Pigeon home from home

When pigeons come in with injuries we wait till they’ve recovered and then release them.  They sometimes hang around for a while and then they fly off.   Not all of them do this however.   Peppa pigeon was here for about a month before we released her.  We thought she’d flown away but not so, she’d only gone as far as the sanctuary kitchen.  It has a high roof and a convenient ledge and that’s where Peppa has made her home.

Wait a bit, aren’t there a family of cats living in the kitchen?   Yes and they don’t bother about Peppa at all.   The first night we noticed her roosting we tried to persuade her to move out but she wasn’t having any of it.  She likes the ledge and the food we put out for her on the window sill.   Can the cats climb up there?   We don’t think so – but what if she came down for extras?   Would she be a plump pigeon supper for Tortie or Myrtle or Timmy?

But all was well next morning.    Peppa coo-ed to us and looked very comfortable.  The cats ignored her and asked for pouches, although they are all keen hunters with birds and rodents they don’t know.   Peppa is still in residence and doesn’t want to go even when the door is open, so it’s cats and a bird living together which is amazing.

Peppa’s ledge is on the top right hand corner, you can just see her.  Perhaps the cats are too well fed and lazy to bother her and she knows it.