An ode to Dot the Pigeon
Harold Shaw of Penobscot with Dot, a homing pigeon from New Brunswick. Photo courtesy of Sue Shaw.
Editor’s note: When a homing pigeon from Canada showed up in Penobscot, it didn’t seem to want to leave, so Sue and Harold Shaw kept it fed and watered. The bird eventually made it home, with a bit of assistance. Sue Shaw wrote the following poem about the experience. See The Rising Tide’s related story.
Dot the Pigeon
By Sue Shaw
Let me tell you the adventures of a pigeon name of Dot
She came to visit us in Maine…came here to Penobscot!
She had wandered off her route…perhaps the wind’s the reason
She was on her way to Grand Manan—it’s pigeon racing season!
Dot is just a baby—she’s only 5 months old…
But she’s a racing beauty with colors bright and bold!
She really was quite handsome with her pink and turquoise shine…
Set off by gray and a little white—that pigeon sure looked fine!
Did she “recalculate” her route when she began to roam?
How did she know that we’d have feed, would see that she’d get home?
We took a lot of pictures, gave her water, told eBird
Then she walked the drive with Harold—oh my goodness…oh, my word…
She walked with him right to the barn and the group of bird seed cans…
Like she knew what she was doing…I will swear that bird had plans!
It was like she knew that we would have what she would need so much…
Not only seed, but that we’d be a really quite soft touch!
She ate and drank there for a while, then sat down in the sun…
But we were very worried that when finally day was done....
She would be quite vulnerable—in danger from an owl
Or from a hunting coyote that was out and on the prowl!
So we got our big cat kennel—it was large enough, we thought…
And with a gentle ‘swish’ from a fishing net—that pigeon Dot was caught!
So Lucky shared his kennel and Dot stayed safe as she could be
Then we noticed leg bands--they were plainly there to see…
The bands—those bird-type license plates for an ID situation…
They tell us where and how to find specific information!
And so, we learned her name is Dot, her age and where she’s going…
It gave a number we could call, so that we soon were knowing
That she was in a pigeon race that started in Quebec
And was to end on Grand Manan…just offshore from Lubec!
She rested in the kennel—she ate and drank her fill…
Then we’d been told “just let her go…because that pigeon will
Come home to her dovecote—she knows what she should do!”
And so we did on Thursday—wished her “Godspeed”…off she flew…
We were a little sad to see that pigeon fly away…
But early the next morning…yes, early the next day…
Down there by the barn doors at the bottom of the drive…
There was Dot, just waiting for her breakfast to arrive!
So Dot the racing pigeon returned to Doshen shore…
Came back here to Penobscot and was at the Shaw's once more!
But Harold had a back-up plan! He said “Oh, what the heck!
We'll just give our girl a ride….we'll drive her to Lubec!”
The trip took a few hours, but we went right to the beach…
If she flew in the right direction, then our pretty girl could reach
Home in 30 minutes! On Grand Manan at last
‘Cause she’s a racing-homing pigeon and she’s really wicked fast!
We let her go at 3:08. To the South-East, skies were clear…
She shot off like a bullet and we waited then to hear.
Will Dot fly into her dovecote and be home? We hoped she would….
Or will she head back down the coast? We realized she could…
We waited and we worried….what would happen next?
Then we heard…we got the word….Harold got a text!
Dot was home! Home safe and sound…she’d flown across the border…
In 37 minutes—and now everything’s in order!
So, Dot’s back home with friends and resting. She’ll race again next year.
We’ll go up to cheer her on, but one thing right now’s clear….
Dot and her adventures will be a favorite tale...
From finding her, to the Lubec flats and it’s likely to entail,
Step by step her journey—from Quebec to Grand Manan
Set down in a timeline…at least that is the plan!
And if you sit down with Harold in a comfy, quiet spot
Any time of day…he’ll likely say…“Let me tell you the story of Dot!”
Dot takes flight on a beach in Lubec, headed across the water to her home on Grand Manan. Photo courtesy of Sue Shaw.
