Racing Pigeons
A Hobby and A Sport |
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History |
Modern pigeon racing had its beginning in the early 1800's
in Belgium. However, man has long used pigeons as pets, as a
source of food and as message carriers possibly as far back
in time as 5,000 years ago.
Neolithic man began taming animals around 8,000 years ago.
The pigeon, a seed eater would have been relatively easy to
domesticate. Certainly, as man began to grow grains, the
pigeon is a species that would have naturally gravitated
around human settlements and farms.
At the height of the Moorish Empire, The Arabs used pigeons
as messengers. In the dark Ages and Medieval times, from
Bagdad in the Middle East to the Barbary Coast in north
Africa, Arabs officialdom employed carrier pigeons. Genghis
Kahn also reputedly made use of pigeons as his empire
expanded.
Carrier pigeons were a major component in the expansion of
the industrial revolution. Reuters News Agency was begun
with homing pigeons. The symbol for many European postal
systems is a stylized figure of a carrier (homing) pigeon,
to this day.
Pigeon racing in Belgium probably began with the use of
Persian messenger pigeons as the foundation stock. Crossed
with local pigeons, the modern racing homer gradually
developed into what we know it as today. That development
continues unabated.
The first long distance pigeon race was in Belgium in 1818.
In 1820 a race was flown from Paris to Liege, and in 1823
from London to Antwerp. By 1870 there were 150 racing
societies in Belgium and over 10,000 lofts. Neighbouring
Holland became fascinated with the hobby and wholeheartedly
joined in. After 1875 the hobby of pigeon racing gained
popularity in England. Today there are approximately 90,000
lofts in both Belgium and Holland while there are some
100,000 lofts in England.
The hobby was introduced to the United States in the
nineteenth century. It also gained a foothold in parts of
France. It is now becoming popular in Japan, Taiwan, Canada,
Australia, South Africa and Mainland China. There are flyers
in India, Argentina and Hungary. However, the birthplace of
the sport as we know it Belgium, remains the center of the
fancy.
At present there are approximately 20,000 registered racing
pigeon lofts in North America. In the past five years
interest in pigeon racing in this country has been growing.
It is thought that this is mainly due to the popularity and
escalating number of young bird futurities. This hobby has
developed into a wholesome backyard sport in which the
entire family can participate. The tendency toward
enterprise and competition is nicely met by this trend in
the hobby.
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Shipping Night
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