HISTORY
Nowadays, we can send messages very easily with just a click. However, a few decades ago, sending messages was completely different. Humans or horses did it, with risks of being robbed or attacked by enemies.
Sending messages through pigeons was invented long before the Roman era and was the fastest way to send a message. However, not all pigeons are able to send messages. There is a special type of pigeon that can do that, known as the Rock pigeon.
SPECIALTY
Pigeons are effective as messengers due to their ability to return home. They do not know the person or place to deliver messages to, but they have a special ability to remember their home or the way to return home. Wherever a pigeon is released, it can find its way back home, thanks to its extraordinary ability to navigate over long distances.
TRAINING
As pigeons do not know where to deliver messages, they need to be trained. This specialty made pigeons ideal messengers, but it required months of training to develop this ability. Training a newborn pigeon is easier than retraining an adult pigeon. Here’s how to train newborn pigeons:
When the pigeon is 28 days old, it will be able to learn to fly. Release the pigeon from a short distance to help it learn its way back to its coop. Train the pigeon when it is hungry, and once it returns home, feed it well. After a week, release the pigeon from a one-mile distance from its coop. Be careful not to lose the pigeon during training. Repeat this process daily for a week from different locations so the pigeon can memorize its home well. After the initial week, gradually increase the distance by another mile and release it from different places. Pigeons have natural skills to find their way home, but ensure you provide safe accommodation and good food to motivate your pigeon to return home quickly. This is how pigeons are trained.
How does the whole process work?
We cannot train a pigeon to go to a specific place or person. To send a message, the receiver must have a trained pigeon. If someone wants to send you a message, they will take your pigeon with them, write the message on thin paper, fold it like a ring, attach it to the pigeon’s leg, and release it. The pigeon will then return home, and you can collect the message from its leg. This is how the whole process works.
CONCLUSION
In summary, before the invention of today’s message-sending technology, people used pigeons to send messages. The sender would use the receiver’s pigeon, attach the message to the pigeon’s leg, and release it. The pigeon would then return home with the message. Leave your valuable opinions and share the post if you find it informative.
