Guest Post by Heather Hohlowski

On September 12, Palomacy received an email from a woman in Cottage Grove, Minnesota:

We wrote her back and explained that this was a domestic bird who needed to be caught and brought inside to safety. We copied our friend Rose Jensen on the email — Rose runs a pigeon rescue in Shoreview, Minnesota, which happens to be about 30 miles from the pigeon’s rooftop hangout. (She is also one of Palomacy’s amazing Facebook Help Group Moderators.) Rose quickly responded that she knew someone in Cottage Grove who might be able to help. And within hours, that someone — Johanna — had safely gotten Mr. Peepers off the roof and into her arms. He is staying with her for the time being and she is treating him for a pretty severe lice infestation. We are so grateful to Rose and Johanna for arranging such a lightening-fast rescue and for giving this lucky pigeon a chance at a long, happy life.

Johanna believes Mr. Peepers is a Roller pigeon, based on his size and “sketchy flight skills”. And he is just a tiny fledgling — just 190 grams and still squeaking and with pink feet and beak. I had assumed Johanna must run her own rescue, but she does not. Her entry into the pigeon world came during COVID, when a pigeon she named Bert showed up on her driveway. That’s when she found Rose, who helped her with Bert’s rescue. Since then, she has adopted two pigeon racing survivors and two rollers, and has rescued two other birds, Girlfriend from a motel parking lot last year and Beatrice from a local yard just a few weeks ago. She and her husband also tried to save a hit-and-run Racing pigeon named “Ginger” last week, but she unfortunately did not make it despite five days of round-the-clock hand-feeding. As for Mr. Peepers’ future, Johanna is not entirely sure yet what lies ahead, but notes that her daughter has already grown quite attached to him, “So we will see!”