09-05-2014 6:48 PM
I was in fits of laughter a while back. A no-nonsence bloke pulled up outside our house in a black 4 X 4 while a woman went across the road to get some fish and chips. She was gone a full five minutes during which time this bloke had a poodle on his lap where they were both looking out of the window, with him talking to his dog the whole time - he didn't let up once, with this poodle looking into his face occasionally as if they were having a profound conversation. It certainly doesn't strike me as a "man's dog" and yet this bloke was talking so seriously to it, you'd think he was talking to another person. Ok, we say the odd few words to our animals occasionally , but not a five minute one-to-one! Or I didn't anyway!
09-05-2014 7:08 PM
09-05-2014 7:47 PM
I talk to my dogs all the time, and one of them mumbles back to me! If I am quiet one or other will come up and nudge me and start the "conversation" with little noises.
09-05-2014 7:49 PM
I talk to mine all the time too, And I still say goodnight to little Poppy who died last year. Get more sense out of my dogs than some human beings
09-05-2014 8:02 PM
09-05-2014 8:48 PM
09-05-2014 9:17 PM
My dog went west years ago. I was never one to talk to it though bar scream abuse at it went it did wrong. It's closest companion was a chicken. I'd look out the bedroom window and there they'd be next to one another by the pond. When the chicken went, it felt really lost: you could tell. What I do talk to is the pigeons. They all settle on our roof waiting to be fed. They belong to a house round the corner from us, but the owner never feeds them enough. As soon as my wife puts out birdseed they descend en masse. I coo to them occasionally, but it's the blackbird I'll whistle to - he's whistle away for a full hour as I sit outside to a setting sun. Unlike a robin, a male blackbird will never whistle the same tune twice. Next time there's one in your garden, listen..
09-05-2014 9:22 PM
09-05-2014 9:40 PM
09-05-2014 10:58 PM
We had pigeons out in Cyprus which we kept for live food during week long curfews. Three made a very big pie for the whole family. We also kept chickens for the same purpose and also for fresh eggs.
During the Second World War you had carrier pigeons which would be released over enemy territory, land and have troops read the messages they carried in a small container. Paddy was trained in that part of the war effort but he didn't quite understand what he was meant to do.. When he got the homing pigeon he was asked what the message was.
"Oo - ooo. Oo-ooo. Oo-ooo ....."
09-05-2014 11:10 PM
09-05-2014 11:34 PM
Wasn't there something about a pigeon getting the Victoria cross for what it did in the war?
09-05-2014 11:34 PM
I can't remember what pigeon tastes like - I haven't had it since I was about seven. As I said, we also had chickens for eggs and fresh food. We also had a cockerel which my Mum hated. It was completely mad and used to attack her or anyone who came close as she tried to collect the eggs. It also had a hole in it's lung where after it crowed it would let out a wheeze. I used to mimic it and it used to go mad chasing me all over the place. I could just about run faster than it, and three times round the bungalow would be enough for both of us. Then one day I couldn't see it. I asked Mum where it was - she pointed to the oven I was FURIOUS! It was MY cockerel, and now it was no more! However, three mouthfuls later he was but a happy memory, as he has been ever since. "When I was a young lad ..."
Memories like that last a lifetime.
09-05-2014 11:41 PM
Not a Victoria Cross. It was an official commemoration or something like that awarded to all the animals and birds that helped save the lives of our troops during the war years. Horses, dogs, birds... all were honoured in their own way, but it wasn't a V.C.
10-05-2014 9:59 AM
It is the Dickin medal CG, very brave little bird, made it home even though it was injured. I think there have been quite a few awarded.
My friend is a pigeon racer so knows all about it.
10-05-2014 10:08 AM
Quite a lot of pigeons were awarded the Dicken medal (animal equivelent of the Victoria Cross)
On the list of Dicken medal awards, the majority are pigeons
10-05-2014 10:17 AM
Thank you for enlightening me. Me being a cynic, I'd say it made it home because it wanted something to eat!
Talking about pigeons I laughed when I read thieves had broken into a pigeon fanciers shed and stolen half his homing pigeons. They must have been as thick as two planks, because when released, that's precisely what they did - flew straight back home!!
10-05-2014 11:31 AM
10-05-2014 11:32 AM
I may sound crazy but i have conversations with my Cat all the time,,,one sided mind LOL.
10-05-2014 11:34 AM