HOMING NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 57

HOMING NOTES

(Bt Mausta Mealy.) NOTES AND NOTIONS. ("Ths Starvation Fad." By Frill, in R.P.) " Fads '' play an almost unlimited influence in defining the course a fancier should adopt in the many and various items of management tuat demand attention from time to timj in the business of pigeonrrcing. But what is a fad? some may ask. In my opinion a fad is an action or a mode of proccduie for which no logical reason can be civen However, it doe.? not follo;v that because a fancier may net be able to t-xplain the reason of a certain hue of action it must be a fa-1. '' '••>••« may iti such a caee be a reason, though cl.c person questioned may not be in a position to explain it. Just as a person may suffer fiom an irritation of the skin, scratch to relieve himself, and yet b? unabie to s;.y what causes the irritation, or why scratching relieves him. Certainly, -.cratching is nol a fad.

I am led into this line of thought by recently overhearing a remark made by one of the most experienced fancieis in tie country. "A fast rac>* to-morrow, my boy." .si>d he. "ar.d I am sending my lhrds off with six beans each in their crops: neither more nor les*. foi I counted 'em out to ca«h bird n\y6e-lf." This idea of sending birds away on short rations when tl.ere are prospects of a fast race is a pretty widely-spread one. But for all that, in my opinion, it is purely a fiid. nnd I think the reason given— namely that the hungriest buds fly fastest and trap qiuckewt. not only lacke logic, but teems with error. Mind, I do not deny that a keen appetite is a serviceable incentive to quick flying and trapping, but I do contend that sending away o\ernight in a half-starved condition is a fad with r.o logical basis to it. Many fanciers are «lauucn believers in the short rations business the day before the- race. Some are more eevere than oihere. Some pive half-rations for the last feed. Some give nothing after the first feed in the morning. Others, like the fancier I quoted, limit the supply to so many beans per bird. Bur. in my opinion, all of them «re off the straight road of longdistance racing, and losing th<»m«e.lves in the bj -tracks of the two and three-mile racing fraternity. If birds are s-uffering from hunger when they go into the baskets at night, how must they feel the next morning, say at 10 o'clock, when their crops ha\e been empty of food for from 20 or 24 hours? Take any healthy flight of birds: give them their usual allowance in rhe evening, and the next day merely postpone their first meal to noon, and see how Tavenous they -will bo for food. In fact, they will often be rr-ore hungrj tha.-i birds sent into the races on half-commons. The first thing a pigeon goes for on its return from a race is the water pot. After a drink they will often perch for some time before they trouble to go to the food hopper. This fact is? to a large extent responsible for tho practice of reducing food on the day preceding a race, especially a fast one. "it has given rise to a disproportionate notion of the value of water to that of food. It is true tho need for water is more pressing and has a ouickor '■fffcct than the ne°fl for food; indeed, I may venture to say that were the demand for food :-s nressfusr as the demand for water, the long distances would be almost impracticable ; but none the le3s when a pigeon really needs food— when, over and above tho normal apnptite, tho physical economy demands material to make good the waste of tissue that iroes on in all forms of life — a critical condition is reached, and if labour and enerpy have at this stage still to be expended a serious drain upon the strength and stamina of the subject is imposed.

With a bird that is starved to a rac*. its constitution has undergone a drain equivalent to the drain of riving a good distance on the road, the difference being that whilst in a bird flying on the road the exhaustion of the wing muscleb makes flying a more difficult task, the more even distribution of the dram through short commons leaves the wing muscles in comparatively good working order. But none tho less, in mv opinion, is the constitution undermined. When a hard race is met, those shortrationed individuals go down wholesale, and rarely do those who practise these tricks make a show at the long distance. At all events, the.v don't wiih those the halfstarve for the short spins. Tho birds arc played out before they get to the 400 mile events.

In my opinion, with races from 80 miles upwards, to subject a bird to downright hunger as an incentive to quick flying; is a huge error. A keen, genuine love of home, the result of kind treatment and attention to a bird's caprice and an ordinary normal appetite for food, are the safest and best stimulants to speed and quick trapping. If a bird is given just its usual ration the evening prior to the race, if in sound, healthy condition, it will be as keen, and often in my experience keener, than the starved individual, both in flying and trapping, even in the short fast races.

THE NATIONAL RACE

'Tis old Mavennes at early morn.

The shades of night have passed away; A cloudless sky at break of dawn

Foretells a bright and glorious day. To-day is Britain's national race —

Excitement reigns throughout the land; And each true fanciei plays an ace —

Ihe biggest trump card of his hand The birds in couflict are the best

That ever wore a rubber ring; For breed and fitness here contest

The honour of our gracious King. Three thousand warriors, fit and gay,

Have started on their homeward flight, Ar.d quite a number, so they say. May reach theii lofts ere falls the night. Tbev poor, must leave the shores o£ France

To speed 'h?ir course across the foam, Where looms ahead, -as they advance, A rugged coast — 'tis Britain — home. O d 'S6, in days of yore,

Had often braved the silver spray c He flapped his wings from shore to shore — The grandest pigeon of his day. The toiling faucier, uone too soon. Throws down his lool«, for well he knows That, tiicugh 'tis but the hour of noon, A southern wind his favour shows. A year beiore his old blue hen

Had flown the course; she was no fool; Pie chuckled, and felt proud to think He'd becked her in tbe five bob pool. He sits upon his garden seat And searches far the distant sky ; 'She comes!" he cries, as to his feefc

Ha iumns. but— she goes by. With beatirg heart he tpkes his pouch, And to the brim fills up his clay. In confidence you'll hear him vouch Hi« hen will win a prize to-day. Tfop hcurs 101 l by; he's waiting stiu; He knows the bird he sent away; Condition, pluck, determined will— With half a chance she'll home to-day. The sun draws round towards the west,

The day is tottering to its fall ; An o'.d cock from his coey nest,

Missing his mate, begins to call. A pale moon, with its radiant glow

Pops up and smiles, as if to say, "It she can fly all night, I'll show A light to guide her on her way. Tile days and nights pass quickly by, The fancier's hopes are on the wane, A«d oft he glanced, with watchful eye Towards the south, but all in vain. The absentee, sad to relate, F'.ew well, and might a. prize have won, But she had met ? warrior's fate — Gone down before the potter's gun. How oft have we a favourite lost When we have hoped- to win a race? Fow oft have known, to our great cost, The dangers they have had to face? But. still undaunted, let ns strive For national honours, come what may, And halp to keen the game alive, Then p'raps we'll top the list some-say.