What started as a mysterious release of 800 pigeons from a truck wash in Worthington winds up being the latest liberation of racing birds from a club that's been around more than 50 years.
The tale began with a story -- including video -- in Monday's Worthington Daily Globe quoting operators of the Tru Shine Truck Wash in the southwestern Minnesota hamlet. They were wondering about the St. Paul man who released 800 pigeons from his truck twice in recent weeks.
Could St. Paul being relocating unwanted downtown pigeons? Nope. Paul Rudolph, who runs a janitorial service and lives in Maplewood, clarified the whole situation Wednesday. He's been racing pigeons since 1969 and is a member of the Twin City Concourse, a 50-year pigeon racing club. He was the racing secretary and liberator in Worthington Aug. 26 and Sept. 1.
"Worthington is our 150-mile station," he tells Dateline MN. "These were young birds hatched in March. They grow fast."
He said one of the 100 members of the club is a trucker who hauls the birds to the release point. Each bird has a seamless band on its leg, issued by and registered with the American Pigeon Racing Union in Oklahoma. A GPS chip tracks each racing pigeon back to its backyard coop. Other release points include St. James and Iowa and beyond.
"We have about 35 guys racing and they ship about 15 or less birds per race," Rudolph said. "I had 35 in the race myself but we never had more than 800."
Rudolph says he hasn't missed a racing season since 1969.
"We have three guys watch the weather and they tell us when we've got a good day and exactly when to turn them loose," he said.
