Posted on 08/16/2008 5:16:56 AM PDT by Daffynition
We heard it through the grapevine - Queens has a purple pigeon.
The royal-hued bird wasn't born that way, though. Someone with a sick sense of humor - or a problem with pigeons - painted him purple.
"Itwas terrible," said Joe Mora, an animal lover who rescued the birdThursday from a Long Island City playground, where onlookers were gawking at the oddly-colored columbine.
"It looks like this was done intentionally...it could have been blinded," Mora said.
He tried coaxing the lethargic bird to eat while asking anyone and everyone for advice on how to clean paint from its feathers and beak.
Friday,city Animal Care and Control officials transferred the pigeon to Bobby Horvath, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Nassau County who has extensive experience caring for injured birds.
The young pigeon, about three or four months old, might not survive the prank - if it was one, Horvath said.
"I have never seen anything like it," said Horvath, who is also a New York City firefighter.
"He's flightless at this point. His feathers are completely rigid," he said.
"His beak and mouth and eyes are clear of paint," Horvath said. "That's a positive thing."
Horvath said the bird has a better chance if the paint hasn't seeped through into his skin.
Morasaid he hopes someone in the neighborhood will come forward with information about the bird. He said he has heard stories about a man on nearby Roosevelt Island who dyed his dog's fur purple.
"If this was intentionally done to the bird, it certainly is animal cruelty," said ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo.
The only way to paint them is with lead.
However, putting a 5mm caliber pellet in the disease infested rat-with-wings skull from 75 feet with my Benjamin-Sheridan scoped rifle is another matter.
Got 22 of those filthy things back in the 60's. I finally made it safe for everyone in our apartment building to sit outside without getting crapped on.
Still have it too, and it's still zeroed.
an Hey, I Thought it was my Hood Ornament.....
As long as they weren’t mourning doves ... have at ‘em! ;-D
Very cool stories. FReepers are the best!
I understand putting out an owl or snakes rids them too. [NOT!]
[PS] Would you come to my bird feeders and help me get rid of an over abundance the grackles?]
Donny Osmond owned purple before Prince! Yes, I’m that old.
At 75' WOW!Yep, 75ft. That was the farthest I had to shoot to get them. I was finally able to measure the distance on Google Earth (I always knew it was a fair distance for a pellet rifle).
But at first they nested on a balcony overhang next to a Front Room side window, so those were easy, an 8ft shoot max. I got about half of them then. The dumb birds finally realized nesting there wasn't healthy so they moved to the building across the street. That's when I'd snipe them from our Kitchen window to a chimney they'd sit on. I had to get them as they'd still come back to our building, sit on the wall top and crap on us. Those filthy things were a problem even before I was born. Nothing worked - exterminators or poison. Not until I got my rifle at 17 and started picking them off.
I understand putting out an owl or snakes rids them too. [NOT!]Those Owls are a joke. My wide bought one to get rid of Chipmunks and other 'critters' that were digging in her garden. The Chipmunks played with it and the 'critters' ignored it.
[PS] Would you come to my bird feeders and help me get rid of an over abundance the grackles?]"Grackles"? Awwww they look so cute ;-)
Bored SP’s doing goofy $h!T?, say it ain’t so!
You should have seen some of the things we did to each other
LOL. I remember the donnie and marie show... I missed the purple bit though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.