“I’ve never seen that in my life!” We know that many animals always return to where they were born. But this is exceptional! »: a few days ago, Gilbert Mélanie, a pigeon breeder in Amayé-sur-Orne (Calvados), saw a pigeon arriving in his loft with strange behavior. “He was thin and I immediately felt that he had atypical behavior for a newcomer…” And for good reason, he was not a newcomer but indeed a “returner.” »
In 2016, Gilbert took part in a competition in Poitiers (Vienna). “I specialized in speed events. The principle is simple: a truck collects all the pigeons competing in the department and takes them to the release location. The pigeons then return spontaneously to their original loft and, after checking their ring number, we note the time of their return,” he explains. Except that that day, his favorite pigeon, No. 060683, did not return.
“How could he have remembered the location?” »
“At first I wasn’t worried. It happens that the pigeons hang around on the way before returning. So I went to look at the dovecote every evening. But nothing. He had indeed disappeared. » Until these last days since one morning, Gilbert saw this emaciated pigeon. “I quickly tried to check the number of his ring and there, amazement… It was indeed 060683! No doubt, it was my pigeon returning to the nest… More than 7 years later! »
Also read “We didn’t really believe it anymore”: they found their cat who disappeared six years ago more than 1000 km from home
The breeder then discovers a second ring on the bird's legs. It was the reference of a breeder from Ain. Apparently, the pigeon has been staying in Oyonnax all this time. “I wonder how he remembered the position of my dovecote, more than 7 years later. » And the story is even more beautiful since this pigeon has just been the father of a brood of young ones. “I thought at 11 he would be sterile, but no. It's definitely a hell of a number. »