I'm reading a book Animals In War by Jilly Cooper in this there is a passages on hawks trained by the Germans to kill (post)pigeons both in WW1 and WW2, anybody know more on this? Where and which troop had hawks? Did the allies used hawks to hunt for pigeons?
Thanks Patrick
-- Edited by poky on Tuesday 5th of May 2009 10:33:46 PM
I must admit I haven't heard that before, but I don't suppose it can be ruled out. At the Great Exhibition in 1851 the hall became infested with sparrows that nested in the roof and began pooping on the exhibits and visitors. Shooting them was out of the question, since the building was made predominantly of glass. The answer, suggested by the Duke of Wellington, was sparrowhawks. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Germans experimented with the idea.
__________________
"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
Yes it seems somewhat bizarre, but is it more bizarre then straping a camara to a pidgeon... some enterprising german officers may well have brought their hunting hawks to the front just in case....
... and just how would the hunting hawks differentiate between an allied , or German trained message bird ? ... the supposition appears a bit silly.....
What made me suspicious about this was the author. I think she is known for horsey romance novels, the so-called 'aga sagas'.
However, I wish I was better with photoshop, or maybe even had a copy, as I would like to see carrier pigeons with wing markings, and maybe a bright red hawk with a large number of tally marks.
__________________
In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.
The hawk is under the control of its trainer to a certain extent identification is easy as homing pidgeons will only fly in one direction...Home.... so if its flying towards the allied lines its an allied bird and fair game and vice versa, I think a shotgun would be more appropriate..... of course you can allways send in The Vulture Squadron...
Cheers
-- Edited by Ironsides on Friday 8th of May 2009 06:56:14 PM