Pigeon post is the use of homing pigeons to carry messages. Pigeons were effective as messengers due to their natural homing abilities. The pigeons were transported to a destination in cages, where they would be attached with messages, then naturally the pigeon would fly back to its home where the owner could read his mail. Pigeons have been used to great effect in military situations, with 32 birds winning the Dickin Medal.
Read more about Pigeon Post: Early History, Pigeon Post of Paris, Pigeon Post of Canada, Pigeon Post of Catalina Island, Pigeon Post of Great Barrier Island (New Zealand), See Also
Famous quotes containing the words pigeon and/or post:
“They wait, each like a wooden decoy
or soft like a pigeon or
a sweet snug duck:
until one moves, moves that dart-beak
breaking over.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“A demanding stranger arrived one morning in a small town and asked a boy on the sidewalk of the main street, “Boy, where’s the post office?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, then, where might the drugstore be?”
“I don’t know.”
“How about a good cheap hotel?”
“I don’t know.”
“Say, boy, you don’t know much, do you?”
“No, sir, I sure don’t. But I ain’t lost.””
—William Harmon (b. 1938)