16 May 2014

Pigeons at Easton and in the West

The Easton papers are boasting of the supply of pigeons in their market. We have seen them overhead, but very few have been caught in this neighborhood. The Argus says an individual in Upper Mount Bethel caught in two hauls, with a net, seventy dozen. From the following it would appear that they are very abundant in the west. A letter from Laurel, Indiana, says:

"I am completely worn down. The pigeons are roosting all through the woods, and the roosts extend for miles. Our neighbors and ourselves have for several nights built large fires and keep up reports of fire-arms to scare them off.

While I write, within a quarter of a mile, there are thirty guns firing; the pigeons come in such large quantities as to destroy a great deal of timber, break limbs of large trees and even tear up some of the roots. The woods are covered with dead pigeons, and the hogs, are getting fat on them. Our old friend Henrich, formerly of Baltimore killed fifty at four shots.

April 4, 1850. Pigeons. Jeffersonian Republican 10(33): 2.