EOTO 1

 I did my first EOTO on carrier pigeons! carrier pigeons are actually super interesting and cool. Though they may have been more important thousands of years ago, we can track just how much of an impact they had to today! Now a quick distinction to make, “Carrier Pigeons” were historically used as messengers’ bird, however “Homing Pigeons” do not come from the same line, as eventually the carrier pigeon lost its homing ability. So, in reality the Homing pigeon is the messenger bird after these lines split. We believe that homing pigeons became used for postal services back in 300 BC by the Egyptians. We know this because of some very old Egyptian stamp used for the Pigeon-Gram. The functionality of homing pigeons is quite impressive. People began to notice that pigeons would always return to where their coup was, which allowed for them to become domestic animals. Furthermore, they could find their coup no matter where them flew too, they would always come back. We know today that this is because these birds were about to sense the magnetic pull of the earth and the way atmospheric light is reaching them, all so they could determine where they were and where they needed to go. These birds were then selectively bred and trained to be homed in on certain flight paths, allowing for a two connection between posts. In later centuries, two forms of Pigeons have derived from the original Homing Pigeon. Carrier Pigeons, as talked about before, lost their homing ability as they grew in popularity as pets. Earning them the nickname “fancy pigeon”. The second grouping is the “Racing Pigeon”. Flying messenger pigeons quickly became a sport, soon after a distinctly bred line of pigeon emerged. They were much more A-B with speed fliers than homing pigeons, earning them a separate name. Pigeon races are still active to this day, but a viewed as animal exploitation, in junction with their usage to smuggle narcotics across borders. Whereas the fancy pigeon has become a stable nuisance in large cities for their troubles.

                In a more positive light, breeding and caring for pigeons has become more than a sport today. In the New York Skyline, you can witness communities that have made a hobby out of practicing their unique care it takes to work with homing pigeons. Their effect during their usage is huge. Homing Pigeons allowed from communication lines to be established between places that had never talked to each other before. Islands in Oceania now had a quick and reliable form of communication, and this reign true for many other places on earth. Their true flourishing moment was during war. Where Homing Pigeons could go unnoticed across the field of battle, let alone very hard to stop if you were the enemy watching it fly buy. They allowed for quick communication on the field of battle. The brits even invented a large-scale pigeon carriage that would act as a mobile post for Homing Pigeons. Later on, some Homing Pigeons were known to fly directly to tanks and other vehicles that had been modified to receive and house them. Homing Pigeons played a major role in the Invasion of Normandy, as radios were too risky to use due to compromised lines. But a Homing Pigeons will never turncoat! Homing Pigeons have quiet literally connected islands, people, and nations. So, to have the won wars and saved lives. A truly amazing animal, that to this day is still relied on in many parts of the world.