In today's developed Internet, we only need to pick up the mobile phone, or open the computer, and use our fingers to convey information. However, as everyone knows, in the long river of history, there was almost no fast and convenient means of communication in ancient times, and if you want to convey information to your family thousands of miles away, or other important military ministers, you often rely on pigeons, which are also known as carrier pigeons. How did the pigeon, the most common animal in nature, find the exact location of the letter?
In contrast to other animals, pigeons are not solitary but social animals, and during the day they often flock to their homes in search of food. When night falls, the pigeons never do anything nightly, they always go home on time to rest. The pigeon is monogamous, likes to live in groups, pays attention to family feelings, in other words, the pigeon is a particularly family-loving animal.
In ancient times, ancient ancestors found that no matter how far away, pigeons can always find their way home. So in order to domesticate these pigeons for a long time, the first people will often take them thousands of kilometers away, and then release these pigeons, no matter how long they fly, eventually these pigeons will return home. So why don't these pigeons fly? What exactly is the basis for finding the ultimate and exact goal?
In fact, in nature, pigeons have been accompanied by humans for thousands of years. There are many varieties of pigeons, and the color of the feathers is usually gray, green and white. The head of the pigeon is broad and flat, the whole body is very wide and deep, and its bust circumference is about 40 cm. The biggest difference from other birds is that pigeons have the ability to discern directions.
Between its eyes, there is a raised place, this bulge seems to be its unique cell tissue, can detect the earth's magnetic field anytime and anywhere, it can be said that the pigeon is also based on this special body structure to finally find the location of their own letter, or find the way home.
Compared with other birds, carrier pigeons have super memory and vision, and because they are very family-loving, they gradually have the habit of loving nests. That is to say, no matter where they are, the carrier pigeons will want to return to their old nests, and it is precisely because of this special performance that the pigeons have become the faithful messengers of human beings.
In the early 1980s, scientists through magnetic theory found that the nervous system and sensory organs of pigeons are much more developed than other birds, the upper and lower eyelids of pigeons can be moved, and corneal bulges help prevent eye deformation due to changes in air pressure. Because of this special eye structure, pigeons can do what other birds can't do, that is, high-altitude farsightedness, discerning direction.
In the family of pigeons, not all pigeons have the ability to deliver letters. The domestic pigeon we raise today, its ancestors are wild pigeons, and the carrier pigeon is not like we do in martial arts films and novels, you can do whatever you want, and you can send a letter to whoever you want it to send. It can be said that the carrier pigeon sent letters expressed in film and television works is not like this in real life.
In order to deliver letters to pigeons, it is necessary to train the pigeons. For example, if we want the pigeon to start from Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, send the letter to Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, first let the pigeon be raised in Harbin City from childhood, and then train it repeatedly, let it be familiar with the flight route and direction from Harbin to Shenyang, and then release the pigeon after arriving in Shenyang, exert its original nest love talent, in the long-term domestication, naturally the pigeon will find its home in Harbin.
The pigeon has a good sense of directional talent, it can judge the direction of flight according to the height of the sun, in different time periods, the height of the sun is also different, according to this characteristic, the pigeon will always find its nest, it can be said that every pigeon that has been domesticated by humans is a super first-class "prospector", able to familiarize himself with the route home that he does not know.
In the long history of domestication, there are two most common ways to domesticate pigeons, and these two domestication methods have a common point, that is, from simple to complex, each domestication method is a gradual cycle, so that the pigeons slowly master the ability to deliver letters.
This is what we mentioned earlier about raising carrier pigeons in the place where they want to send letters, so that they remember their nests, and then choose the location during training from near to far. After a long period of familiarity with the direction of the two places, slowly the carrier pigeons will easily and freely deliver letters to and from the two places. When the pigeons leave their nests, they often hover over the air for a while, remember the location of their nests, and then fly in the direction of their own letters.
In nature, for all animals, the temptation of food is indispensable, and of course the pigeons are also the same. In order to better train the pigeons and let them master the ability to deliver letters as soon as possible, the owners will achieve the purpose of letting the pigeons deliver letters through food lures.
For example, the owners will take the pigeons away, leave their place of residence, come to a strange place, feed in this strange place, and wait until nightfall to release the pigeons and let it return to the nest. In the process of long-term domestication, the pigeons are familiar with the direction of the two places, and slowly they will master the ability to deliver letters to and from the two places.
Although modern technology is very advanced, the pigeon is no longer a messenger for human beings to send letters, but it still has high value. In thousands of years of Chinese medicine texts, pigeons have good medicinal value. For example, in the "Compendium of Materia Medica", it is recorded that "there are many colors of pigeon feathers, only white medicine", and pigeon medicine has the effect of nourishing qi and blood, clearing heat and detoxification.
However, for human beings, it is still necessary to follow the doctor's advice and do not take pigeon meat privately, because pigeons and many foods will produce a gram, once eaten by mistake, not only will not cure the disease, but will also cause worse results.
However, here, we also hope that everyone will not wreak havoc on catching pigeons and destroying the ecological balance, especially some rare pigeon species, which have become wild animals protected by the state, once we mistakenly catch them, it is very likely to break the law, so protect animals from now on, refuse wild meat!