Random randomness

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Jan 04, 2025 2:24 pm

Rumpy wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 1:58 pm Used to have a friend who'd breed racing pigeons. He'd drive to some place, release them and time them on how long it took them to come back.

Don't get me started - I'll just say to imagine how people would react if they did that with puppies.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Jan 04, 2025 4:11 pm

or hepcat.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Jan 04, 2025 6:28 pm

Say that two more times and I appear in your bathroom.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Jan 04, 2025 6:38 pm

Good. I need help learning all my boardgames.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Jan 04, 2025 7:13 pm

I'm obsessed with the Undaunted series currently, so I'll bring them.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Jan 04, 2025 7:39 pm

At 6pm there was still enough light outside to see by. Cool. Begone cold short dark days.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 12:23 am

I, on the other hand, much prefer the cold, short, dark days. Stay gone, glaring, long, hot days.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 12:53 am

I can say one good thing about winter...I dont have to mow.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 2:40 am

I am also in the club that's perfectly happy to be confined to quarters five days a week. I didn't appreciate winter until summers got so unbearable, but I'm more of a fan now. Winter in the country is prettier than winter in the city, albeit more challenging.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 12:12 pm

Kraken wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 2:40 am I am also in the club that's perfectly happy to be confined to quarters five days a week. I didn't appreciate winter until summers got so unbearable, but I'm more of a fan now. Winter in the country is prettier than winter in the city, albeit more challenging.

That's a lot of it for me. The summers have become so miserable that the cold becomes sweet relief.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 3:09 pm

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 2:24 pm
Rumpy wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 1:58 pm Used to have a friend who'd breed racing pigeons. He'd drive to some place, release them and time them on how long it took them to come back.
Don't get me started - I'll just say to imagine how people would react if they did that with puppies.

I don't see them so different from homing and messenger pigeons which have been bred for centuries. They basically have a built-in instinct that is trained to be sharpened. Things are bred for very specific purposes all the time.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 4:02 pm

I know for a fact that I just made up that homing puppies were used throughout the middle ages to deliver messages to kingdoms far away.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 4:24 pm

Yes, I'm assuming homing puppies are very valuable

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 4:40 pm

Also, they're adorable. If Aerys Targaryen sends you a message informing you that he's about to invade and destroy your kingdom, wouldn't you rather get that message from a note tied around the neck of a cute little Dachshund puppy?

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 7:20 pm

Agreed! And it would possibly decrease your anger and stress levels

"Destroying the kingdom? But he can't possibly be that bad! Look at the puppies!"

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:08 pm

A much better delivery method than a Homing Gilbert Gottfried.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:16 pm

hepcat wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:08 pm A much better delivery method than a Homing Gilbert Gottfried.

https://y.yarn.co/8e4c3613-a324-4e42-a8 ... 4d9f7e.mp4

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:46 pm

Rumpy wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 3:09 pm
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 2:24 pm
Rumpy wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 1:58 pm Used to have a friend who'd breed racing pigeons. He'd drive to some place, release them and time them on how long it took them to come back.
Don't get me started - I'll just say to imagine how people would react if they did that with puppies.

I don't see them so different from homing and messenger pigeons which have been bred for centuries. They basically have a built-in instinct that is trained to be sharpened. Things are bred for very specific purposes all the time.

The difference is that one is a necessity, done for survival and communication. The other is for entertainment. It's not like sled dogs or sheep herding dogs - it's closer to dog racing if the dogs had a 40%-60% mortality rate per race. How long do you that would be allowed to go on?

These aren't wild animals. They're domestic animals who do not know 'wild' survival skills, do not know how to find food and water, and do not know how to avoid predators. They're dropped hundreds of miles from home and have to try their best to make it back to safety before they're killed by the process. Those who do die (and those figures I gave above are accurate) often do so slowly and painfully, through starvation or poisoning due to drinking contaminated water (they don't know how to find clean water - it's always just been there in their bowl.) Of those who do make it back, the slowest ones are often simply killed to 'improve the breed.'

All for entertainment.

That's genuinely fucked up.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:48 pm

LordMortis wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:16 pm
hepcat wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:08 pm A much better delivery method than a Homing Gilbert Gottfried.
https://y.yarn.co/8e4c3613-a324-4e42-a8 ... 4d9f7e.mp4

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 9:03 pm

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 9:59 pm

Blackhawk wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 8:46 pm
Rumpy wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 3:09 pm
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 2:24 pm
Rumpy wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 1:58 pm Used to have a friend who'd breed racing pigeons. He'd drive to some place, release them and time them on how long it took them to come back.
Don't get me started - I'll just say to imagine how people would react if they did that with puppies.

I don't see them so different from homing and messenger pigeons which have been bred for centuries. They basically have a built-in instinct that is trained to be sharpened. Things are bred for very specific purposes all the time.
The difference is that one is a necessity, done for survival and communication. The other is for entertainment. It's not like sled dogs or sheep herding dogs - it's closer to dog racing if the dogs had a 40%-60% mortality rate per race. How long do you that would be allowed to go on?

These aren't wild animals. They're domestic animals who do not know 'wild' survival skills, do not know how to find food and water, and do not know how to avoid predators. They're dropped hundreds of miles from home and have to try their best to make it back to safety before they're killed by the process. Those who do die (and those figures I gave above are accurate) often do so slowly and painfully, through starvation or poisoning due to drinking contaminated water (they don't know how to find clean water - it's always just been there in their bowl.) Of those who do make it back, the slowest ones are often simply killed to 'improve the breed.'

All for entertainment.

That's genuinely fucked up.

I understand the concern, but it wasn't just for entertainment for him. He genuinely cared for these pigeons and had a strong bond for them, and he told us he lost very few of them in the time that he'd done this, and if he did lose any, he'd become pretty devastated and took it very seriously.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 10:08 pm

There are forms of selective breading that are genuinely worth frowning upon (to say the least).

I think BH shared a few examples.

The idea that someone might genuinely love a creature that is the result of it isn't a crime - but usually those people also don't understand how the animal suffers... all for 'our' superficial enjoyment.

(I know nothing of racing pigeons, but I know the greyhound story)

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Sun Jan 05, 2025 10:40 pm

I guess I should have specified that he bred them more as homing pigeons, which do serve a purpose, ie in understanding how birds can effectively navigate, which to be fair scientists are still trying to understand.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:23 am

Rumpy wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 10:40 pm I guess I should have specified that he bred them more as homing pigeons, which do serve a purpose, ie in understanding how birds can effectively navigate, which to be fair scientists are still trying to understand.

I think we're just going to have to disagree on this (I consider it a brutal, cruel 'hobby', hurting and killing animals for human amusement), but sport racing isn't scientific inquiry.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:39 am

I think it entirely depends on how it's done. If it's done unethetically without care for the animals, then sure, but I think it's different when there's awareness, plus there's a lot more technology out there now to keep track of birds and to know where they are at all times now.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 2:39 am

Rumpy wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:39 am I think it entirely depends on how it's done. If it's done unethetically without care for the animals, then sure, but I think it's different when there's awareness, plus there's a lot more technology out there now to keep track of birds and to know where they are at all times now.

Just give them all cell phones.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 11:27 am

Do you seriously think that driving hundreds of miles from home and then dropping off a cell phone to see if it will find its way back would work? I guess they could call an Uber on their own. But they don't have pockets for the cash. Oh, wait...they could use google pay or apple pay, I guess.

You know what, I take it back. That would totally work.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 11:43 am

hepcat wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 11:27 am Do you seriously think that driving hundreds of miles from home and then dropping off a cell phone to see if it will find its way back would work? I guess they could call an Uber on their own. But they don't have pockets for the cash. Oh, wait...they could use google pay or apple pay, I guess.

You know what, I take it back. That would totally work.

Bad idea to give pigeon a phone.

https://youtu.be/imHj4x1JudU?t=289

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:14 pm

No one has suggested giving a pigeon a phone. That's just ridiculous. We're discussing a cell phone's ability to spontaneously achieve sentience and utilize ride sharing services when left to fend for itself in the woods. A pigeon with a phone? You make us sound like loonies, for christ's sake.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 2:05 pm

You guys...

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 2:49 pm

hepcat wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:14 pm No one has suggested giving a pigeon a phone. That's just ridiculous. We're discussing a cell phone's ability to spontaneously achieve sentience and utilize drive sharing services when left to fend for itself in the woods. A pigeon with a phone? You make us sound like loonies, for christ's sake.

Right, that's a job for an African swallow, obviously, although it would likely need popsocket on the phone to keep a firm grip.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 2:50 pm

Rumpy wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:39 am I think it entirely depends on how it's done. If it's done unethetically without care for the animals, then sure,

There is no ethical way to take domestic animals hundreds of miles from home and dump them just to see which one makes it back first, knowing that a significant portion will die painfully along the way. None whatsoever.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 3:29 pm

It's not as black or white as you paint it. First of all, he was well-respected and regarded in his community, and people would come to him to sometime rehab pigeons; there aren't a whole lot of wildlife rehab places around here, and he would have been considered closest to an expert on them. He would know pigeons inside and out. He would only ever send out the strong ones out on long journeys. If any were weak, he would not send them out at all until they've regained their strength. And he would always always build up their resistence, by first having them do short journeys and monitor them to make sure they got adjusted to their environment. Like anything, you have to work at weaning them off being reliant and getting used to the wild, and the only way they can do that is by getting them out there.

But I can see I'm not going to convince you, so I'll drop the matter. He's passed away for about a decade now.

stimpy · Post by **stimpy** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 3:45 pm

Arguably the (former) meanest, baddest mofo to walk the earth absolutely loves his pigeons.

https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.bl ... he-pigeon/

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 3:48 pm

Don't worry Rumpy, I had people jumping on me one time because I had a friend who bought and resold Legos. (He wasn't scalping them - he'd invest in sets he thought would eventually go out of print, hang on to them a few years until they were retired, then sell them). Of course, he was labeled as a scalper by the OO court of public opinion, and I subsequently got the wrath. As if I had any control over the hobbies of someone who lived in another time zone.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 4:26 pm

YellowKing wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 3:48 pm Don't worry Rumpy, I had people jumping on me one time because I had a friend who bought and resold Legos.

I'm with those people who jumped all over you. What kind of monster hunts and then traps Legos in the wild and then forces them to take on uncomfortable shapes for their own amusement? Smashing them into Human Centipede like formations?

I'll tell you what kind of monster. The HUMAN kind!

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:32 pm

I dont mess with Legos. They have stealth infiltration teams that can get into your home and hide themselves in carpets and other place where they know your normal walking pattern and allow themselves to be stepped on in the middle of the night. Its not ...pleasant.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:39 pm

Rumpy wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 3:29 pm He's passed away for about a decade now.

Talk about burying the lede.

You know a zombie that rehabs pigeons for sport‽

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:20 pm

YellowKing wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 3:48 pm Don't worry Rumpy, I had people jumping on me one time because I had a friend who bought and resold Legos. (He wasn't scalping them - he'd invest in sets he thought would eventually go out of print, hang on to them a few years until they were retired, then sell them). Of course, he was labeled as a scalper by the OO court of public opinion, and I subsequently got the wrath. As if I had any control over the hobbies of someone who lived in another time zone.

Oh, I'm not worried. The internet can be incredibly divisive, and even I can see how such a hobby would itself be controversial. But thanks! Via hobbies of different kinds, you get all sorts of people, and you may come across people with a lack of ethics and are really pushing it, if say the hobby is animal related, but you would also come across plenty of people who would do all they can to make sure they are as ethically as possible in a chosen hobby . What I do know is that the friend we had was very caring and compassionate, was a healer and he really cared for his pigeons and would get choked up if something happened to one of them. It was really quite moving how much affection he had for his pigeons.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Mon Jan 06, 2025 10:21 pm

hepcat wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:14 pm No one has suggested giving a pigeon a phone. That's just ridiculous. We're discussing a cell phone's ability to spontaneously achieve sentience and utilize ride sharing services when left to fend for itself in the woods. A pigeon with a phone? You make us sound like loonies, for christ's sake.

Actually that's exactly what I meant.
Give the pigeons cell phones then set them up with Waze.