Dovecote
noun
a shelter with nest holes for domesticated pigeons. AKA pigeon towers
Pigeons used to be something. They were WAY more than annoying flying rats, as too many refer to them. Did you know, pigeons used to be a food source for the masses. Pigeon pie anyone? In fact, they’re still commonly consumed in Ireland, England, Italy, France, parts of Germany, Poland, Belgium and China. At least.
Young (four week old) pigeons—called squab—were and are considered a delicacy. Ya know, like veal—baby cows.
By the by, one pigeon recipe I found calls for 10 wood pigeons, breasts removed and reserved for pie filling. The pigeon’s breasts must be removed before being put into the pie filling mix? Fascinating—do tell! Another recipe talks about “harvesting” pigeons. Jesus Airborne Christ, plants are harvested. Living beings are slaughtered.
Pigeons are also used as targets by giddy shoot-em-up assholes. Bored? Capture and then release a flock of pigeons—see how many you can shoot outta the sky. These ammosexuals aren’t shooting the birds so’s they can provide the main dish for dinner. Nope, the birds are generally tossed aside post hit. They’re shot for the pure joy of killing…killing with a gun. I guess the upside is that at least the bird assassins are killing pigeons, not school children. As far as we know.
Pigeon guano was, and still is, considered to be one of the finest fertilizers in the world and was a highly prized commodity as a result. In the Middle East (where eating pigeon flesh was forbidden) dovecotes were built simply to provide manure for growing fruit and this practice continued for centuries. (source)Pigeon poop was used up until agribusiness found a way to make more money by using chemicals. Poison the planet? Eh, who cares as long as I can afford a new car every year and vacations in the Bahamas.
The guano boom eventually came to an end when two German chemists, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, invented a process to grab nitrogen out of the air and react it with hydrogen to make ammonia - a key component of many nitrogen-based fertilizers (and explosives, but that’s another story…) (source)
All of this brings me back to dovecotes. From an architectural perspective, they’re really cool looking. Okay, except for this one.
"Pigeon towers" sounds like a service that comes and tows away pigeons which are illegally parked. Those subjected to this practice are described as being pigeon-towed.
ReplyDeleteI'd be more convinced of the benefits of pigeon guano as fertilizer if pigeons didn't make an apparent habit of pooing exclusively on cars. I'm not trying to grow fruit trees on my Honda.
I don't approve of "ammosexuals" using guns to massacre pigeons. They should use cats like everybody else does.
Pigeon Towers—a company founded in Venice. They faired poorly there (given the lack of cars) and relocated to Bologna.
DeletePigeons poop on cars for one reason—they’re trying to get people (AND pigeons) to drive less by making them unappealing. The birds on environmental activists.