Sounds like he'll be pigeonholing his hobby from now on...

//insert bad pun drum noise here..

That article was pretty lean on details. How the hell do you cheat at pigeon racing?

Nowadays they knockatize them all.

How do you get a saddle on a pigeon?

how the hell do you cheat in that sport btw?

I got nothin.

tontovila: how the hell do you cheat in that sport btw?

White paint + falcons = $$$

Well, $

tontovila

how the hell do you cheat in that sport btw?

A guy I know once got kicked out of a competition for using African swallows. They can carry more weight then European swallows, but they're non-migratory, so it's cruel to force them to race over long distances.

...after spies hide in his bushes trying to dig up dirt.

Free landscaping?

Jubeebee
How do you get a saddle on a pigeon?

It's not easy convincing a pigeon he's at Churchill Downs

/but it can be done

paging Mike Tyson...

Gulper Eel Nowadays they knockatize them all.

That's only the ones congregating around Trafalgar Square taking pot shots at the tourists.

We won! The crown of the pigeon racing empire shall soon be ours!
Imagine... all that fame and fortune!
Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

/Also got out of the pigeon business
//Not obscure, but would like to know who recognizes it.

The Grinch: tontovila

how the hell do you cheat in that sport btw?

A guy I know once got kicked out of a competition for using African swallows. They can carry more weight then European swallows, but they're non-migratory, so it's cruel to force them to race over long distances.

I LOL'd

As someone who used to race pigeons myself I am here to inform everyone, Pigeon racing is simple... The birds are trained by releasing them from short distances from their coop and they always come back b/c thats where their home is (and food/water) You then keep doing that further and further from home so they are more and more familar with how to get home and also so they are in good shape. So the day before race day you select the ones you want to race and take them to a club where they will have small numbered bands placed upon their feet. Then usually early the next morning or later that day they are drove a distance of 100-300 miles away and all released at once, The time is clocked by the driver who releases them and reported back to everyone. So then you wait and wait... when they begin to arrive you catch them in a trap thats set where they enter the coop (they will be hungry and thirsty) You remove the band on their leg and place it in a capsule and it goes into a sealed clock that you turn a "key" on and it stamps the time on paper. Then later that day everyone meets back at the club for all the times to be read and then the distances to be figured. Handicaps of who lives farther from where they were released and who's closer so if you live closer you get time added on since your birds have to fly a shorter distance... I have a clock still I could get a shot of it, But I'm not home ATM.

Somacandra: /Also got out of the pigeon business
//Not obscure, but would like to know who recognizes it.

The 1954 winner for Best Picture. Elia Kazan used to live in my hometown. Eva Marie Saint was teh hotness.

I didn't even know that was a sport. Makes me wonder what other odd-ball sports I've been missing out on.

Somacandra: /Also got out of the pigeon business
//Not obscure, but would like to know who recognizes it.

I didn't recognize it offhand, but the URL gave it away for me.

GodDamnit: As someone who used to race pigeons myself I am here to inform everyone, Pigeon racing is simple... The birds are trained by releasing them from short distances from their coop and they always come back b/c thats where their home is (and food/water) You then keep doing that further and further from home so they are more and more familar with how to get home and also so they are in good shape. So the day before race day you select the ones you want to race and take them to a club where they will have small numbered bands placed upon their feet. Then usually early the next morning or later that day they are drove a distance of 100-300 miles away and all released at once, The time is clocked by the driver who releases them and reported back to everyone. So then you wait and wait... when they begin to arrive you catch them in a trap thats set where they enter the coop (they will be hungry and thirsty) You remove the band on their leg and place it in a capsule and it goes into a sealed clock that you turn a "key" on and it stamps the time on paper. Then later that day everyone meets back at the club for all the times to be read and then the distances to be figured. Handicaps of who lives farther from where they were released and who's closer so if you live closer you get time added on since your birds have to fly a shorter distance... I have a clock still I could get a shot of it, But I'm not home ATM.

For a minute there, I was sincerely expecting to see a "kick out of these replies" remark, but that was surprisingly informative.

The sad part is that, much as I think pigeons can be cute and fascinating, I find myself loathing them in my current location. They and the local magpies make a habit of breeding into realms I couldn't believe, before promptly turning the area into their personal latrine on a massive scale.

I've taken to tearing down theirs nests when possible and disposing of their eggs.

As far as the cheating aspect, Some people attempt to open the clock and forge times and if they are spying then they are looking for training techniques.

GodDamnit is right about simplicity.

There are some methods that can be employed to make them go faster.

There is the one method, possibly cruel, where you separate the males and females. Before the race you pair them up. The minute the male mounts the female you remove him before he can plant his "seed". Now drive him 1000 miles away :). He is flying home at top speed. You can call it a rutting run. When he gets home you get his time and let him have what he flew home so fast for.

This is also a sport in which the poor performers are culled. Usually by separating their heads from their bodies.

Somaticasual: Sounds like he'll be pigeonholing his hobby from now on...

//insert bad pun drum noise here..

Rimshot. (pops, not a rickroll)

tontovila: how the hell do you cheat in that sport btw?

Am I the only frightened that there is a "governing body" for pigeon racing?

Did anyone else read that article linked on that page about the child rapist sueing a woman who had ran over him when he was passed out drunk on a dark road? Seems like good fodder for a Fark discussion. I just don't know how to submit an article. Maybe you have to be total fark member to submit an article. So if any of you total farkers wants to, go ahead. Or we could just turn this thread into one all about the linked article in the article. (confusing?)

linxdev: This is also a sport in which the poor performers are culled. Usually by separating their heads from their bodies.

Awesome!

You would think you could make a second sport out of the losers... you could take a cat, tease him for days with videos from Animal Planet, and then set him loose in a room full of slow dumb pigeons.

The thunderdome awaits.

It's a sad day when a man and his pigeons are separated.

Sooo... wouldn't they just fly back to his place again?

Fizzy_Pop: Sooo... wouldn't they just fly back to his place again?

Canned cat food doesn't fly.

Shahab: Did anyone else read that article linked on that page about the child rapist sueing a woman who had ran over him when he was passed out drunk on a dark road? Seems like good fodder for a Fark discussion. I just don't know how to submit an article. Maybe you have to be total fark member to submit an article. So if any of you total farkers wants to, go ahead. Or we could just turn this thread into one all about the linked article in the article. (confusing?)

You see that "Submit a Link" button? Click on that.

In related news:

Do not feed the pigeons (new window)

I liken pigeon racing to Chewbaccas in a pub brawl.

kzp7

Giant Homer?

Shenanigans.

This is called the one legged pigeon pose. I have no idea what it is associated with I just happened for find it... interesting.

The Grinch: tontovila

how the hell do you cheat in that sport btw?

A guy I know once got kicked out of a competition for using African swallows. They can carry more weight then European swallows, but they're non-migratory, so it's cruel to force them to race over long distances.

Ha!

...he's banging them together!

Steroids?

Why should he quit? He should have just given them the bird.

This is NOT a sport. It is a hobby.

Football, basketball, and baseball are sports.

/soccer isn't a sport either, but that's another story

came here for a picture of Randy Johnson nailing the pigeon who wasn't racing fast enough..

/leaving disappointed

secretagent300: came here for a picture of Randy Johnson nailing the pigeon who wasn't racing fast enough..

/leaving disappointed

click my link above, it will make you feel better

tontovila -"how the hell do you cheat in that sport btw?"

Avian steroids?

/pigeon?
//PULL!

Accent: secretagent300: came here for a picture of Randy Johnson nailing the pigeon who wasn't racing fast enough..

/leaving disappointed

click my link above, it will make you feel better

lol..nice

"It's meant to be a hobby but it is not enjoyable when it gets to this stage."

Baby says, "Wah."

I can't believe I am the first to say who the fark cares about pigeon racing.