Another Reason To Hate Pigeons

I don't actually hate pigeons. I've had wonderful pigeons, roasted rare and seasoned with five-spice powder at any number of good Chinese restaurants. They taste like turkey, only better.

But today I saw this disturbing article in the Los Angeles Times: a group of local pigeon fanciers has been charged with killing between 1000 and 2000 raptors a year over the last several years. They claimed that the raptors have been killing off their precious investments. One pigeon breeder said he liked to pummel the raptors he caught before killing them, because "it gets the frustration out."

As my Mexican-American friends would say, qué pendejo.

As if urban raptors aren't having a tough enough time as it is. And as an ornithologist interviewed for the article stated, "If they really did kill 2000, they killed a whole lot of birds that don't eat pigeons."

Well, I eat pigeons. And I can think of at least a few overbred pigeons out there that might make a fine entree. I've got a lot of entertaining planned for the summer, and plenty of five-spice powder in the cupboard.