Fat Pigeons Suffer In The Heat for more in for more info click inside

Fat Pigeons Suffer In The Heat

Before I get into my weekend birthday shenanigans, some of which I’m still trying to piece together, I thought I’d throw in a bit of investigative journalism.

This morning I was wondering what it must be like for fat pigeons when the weather is as hot as this. Pigeons tend to puff themselves up in winter, so if you see one who’s a little larger than they should be in summer, you know there are fat issues going on.

I’ve posted before about the rise in obesity in pigeons, and I’ve watched them struggle, so I thought I’d find out whether hot weather can act as a driver to lose weight…

This is Jemima. Jemima’s weight started to soar two years ago when she discovered the refuse collection times of her local McDonald’s in Kentish Town:

“It was impossible” She said. “Every night I’d be there. Couldn’t help it. I got so fat I had to move to another nest.”

I asked her if it she was embarrassed by her weight.

“Yes. I am. I feel really ashamed, but I just can’t stop eating. It’s not as bad as it was, but it’s still a problem for me.”

Apparently, Jemima can tuck away enough food for a family of six in a single sitting.

Then I asked her whether the heat got to her.

“I find the heat really uncomfortable. The tops of my legs rub together and my wings can get stuck to my body which makes flying really hard. When I was at my worst last year, I had to get a couple of pigeons to help me into the air. That was the moment I decided to do something about it.”

Whatever it was she had chosen to do obviously hadn’t worked, so I didn’t push it.

Clearly the heat is an issue, so any pigeons out there who know you’re eating too much just think of Jemima and her rubbing legs. Jesus. If that isn’t an incentive, I don’t know what is.