Watch: Yellowknife’s new pigeons (and their friend, the cat)

There’s a new pigeon flyer in town.

Pigeons are an unusual bird in the NWT – unless you’re Yellowknifer Patrice Lapointe, who recently took in eight racing pigeons.

Lapointe, who has had the birds since the beginning of May, describes them as “very curious birds, very smart … and very social, as well.”

Lapointe got the birds from a pigeon flyer in Edmonton. Though they are normally used for racing, Lapointe is using them to teach his hunting dog, Sully, how to be calm around birds.

Sully is a pointer. Having the pigeons helps her learn how to behave on a hunt.

“By behaving, I mean she shouldn’t run after birds, shouldn’t jump on them or try to catch them,” Lapointe said. The goal is for her to learn to point and ensure “she’s not overwhelmed with trying to catch them.”

Try telling that to the family cat, which seized an opportunity in the middle of Cabin Radio’s shoot to break free of the front door and get that little bit closer to the action. (No pigeons were harmed in the making of this feature.)

Audrey Fournier, Lapointe’s girlfriend, said she was initially “pretty reluctant” about the birds.  

Lapointe and Fournier started with 10 pigeons, but two never returned from their first flight. When they lost the two, Fournier said she drove around the city looking for them and waited for them to come home at night.

“I was surprised that I got attached to them so quickly, and to that point,” she said.

Now, Fournier said, “I’m pretty happy with them. They’re nice, having around.”

The pigeons live in a coop beside Lapointe and Founier’s home and when they’re out, they tend to stick around the house.

Lapointe and Fournier aren’t the only ones who enjoy the birds: Lapointe said minor traffic jams have begun as people pause to look at the pigeons.

“People used to stop for ptarmigans,” Lapointe said.

“Now, they stop for pigeons.”