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August news letter
Respect and The Flying Pigeon "It is our solemn duty, both to the welfare of the performing pigeon and our ancestors, to carry on from where they left off; and I am sure the same would be their last and most profound wish were they able to give vent to any suggestion of this kind. We have been given the material to work with, for which we should be very grateful, as far as we should be concerned, nothing else matters." Wm. Hyla Pensom (1934) In the June '99 Debut, my paper "COOP AND CRACK TUMBLERS"
drew a great deal of attention. Overall, the flying fraternity was very
happy that someone had finally come forward to address the situation
and as always, I received a ton of mail. On the other side the show
fraternity was quite a bit less happy on account that I had ripped into
them a bit for ignoring their pigeon's aerial capacities, thereby destroying
hundreds of years of work. This was much deserved, and let me just say
here, that I breed and fly pigeons for the sake of pigeons (easily understood
when people find out that I spend 8 to 10 hours daily with my pigeons.
I am not retired, nor do I keep hundreds of pigeons. The fact is, I
am not into this to socialize, make many friends or spread world peace
among all fanciers. The latter is never going to happen anyway. I have
some good friends in pigeons. Some have passed away, and I would not
change those friendships for anything. Still, this is secondary to the
birds themselves. Naturally, some will find this a bit too intense,
but then what they call a "hobby", I view as a very, very serious form
of art and a lifestyle. When you are an eighth generation animal fancier
and that is taken very seriously to result in great success that is
inevitable. For me, by my own choices, nothing is more important than
the Domestic Pigeon, and this is an outlook and a reality that I do
not recommend to anyone, lest they are prepared to scarify things in
their life for this. Of all the things that Dan Ouellette, my mentor
in the Birmingham Roller had told me, there was only one thing he said
that I did not listen to, and that is when he told me: "Never let your
pigeons hold you back from other things in life." I remember it vividly
enough to this day, and Dan Ouellette knew what he was saying from his
own personal experience, but of all things, it was what I simply allowed
to go in one ear and out the other. This much I can say, is that if
someone had ever told him the same, he would have not have listened
either. My stance for flying pigeons is not anti-show, though it may
seem so on the surface. Contrary, I show mine extensively and it is
no secret that I win a lot more than my equal share, and in certain
breeds, no one has been more successful on this continent; my Rzhevski
Turmani being a primary example. In fact, all flying fanciers should
show a few pigeons at every opportunity, even if they don't care what
the judge thinks or if they win or lose. The fact is there is no better
publicity for a breed than to showing them. One can write all they like,
plaster advertising and photos in every magazine issue. This does little,
simply because words, photos or even videos do pigeons little justice.
If "a picture is worth a thousand words", then the bird in life is worth
ten thousand. The most attention a breed will receive is in the showroom,
and it is here that one will start new fanciers. Many of you may now
say: "But the real show is in the air'. Indeed it is, but from a promotionally
view, very, very few fanciers are gained through the observation of
the kit. The only time a kit may have many observers is if they are
flown in an area with many flying fanciers in a competition, or in the
off chance that a fly is held with some sort of large convention. Otherwise,
you may be lucky to get 10 visitors a year apart from the locals. The
fact is, even if you extend many invitations to view the kit, most people
just cannot be bothered to come see a kit. A number of years ago, a
big PRC/URCA combined Show Roller meet was held in town. At that show,
I talked to a group of show fanciers who'd never seen a kit of rollers
in the air, but they all claimed they wanted to. Well I had five kits
going at that time and I lived half a mile from the showroom and the
invitation was extended to any of the 40 some fanciers at that show
to see them. Only two accepted; one was the late Paul Platz, who of
course flew his pigeons; the other was a guy who had made the arrangements
four months ahead of time to see them. The rest could not be bothered,
even though they claimed they wanted the opportunity. On the other side,
90% of those who will go watch, are really much more interested in talking
or handling your breeders than watching the kit, and that comes as no
surprise since they do the same with their own pigeons. Doug Oullette,
my mentor in roller's brother, once wrote: "The roll is over in an eye
blink; if you were talking, you missed it." You can always tell a good
flying fancier from a novice one just by how he watches a kit. The best
will be fixed 100% on them, and if they do talk, they are still glued
to them. On the same note, even if a kit is quite bad, I will always
watch for at least 10 minutes out of some respect. The fancier who watches
kits intently, succeeds, simply because he is paying attention! If you
release your kit, run off to work and let your wife get them in, you've
already defeated and doomed yourself. Watch your kit! The bottom line
is that flying a kit is just not enough for the breed, simply because
it does not effectively accomplish drawing in many new fanciers. The
show room is the most potent form of publicity for any breed. If I am
anti anything, I am against this retched concept of breeding what is
intended to be a flying breed strictly for the exhibition room. If I
have the power, I would have taken away the pigeons indefinitely from
those who breed flying breeds only for exhibition, I can honestly say
that every pigeon I show is proven in the air, except in the case of
the very young kit birds I show on some occasions in the spring. Either
way, this comes first and no one can tell me that a person cannot succeed
at both with the same birds. I can honestly say that my pigeons are
what they were intended to be. In my Turmani and Statnije breeds, I
can also say for fact, while I do select towards the conformation ideal,
it is not for the purpose of showing. It is due to tradition, as the
old time Russian fancier set down precise ideals in type, colon markings
and in the air. If you want great Turmani, they must not only fly like
Turmani, but they must also look like Turmani! The same is also true
of most flying breeds. Naturally, it is difficult to achieve, but no
one said it is supposed to be easy! Respect is the bottom line and this
is something most fanciers do not have for their pigeons or for their
breed. These people seem to think that because they pay the feeding
bill, it gives them a right to do what they choose to the birds. This
is about as valid as the old empires that sent teams of explorers around
the world to claim new lands and by simply stepping foot on the soil
it became theirs to do with it as they chose. Those who lived there
for thousands of years that, because they don't have a say in it! In
the same light, what right does a fancier have to intentionally alter
or warp what has taken a thousand years to create? They have no right
at all. Breeders have a responsibility to their breed to preserve and
hopefully improve upon them. "Improve" does not mean stop flying it
and mount a big head and neck on it. Improvement means flying the birds
and creating higher percentages of the best in the air. If it is not
bad enough that these people won't fly their birds and continue only
to destroy them, many are also known to pass on their pigeons unfit
for show purposes onto trusting novices as flying stock. My late partner,
Gary Blain once went back to his place of birth at Salt Lake City, to
buy birds and there he visited a well-known and long time fancier of
Oriental Rollers. Upon asking to buy birds, he was told that "both show
and "flying" stock was available, but more "flying" stock than show
stock. He quickly noted an absence of not only kits, but also kit lofts,
and as the time went by he began to note that some of these so called
"flying" Orientals had some of the same parents as the show birds. He
also noted that from a show standpoint, all the "flying" birds had major
faults, but otherwise were identical to the show birds. Yes, this show
fancier was trying to pass off his culls as flown stock. On the same
level, back in the mid 80's, a local friend of mine got back into Rollers
after having them as a kid and went to a well known show fancier (who
was later President of the Pensom Roller Club), who supposedly had some
proven flying Pensoms for sale. My friend (who did not know any better
at the time) paid $100 a pair and bought several pairs (and that was
in 1985 or 1986!). Of course this guy had sold him culled show birds
as so called "proven" aerial stock. Later on, Dan Ouellette came around
and saw this. Dan traded him 2 real pairs for all of these show culls,
of which he promptly killed, lock, stock and barrel! If I were to compile
a list of the people who have written or called me who told me they
had been sold cull show stock in the guise of proven or good flying
stock over the last ten years. What is worse, is that some of these
fanciers were taken advantage of as many as a half dozen times in a
year. With that in mind, buyers beware! If you are buying so called
flying stock and the fancier will not back them up with a written guarantee
and provide some instruction, then "don't buy"! It is true, the master
flying fancier knows what he has and he will command a high price for
his birds. $100 to $200 is considered expensive, but justified as long
as these pigeons are guaranteed in writing. On that note, if the fancier
charges very little for his birds per pair. He obviously doesn't think
too much of his pigeons. Buying from a master flier may seem very expensive,
but paying his price is cheaper than going through thousands of dollars
of so called flying pigeons. In the end, if you are serious, you will
end up buying off the master flier anyway, though it may be years of
wasted time and thousands of dollars down the line. Finally, don't fool
yourself: high quality flying pigeons are in demand and a master flier
can make a nice supplement to his income with little effort. Some very
good fliers have been labeled as "feather merchants". The jealous are
not too willing to compete in the air against them, or back their own
pigeons up with similar guarantees. If anyone is in searching for high
quality flying pigeons in any breed, but is in doubt of where to go,
I can refer you to someone if you ask. The bottom line is that the people
who continue to mongrelize and not fly what were intended to be a flying
breed are ruthlessly destroying their breed. I have a small stud of
Kaluga Turmani. A breed my great grandfather, Kazys Romanov bred at
Petrehof in NW Russia (just above Petrograd, near the mouth of the River
Neva), before the Bolshevik Revolution. I am reminded of the story of
one Ivan Bondarov of Kaluga, who before Soviet times was the greatest
breeder and flier of the Kaluga Turmani in history. Saying that times
in Russia were very difficult in the last days of Tsardom would be an
understatement. Times are difficult in Russia today, but not quite as
bad as they were then. Famine in Russia was so severe at the time that
in cities like Moscow, Petrograd, Tula, Smolensk, Odessa and others,
that the police had to go out each morning to remove the bodies of those
who had died in the night in the streets and alleyways. Even though
my own family, being Imperialists, was very wealthy before the revolution,
they had nothing left at the end. Even Nicholas II was broke and had
only funding to run his household only 9 months of the year, and don't
believe the history books that claim he lavished wealth on his family,
because it's not historically accurate. His family ate bad food, took
cold baths and slept on military cots. It is true that before this time,
imperialists in Russia had vast wealth but it was not only squandered
off long before, but the last went to help fund the world war. In the
meantime, 9 million men had been sent to war against the Germans and
the Austrians, often armed only with hand axes or no weapons at all
(not enough rifles). Russian casualties in the war remain foggy to this
day, but the average estimate is about half of those 9 million men.
To top it off, we also fought the Turks in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan
at the same time. In addition to Russians were fighting among themselves
as a result of the revolution. Naturally, this period was a crushing
blow to the Russian fancy due not only to famine and chaos, but also
due to the fact that many outstanding fanciers died in Romania, Poland,
and Armenia and elsewhere in the war. Many breeds were lost during this
period and many more were so severely damaged that they have yet to
recover even 80 years later. Ivan Bondarov is attributed to saving the
Kaluga breed from extinction, primarily by denying himself of food for
the sake of his birds. If he found a scrap of stale bread, it went to
his pigeons. It is said that even if he had to cheat or steal, his pigeons
ate. Some say he even killed a man once for a stale loaf of bread to
feed his pigeons. Finally, Ivan Bondarov grew ill because of the hardships
he endured for his pigeons and finally died shortly after the revolution.
Because of his self scarifies, his pigeons survived and it is due to
him that the Kaluga Turmani still exists today. And so I say, when you
are ready to go this far for your breed and honestly mean it, only then
do you have a right to call them your pigeons and do as you choose to
them. I for one am willing, but I can't say that I know others willing.
In the same light, Bondarov was not alone in his scarify. There were
many fanciers all over Europe during both world wars who took great
risks for their pigeons. Some ultimately met tragic and gruesome ends
in a hail of bullets as the German military understood the value of
a pigeon and made it illegal in occupied countries to possess them.
The punishment was imprisonment, fines or even death during that time.
I have received tales of the valor of Serbian fanciers who rescued outstanding
birds from the certain death of the hell that NATO rained down on the
cities in Serbia and elsewhere in Yugoslavia just this year. In this
respect, what right does the average fancier have to maliciously crossbreed
or alter the function and characteristics of any given breed? As well,
this doesn't apply to just flying breeds; what about Utility, Voice
and certain Pouter breeds? Have a little respect for your pigeons, their
history and the fanciers who once bred them.
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