From: Kathryn Aegis (aegis@igc.apc.org)
Date: Fri Oct 09 1998 - 20:57:18 MDT
Homing pigeons, actually. In one of the odder natural events on the East
Coast of the United States, 75% of nearly 3000 homing pigeons became
completely lost during a competitive race this past week in the Washington
area. This is an astonishing percentage of loss for the creatures. They
have been flying around for days, into a state of complete exhaustion, and
landing in people's yards.
Although the mechanism by which homing pigeons operate is not completely
understood, this incident may eventually yield a key to understanding it,
and maybe utilizing it in some way. Sunspot activity can confuse a homing
pigeon, but there was no sunspot activity this week. The prevailing theory
is that this area has become an intensive cellphone region, and that the
increase in use of cellphones is somehow interfering with the birds' homing
mechanisms. Most races have been held on the weekend, when cellphone
activity is low, but this particular race was held during the weekday, when
cellphone activity is high.
Kathryn Aegis
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