EOTO Presentation Carrier Pigeon

 Through each one of the fantastic presentations regarding media, I thought the most interesting piece of research was related to the carrier pigeons. It was a topic that I had never given much thought to, but upon hearing it spoken about and explored in detail, I find it's concept rather intriguing. Going all the way back to ancient Roman times and even to WWII, I think it's importance is rather lost in history. This small post will briefly touch on some of the interesting information that I found, and emphasize the points that were made during the presentations. 

The first recorded message bearing pigeons was set free by Noah. All the way back in the B.C days, they were used in chariot races for the Romans, and it was typically a privilege for the rich who could afford them. They would take the birds to certain locations where they are attached with certain messages. Most believe that because of their strong sense of magnetic awareness and smell, they naturally find their way back to their nest. Also, the ones who set them free would place food at their destination and at their home, typically being able to fly round trips that would be around 100 miles.

In much more recent time, specifically the 19th century, pigeons were used during the siege of Paris during the 1870-71 period. During war time, troops were told to be suspicious of birds due to the fact that they were becoming a way to trade messages and send secrets. However due to the fact that they were such a common bird to see in the sky, it was difficult to distinguish whether a bird was carrying something or not, which is exactly what made this mode of communication so tactically reliable.

Of course, due to the advancement of technology that is much more reliable, the use of the carrier pigeon has gone extinct. The last messaging service ended in 2006, called Orissa Police Carrier, located in India. The next year, the smartphone released, with years previous devices like the radio, computer, and even telephone lines being much quicker ways to communicate. They still remain a large part of our history of communication, and shows how far we've come from relying on the labor of animals for something that is so simple today.