Racing Homer Facts and Secrets

Chapter 1

The History of the Racing Homer

The racing homer, one of man's oldest friends in the domesticated fowl kingdom, is a descendent of the Wild Rock Pigeon, which once abounded on the contients of Europe and Asia.  Early history of the development is fragmentary at the most, but it is an established fact that the use of pigeons for carrying messages was prevalent as long as 3,000 years ago.

An Egyptian basrelief, traced to about 1350 B.C., showing a flock of pigeons being released from their cages, is one of the earliest recorded pieces of information we have of the history of the bird and the sport.  Biblical references are made to pigeons and the use of doves as far back as Noah's time during the Great Flood, is recorded.

The Messenger pigeon, as they were first known among the ancients, also struck the fancy of the Persian race and a regular pigeon post was maintained at Baghdad for more than one hundred years.

From Persia, the pigeons whose homing instincts gradually developed, spread throughout the world.  News of the historic Olympics during the Golden Age of Greece were rushed to surrounding cities by a well developed system off pigeon communication.  Brutus, the famous Roman officer, also recognized the great possibilities of pigeons as a means of carrying military messages and made use of them in the service.  Swallows were also enlisted in   an experiment as message carriers by the Ancient Romans but those  frail birds were soon superseded by the more reliable and stronger pigeons, which were more easily domesticated and more adaptable to this service as subsequent events of world history will reveal.


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