injured pigeon

[Rosendula]

I was just cycling home from the allotment when a car went by. Suddenly there were feathers flying everywhere. As I got nearer I could see it was a pigeon. Closer still, I noticed it was still alive. In fact it was upright and kept opening and closing its beak. Now being sentimental I followed my first instinct and picked it up and put it on the grass under a tree. However, I then doubted that was the right thing to do. I'm now worried it will die a slow and agonizing death, whereas if I'd left it on the road it would have surely been run over again and put out of its misery. I also wonder if I went against evolution and we need to allow nature to adjust to our machine-society. Pigeons really do need to learn to get out of the way. A kind of 'survival of the ones that get out of the way'.

Am I being daft? What would you have done?

[becks77]

Well, I do like wildlife but there is nothing cute about a pigeon, IMO they are vermin, mess all over your clean washing and the car ,carry salmonella and red mite and eat all the veggies off the lottie,so I probably would have left it for someone else to finish it off with a bumper to the head, coz I'm a wuss in those depts.

Sorry just read this back am a real pigeon hater! sorry.

[Cloud]

It will probably be got by a fox (maybe a cat) soon enough, or it will recover and fly off. Either way I think that's better overall to be off the road - fox is less likely to be hit by a car if the free meal is not in the road.

[pumpy]

Yep, they are classed as vermin but regardless of that fact i would definately put the poor thing out of its misery. Our dog caught a squirrel t'other day, injured it but wouldn't finish it off....... so muggins here had to do the deed. I know that many people are squeamish about such things, but in these sort of cases it really is in the best interests of the injured creature.

[Rosendula]

Either way I think that's better overall to be off the road - fox is less likely to be hit by a car if the free meal is not in the road.

I moved it out of soppiness, but I'm glad I did now. There are loads of foxes round there and it happened at the time of day they usually start appearing. Thanks, Cloud. I never thought of it that way but you're spot on.

[gdb]

Few things tastier than Pigeon!

[Rosendula]

Can't say I've ever tried it. Is it like chicken?
When I cycled past again the next day it was gone. Not too many feathers around, so I think it recovered rather than got eaten. Unless of course a fox carried it off somewhere else to eat it.

[gdb]

i'd agree with that.

and much nicer than chicken too!