Interesting Cases

Jack Prescott
(Internet Published) Mar 2001

I had a letter from a Tippler man who told me that his Tipplers sometimes flew into the clouds for a long time. Shortly afterwards, I had a second letter to tell me that his Tipplers had returned after an exercise with burned feet and belly feathers. Well, they didn't get these burns in the clouds - That is for sure. The man reckons that the burns were caused by flames or chemicals, so his Tipplers must have been down somewhere.

A parallel case came to light many, many years ago in Sheffiled, England. A flier and his referee had maintained watch on a kit of 3 Macclesfield Hens all day finding no faults. Regular appearances had been recorded and the style of flying indicated no suspicion of dropping away. However, when the kit was called down, lofted and band checked some grey sludge was found on the pigeons feet, later said to be shale sludge from a nearby coal mine tip. The owner promptly dislocated the necks of all 3 Macs and the referee said that he would have to report the matter to the local Tippler Committee.

The panel, consisting of the president and two senior members deplored the incident. Then spoke Dr. Lionel Wilson, a respected flier. He said "Gentlemen, it is coming to something when we have to carry out forensics to try and prove defecting". Then spoke the owner "Gentleman, I know nothing about forensics, but my kit collected mine sludge from the Tinsley Park mine and were of no further use to me or anybody else". Then spoke the President, "Gentlemen, this had been a bad business and creates all manner of doubt about any kit that disappears, as indeed all kits do. I would have preferred not to have been here today and I wish that I had gone fishing instead. No further action or debate is appropriate".

[Internet Published Mar 2001 at http://www.tipplers.com/jack/]