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Re: hoimg doves



>Yesterday when I was in the PO, the man in front of me was mailing, in a
>large priority mail specially designed container, a live bird!  It said Live
>Bird all over it, but I was very surprised.  I asked if there was really a
>bird in it,  and he said yes, he's just going to Beaufort to a
>wedding--he'll fly home tomorrow evening.  I was astounded, having never
>heard of that before, but the postal clerk says he mails them all the time
>to be released at weddings and funerals and they fly right home.  The one
>mishap was when one was released at a funeral to signify the deceased's
>spirit rising to the heavens and a hawk snatched it right out of the sky in
>front of everyone!  No one knew whether to laugh or cry.  Am I the only one
>to not know about this practice?  How do 'we' feel about mailing birds?
>Bruce Krucke
>Yonges Island, SC
>bkrucke@awod.com
>http://www.toogoodoostudios.com

I've heard the part about releasing them at weddings/funerals, but I 
didn't realize they then flew home! I assumed the supplier/owner of 
the birds was on site to recapture them. I assume these are exotics 
(either breeds or species) and may add somewhat to the problem of 
introduced species when they fail to make it home...?
As for mailing birds: research labs mail live animals all the time in 
specially designed crates, but normally by Fedex etc rather than by 
US post. I think this is for safety/insurance purposes: Fedex etc can 
guarantee your precious genetically altered mice will arrive safely, 
while the US post probably cannot, due to the vast quantities of mail 
they handle at much lower cost.

-- 
Steve Perry

Receptor Biology Lab, Duke Uni Med Center, Durham, NC

stevep@receptor-biol.duke.edu