disorientated racing pigeons

[Jon]

I believe it was Calum who enjoyed playing chess with a pigeon even though the board sometimes got messed up due to poorly executed strategy.

Well listen up folks, a poster on biobees has noticed that racing pigeons in Scotland have gone missing in the borders area.

He has also noted that maize is treated with neonicotinoid and that pigeons eat the aforementioned grain and has put two and two together and come up with a hypothesis to rival the disorientation caused by Nellie's yellow breakfast cereal.

There are times when the phrase 'couldn't make it up' fails to do justice to the sheer lunacy of a statement.

http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13672

[Jimbo]

Watched an interesting part of Wartime Farm where they were discussing pigeons where the pigeon expert mentioned that pigeons had difficulty finding their way home in years when there was a lot of sun spot activity. Just as good an explanation as maize treated with those nasty posions or may be somthing to do with aliens.

[Jon]

Julian Little, aka Dick Dastardly of Bayer crop Science willfully disorientates a pigeon

[Trog]

Perhaps they didn't listen to the Radio 4 programme I heard last week. Apparently pigeon fanciers deliberately send out good-looking male birdies to entice their neighbours' female birdies back to their loft ... then keep them or auction them down at the pub to other pigeon chappies.

[Jon]

Hi Trog.
Don't go spoiling a good conspiracy theory involving Bayer Cropscience with your scurrilous comments about the murky world of the pigeon fancying fraternity.
Is it only men who fancy pigeons or do women do it too?

[lafeu1982]

Was a pigeon fancier as a kid, and raced quite a few birds, some birds can actually fly in excess of 100 mph,
The birds can become disoriented with sudden air pressure changes, which might be the reason it landed early, it is unlikely to have been tired from such a short flight.

[Jon]

And still more:

[gavin]

And still more:

That's exactly the kind of inspirational thinking we could do with on the nation's steering groups trying to decide how to spend effectively large dollops of research cash.

You could read that entire thread believing that they were indulging in satire, but it seems not - they are absolutely serious, every one.

Except perhaps Barbara, one voice of reason amidst the crazy talk, who was writing at the same time.

[Jon]

Bayer teleports Imidacloprid back in time to send pigeon down chimney in WW2