Ice Pigeons

When my only Ice Pigeon, Yngvar, died of old age, I looked around the nation for other Ice Pigeons. After a long search and some sixty e-mails, I found a pair in Seattle and four more in Oklahoma.

I ordered the Seattle pigeons from a breeder. He mailed the birds by Express Mail on March 4, 2002, guaranteed to arrive in 24 hours. After 26 hours, some 15 phone calls, a dozen e-mails, and a lot of worry, the birds arrived!

They were very nervous, and, of course, they had gone for a day and a half with no food or water. I provided them with the best foods available, drinking water, bathing water, and a private room to get used to things. After a couple of days of isolation, I decided to go ahead and have them join the aviary. Seeing the other pigeons eat and drink might help these guys "get with the program."

The two birds, Anneliese and Nikolai, are very shy, but they have adjusted to their new home and even seem to like it! They always eat their meals together and they usually stay near their nest.

After losing half a head of hair worrying about those guys, I decided that the next time I got Ice Pigeons, I would drive! I located four outside of Oklahoma City.

On March 9, 2002, I drove to Oklahoma and picked out four of six Ice Pigeons. I still worry about the two I left behind, but my aviary would be too crowded if I bought all six. I purchased the birds from the breeder and headed for my motel in Ardmore, Oklahoma.

I let the birds wander around in the bathroom and fed and watered them. (Yes, I did clean up before leaving!)

In the morning, my four new friends and I packed our bags and headed for Dallas. In Dallas, we picked up Gwendolyn, the widow of Yngvar, and I brought home a new pigeon who was recovering from a flying accident.

The new bird, Fabrizio, and Gwendolyn joined the aviary and I quarantined the four ice pigeons in the bathroom so they could get used to their new environment.

Gwendolyn was in the aviary, and she appeared to be depressed after the loss of her husband, Yngvar. I decided to put her in with the four ice pigeons, hoping she'd be interested in one of them. The ice pigeons thought she was the hottest thing they'd ever seen, and they all perked up! One of them finally won Gwendolyn's heart. I named him Ingmar.

Two of the other ice pigeons, Ashby and Tiana became a couple, and the final male, Donovan, spends his time looking at himself in the mirror. He is quite a sight: a gorgeous white rain pattern.