Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Liard (July 12/02) - It appears a pigeon from Japan must have taken a wrong turn in its travels.

The bird, which bears tags with Japanese characters on its legs, was found at kilometre 107 of the Liard Trail on June 24. Dennis Duntra and Norman Sassie, members of a highway crew, noticed the rare sight on the side of the road.

This pigeon with Japanese bands on its legs was found along the Liard Trail by Norman Sassie and Dennis Duntra. John Gonet, pictured here, housed the recovering guest in his office. - photo courtesy of Michael Pealow/ Fort Liard Economic Development Office

"The pigeon was in really poor shape, really sluggish ... they just walked up to it and picked it up," said John Gonet, airport and highways foreman for Beaver Enterprises. "There was a wicked wind that weekend. Who knows, maybe the darn thing got blown off course."

Gonet decided to house the sickly bird in his office and brought in some bird seed from home.

"He looked at it and hopped over there and then the seeds were flying," he said. "You wouldn't think it was the same bird. He just flies around the office (now)."

The only problem is that a well-fed bird produces lots of waste. Gonet can't cover everything in newspaper to avoid the droppings, so eventually his feathered friend has got to go.

"I leave the door open here and he's had all kinds of chances to fly out, but he hasn't flown out yet," he said.

Before ushering the pigeon out, he plans to tape a note to its leg giving the details of where the bird was found and Gonet's name, address and phone number.

Some employees at the office looked up a site on the Internet that lists lost and found pigeons.

However, they didn't find anything matching JPN 048-683-1154, the only English characters on the bird's bands. The rest of the characters are Japanese. Some pigeon owners and breeders keep the birds for racing.

With any luck, the bird is a descendant of homing pigeons and, now refuelled, will find its way back home.