imminent activity unless there is a visiting VIP. .

20 minutes ago, marquis22 said:

Yeah, I thought this mornings buy was smaller in size than normal. 

Tasted like chicken tho.   

During my stay on Guam I frequently went to Palau; Many restaurants there serve pleasant-tasting Nicobar pigeons.

Pigeon is common fare in China, back in '84 myself and a colleague were being treated to a " banquet " by our Chinese hosts.
One dish was covered in a thick brown sauce and we were asked to guess what it was. I said frog and my colleague said rat ! ( much to the amusement of the Chinese ).

We were pleasantly surprised to find out it was baby pigeon, tasted pretty much like chicken .

The authorities want to chech the pigeons for diseases, i.e. bird flue. 

These animals can carry and spread diseases like this.

 

There is now big signes saying "Do not feed the animals"

But no one care....TiT

 

 

12 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

Somebody coined the name "flying rats" to them....

Periodically, they do sweep & remove them.....

"Also known as the feathered rat" - Kent Brockman news anchor on The Simpsons.

18 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Pigeon is common fare in China, back in '84 myself and a colleague were being treated to a " banquet " by our Chinese hosts.
One dish was covered in a thick brown sauce and we were asked to guess what it was. I said frog and my colleague said rat ! ( much to the amusement of the Chinese ).

We were pleasantly surprised to find out it was baby pigeon, tasted pretty much like chicken .

A friend of mine deep into his 70s was a train driver in western new south Wales australia for 50 years. Pigeon fanciers with racing birds used to send crates of them 400km west of Sydney by train, to race back to Sydney. When money was tight he tried one and developed quite a taste for the birds, pilfering two or three from each crate. I wonder if there are still a heap of 80 year old men and women sitting in their suburban backyards waiting for their favourite bird to turn up?

A friend of mine deep into his 70s was a train driver in western new south Wales australia for 50 years. Pigeon fanciers with racing birds used to send crates of them 400km west of Sydney by train, to race back to Sydney. When money was tight he tried one and developed quite a taste for the birds, pilfering two or three from each crate. I wonder if there are still a heap of 80 year old men and women sitting in their suburban backyards waiting for their favourite bird to turn up?

I grew up in Yorkshire and there was a lot of pigeon fanciers around at that time.
A colleague of mine used to race pigeons and always used to ask myself and others to "drop off" his basket of pigeons at the back of Leicester Forest Service station ( some 120 miles from where we lived ) when we made our regular visits to a sister company.
But I do remember some years later he contracted some disease from the pigeons which ended up with the birds being exterminated , his lofts being destroyed, the area being seriously sterilised and him ending up in hospital.
It was very serious apparently and rumour has it that he almost died !

1 hour ago, fantom said:

Army to capture pigeons? I suppose if there are more than 5 in a flock they will be in contravention of some law or other, but why is the army being used? Surely there is a more appropriate authority to deal with the pigeon problem. Have the army any idea how to dispose of them humanely?

Who said the Army captured the pigeons anyway???

18 minutes ago, elektrified said:

Who said the Army captured the pigeons anyway???

I would imagine it was the "Tesakit" that rounded up the pigeons. But like most things these days the army would have tagged along to make it "official".

One wonders what might be on the menu at the army camp in the next few days?

A strange looking casserole perhaps.

Actually we all might want to avoid strange looking casserole and barbecue in the next few weeks.

all my distant relatives in Worcester UK would all eat local wood pigeon

they said it was delightful

Birdsnapping......I heard the chinese love roasted pigeons...

Expect small pieces of beak and wing to arrive in the mail until the ransom is paid.

17 hours ago, elektrified said:

I think the government is collecting them. I passed by about a week ago and some guys from the government were throwing large nets over flocks of them and putting them in cages and removing them.

Yea, Pigeon soup for the Army . A change from chicken soup .  (:

1 hour ago, UnkleMoooose said:

Expect small pieces of beak and wing to arrive in the mail until the ransom is paid.

Reminds me of Toast of London. "I thought you said you were a beekeeper? " "No, I said beak keeper."

Well update, this morning they are back ! Must have been catch and release !!

August is pigeon stew month in China.   Yum yum .