Document text
Pigeon fanciers perch at Padgham photo by Bob Pennell Pigeon judge Mike Carson of Toronto, Ontario, carefully examines an American racer pigeon during the Fall Festival of Pigeons Saturday at the Jackson County Expo. Pigeons are judges against international standards for plumage, beak size, eye color and other characteristics. The show, featuring more than 700 birds, finishes this morning. Breeders say birds' reputation is a bad rap By Mark Freeman of the Mail Tribune Where most people see America's winged rats, Jack Lawrence sees beauty, art, science, and history -- not to mention dollar signs. That aerial irritant of urbia, the pigeon, is not just a graffiti artist whose favorite medium is white excrement. In almost 40 years of breeding pigeons, Lawrence has seen how this aesthetic creature has spurned genetic research, saved human lives and created an art form. He and fellow smock-wearing pigeon-lovers know that their birds are breathtaking, and that most people think they're nuts. "It's hard for some people to look past a pigeon on a statue," says Lawrence, a champion pigeon breeder from the Corvallis area. "But they're actually cleaner than chickens, and Darwin's theory of evolution was based on pigeons. Darwin was a pigeon judge. "There's a lot more to pigeons than people think," he says. There are also a lot more pigeons inside the Jackson County Expo Park's Padgham Pavilion this weekend than normal. The 730 caged birds are part of the fifth annual Fall Festival of Pigeons show sponsored by the Medford-based Central Pacific Pigeon Club. The two-day show has brought 63 breeders from across the West to pit their pigeons against each other and against written international standards of what constitutes the perfect pigeon -- and that doesn't mean a dead one. The birds are bred for aesthetic perfection, with judges grading the birds' plumage, beak size, eye color and even the tiny searing around the eye. The differences between a good and a great show pigeon come down to tiny tolerances that only die-hards like Alex Lacy of Medford truly appreciate. "Years ago, I just fell in love with pigeons," Lacy says, "and have never had a desire to raise anything else." But what raises the hackles of men like Lacy and Lawrence is the bum rap the birds get, so shows like this one are as much about educating the public as about bird-to-bird competition. For instance: Pigeon breeding and showing dates back more than 100 years, and it's so big in Europe that whole towns set aside space for pigeon coops. Most early genetics work was done on pigeons. Urban hospitals still use homing pigeons to ferry serum faster than helicopters. They are good investments. Birds costing $500 apiece are common. One English trumpeter recently sold for $35,000, and one rare bird sold for $100,000 in Japan. Pigeons, not David Letterman, invented Stupid Pet Tricks. One breed, the parlor roller, can actually roll on the floor up to 220 feet. And raising pigeons is big business. Lawrence, a county animal-damage control officer, has an 84-foot-long coop at home to house his 400 birds, which have won big-money shows across the country. "I'm in this for life," he says. But he can't for the life of him understand why the general public can't get the winged-rat thing out of their minds. "Some people will never change," he says. "They'll hear you say you breed pigeons, and all they'll think about is the statue bird." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA