Preacher's pigeons homed in
By SCOTT BAUGHMAN Ledger Staff Writer scottb@gaffneyledger.com

Ledger photo / SCOTT BAUGHMAN Luciana Singleton and daughter Sarah feed their White Racing Homer pigeons. Rev. Ron Singleton began raising the birds last May and uses them at funeral services and other occasions.

Rev. Ron Singleton knows all too well about comforting grieving families on the loss of a loved one. But now, he has what he thinks might be an uplifting option for a time when families are feeling down.

"In April of last year I attended a funeral in Florida that ended in a unique way," Singleton recalled. "At the end of the service, they released what I thought were doves into the sky, so that the people ended, not looking down at the grave, but up at the sky. To me that's a beautiful sentiment and an important symbol for Christians."

After investigating further, he found out they weren't doves at all, but rather a breed of pigeons. Specifically, the birds were White Racing Homers.

"In about May of 2006 I decided I'd start raising some myself," he said. "We have 17 birds right now, but there are a few more on the way with some eggs about to hatch. Soon after the funeral, I found a lady in Florida who had some birds for sale. I could have just ordered them and had them shipped here, but I wanted to check out the operation. I wanted to see how she raised them and cared for them. So one of my sons and I went down and checked it out. We bought six birds that had never flown and brought them back in my own vehicle. I built a small coop for them and started training them. It worked well and we went a second time to Florida and bought 20 more birds."

SINGLETON

Astute readers will notice that Singleton doesn't have 26 birds right now.

"Training them can be a tricky thing," he explained. "First, we release them right around the yard and then they come back in a while. Some birds return in a few hours, some come back in a day, some come back in a few days and some don't come back at all. Either their homing instinct isn't quite right, or they don't survive."

Newly purchased birds must be ones that have never flown.

"Once the pigeons are released and return, they're linked to that area for life," Singleton explained. "They can fly up to 500 miles to get home, but they never fly at night, so it is important to plan for the birds' trip back when you take them somewhere. For my birds, I've taken them as far away as Spartanburg and sometimes they beat me home. Some people I know who race them in Tennessee say they can beat them home. They have a top speed of about 50 miles an hour. Of course, they can just fly in a straight line."

Weather can make navigation for the birds difficult, but it isn't the only hazard they face.

"Until I got these pigeons, I never knew we had so many hawks in Gaffney," Singleton said. "The pigeons are extremely vulnerable to the predators when they're taking off, but once they get airborne and get high enough, they can outmaneuver the hawks."

The option to use the birds at a funeral has been well received by Singleton's congregation at Limestone Street United Methodist Church.

"So far I've used the birds twice," he said. "And we've worked with Blakely Funeral home to use them twice. But a few people have also requested to have them at weddings and we sometimes take them to schools to show children."