"I keep a small coop, breeding only 40 to 60 birds. Out of these, ten are lost to birds of prey, ten to training, ten to unexpected things. I only keep 20 when the season is over."

"The racing pigeon is a good match speedwise for the Peregrine falcon," Noel added. "They put them into the city to kill the feral pigeons, but they know my birds are better eating."

     The sport of racing pigeons has roots early in our history. Pigeons as message carriers goes back 5,000 years. The Caliph of Baghdad used a well organized pigeon post, complete with post offices and post masters, in the twelfth century. By the early 19th century, racing pigeons were being used to carry stock exchange quotations between London and several Belgium cities. The American Racing Pigeon Union boasts that most cities and towns of any size in the US have at least one racing club. Disneyland and DisneyWorldUSA have lofts of white racing pigeons.