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Bob Ledford: The Great Journey
By Mary Lee

Relax, sit down, and forget about the birds, the bills, and the phone for a few minutes. Join me on a visit to a cozy brick home nestled near the shores of White Bear Lake. On a refreshing Minnesota spring day with rain clouds painting the horizon, I visited the humble home of Bob Ledford, a lifelong pigeon racer, to speak with him about his pigeons, his life, and his journey. This article will share with the readers the knowledge that Bob has gained through decades of pigeon racing, the hope of a better tomorrow for fellow pigeon fanciers, and show his continue love of the racing homer even while battling cancer.

Decades in the making and half a century earlier, Bob's journey with pigeons began at a tender age. Bob was born in northeast Minneapolis in 1942. He has three brothers and two sisters all of whom were very fond of animals, but only Bob seemed to have been fascinated by pigeons. Bob's father was an entrepreneur and had several restaurants throughout the city. This often resulted in Bob relocating to different parts of the city. However, because of this, young Bob had many prime opportunities to catch pigeons from bridges, buildings, and sign posts throughout the city. Later on, Bob had a good friend whose dad, named Herb, raced pigeons and that was how Bob became aware of racing pigeons. When Herb went on vacation, young Bob took care of the birds. In return, Herb repaid Bob for all of his hard work with a pair of racing pigeons. Bob recalls that back in those days a person could get a nice pair of birds for $5.00 much like a whole loaf of bread only costing 10 cents.

As Bob grew older, he began to pursue his other interest of racing motorcycles. After eleven and a half years of racing motorcycles professionally and placing well in the motorcycle races, Bob felt that it was time to quit racing motorcycles while he was still healthy. He settled down and married his lovely wife Dee. No longer racing motorcycle and wanting to do something worthwhile with his time, Bob decided that it was time to get back into pigeons. Bob then started flying pigeons in the Minneapolis Pigeon Club and later on participated with several other clubs such as the North Star Club and the St. Paul Pigeon Club.

Bob has flown both the old bird and youngbird races, and he believes there is a big difference between the two. He has had good luck with flying birds naturally and therefore prefers to fly birds on the natural system. Bob believes that there are some advantages and drawbacks to the dark, light, and natural systems. Instead, he emphasizes that the system a person chooses to use should take into consideration what they prefer and what works best with their jobs and schedules. Often, as Bob thinks back about distant memories, he wonders how he was ever able to successfully take care of his birds, fly well, work and fulfill his familial obligations.

Bob's medication program is much like everyone else's. He treats the birds for canker, cocci, and deworms. He also vaccinates and may treat for paratyphoid if needed. Bob pays very close attention to the birds' droppings. He operates his own microscope at home and tries to medicate only when he has to. However, Bob feels that it is important to medicate the birds before they begin the race season. Throughout the season, he checks the droppings under the microscope and keeps a close eye on the birds on a continual basis. Bob believes that you have to medicate the birds during the race season to keep them healthy.

Ledford has a unique trick to training birds how to trap fast. Before whistles were commonly used by fanciers, some thirty years ago Bob used a unique whistle called a boatsman's whistle to train his birds to trap. He started to use the boatsman's whistle because he would grow tired from whistling with his lips or shaking the can if the birds took too long time to trap. The boatsman's whistle can be heard by the birds from a far distance, and Bob has found it to be most effective in teaching birds how to trap quickly. During one of the previous AU convention where Bob was the handler, several of the visiting breeders were surprised by Bob's ability to get birds to head for the trap from such a far distance in the sky. On that occasion, the returning bird from the race was just a dot in the sky, and yet, it dropped instantly and trapped quickly after hearing the whistle. Needless to say, the 20 some breeders present were amazed.

Bob trains his birds very hard during the young bird races. He believes, "if a bird doesn't make it in the training tosses, it isn't going to make it in the races." Initially, once the birds route, Bob's first training toss is two miles from home. Bob feels that the birds can be dropped further than two miles away from home in the initial toss, but the two mile drop makes him feel more secure in helping to reinforce the birds' knowledge of the surrounding area around the house. He will then increase the miles and depending on how the birds come home, he will modify his training according to that. If one or two birds are coming in late and are not training well, Bob believes that one should find the root cause of why the birds are performing badly.

Bob places great emphasis on feed. His feeding program focuses on the best quality feed that he can buy or get a hold of. For many years, Bob sold feed to many of the local flyers in the combine. His current feed has nine different seeds and is a no-corn mix. He likes the no-corn mix because he can control the level of corn in the mix, adding more or less when needed. This allows him to better control the birds' weight. He also adds other grains to the mix when needed and likes the use of barley. Bob believes that with proper introduction, the birds should be more willing to consume barley. He feeds twice a day, lightly in the morning and heavy in the evening. After the race, a bird returns home to a light mix that may consist of barley and various small seeds such as Millet and Milo. Bob believes the use of small seeds improve the bird's digestibility of the grains.

There are several things that Ledford looks for when picking a bird to go to the races. He believes most birds are in condition and defines form as being something much more than condition. When he picks a bird for the races, he can spend hours before the race trying to pick out which bird that he will ship. Bob likes to see a bird with a nice bright glossy eye. Depending on where the bird is in its moult also affects whether he will ship the bird to the races or not. He also goes by the "bubble" on the chest, the condition of the slit on the roof of the mouth, and the presence of oil on the tip of primary feathers. Bob believes the races are won right there at home when the guys/gals are picking their birds for shipping.

I asked Bob if he could recall a certain year that he did very well. Being humble, he mentioned only one but I knew there were far more occasions where Bob won a great many races. One of the many years that Bob flew well was in 1983. That year, he took 1st place at the 200, 300, 400 and 500 miles OB races when he was flying under Go-4-Loft with the North Star Club.

Everyone has a favorite bird in the loft, and knowing the same would also be apply to Bob, I also asked Bob if he could recall the best bird that he has ever owned. Bob replied enthusiastically, "BOB"! BOB was a special bird that was named and handled by Dee, Bob's wife. Dee had also been flying pigeons for a short time until she stopped to devote more time with the kids. From the beginning, Dee knew that BOB was a special bird. Every race that BOB flew in, he was in the clock and scored. "BOB made racing so easy," Bob commented. Having only been flown in the YB season, BOB was then stocked due to his good performance. After six years, BOB was pulled put of retirement and was placed on the Old Bird Team where he performed very well. BOB went on to win short average speed in the OB races in the combine and placed first in a 200 mile race. BOB's children have also done very well. Presently, BOB is still alive, full of vigor, and looks great! He is 21 years old!

Bob, the person, also wants to share a few words of wisdom with new flyers. He encourages new flyers to be willing to work hard. He also encourages new flyers to get to know and talk with some of the older flyers because the older flyers will be able to offer a wealth of information and knowledge. Also, read books and take what you can use from these books to improve your knowledge about pigeons. In addition, Bob would like new flyers to pay close attention to the bird's health, feed, and training.

As the years pass by and the health concerns that accompany aging started to appear, Bob began to look back at his life and discovered what really was important in his life: the wife, kids, and birds. Bob has been married for 39 years, and one of the main reasons his marriage has been so successful is because of his lovely wife Dee. Dee hopes that more women will come to see how really special these birds are.

Both Bob and Dee wanted to share with the readers that one of the reasons they have been able to successfully balance their love of pigeons and family for 36 years was by making pigeon racing a family affair. For example, during race day, the whole family including the family poodle would head to the backyard armed with sandwiches, soda, coffee and snacks. There, they would stay until the race was done. Also, the kids would get involve and make a friendly wager of a can of soda on the first bird that makes it back to the loft. On training days, Bob would take the kids with him and then out to breakfast afterwards while Dee would call the birds into the loft to water and feed them.

I could have sat there for hours on end speaking with Bob about his love of pigeons and the pigeon sport, but I knew that like the old saying goes, "All good things must come to an end." During the past few years, Bob has been battling cancer, fighting for his life against time. Bob's illness has zapped him of his energy and strength. However, with Dee by his side and with the foster kids help, Bob has been able to keep a few precious birds in his loft. Fortunately, Bob still has the strength to take his wife out for lunch and to engage in his other hobby, gardening. He has peach, apple and plum trees, and two different types of raspberry plants.

At age 65, Bob's great journey with pigeons has only begun. He still hopes to able to get back into flying in the near future if his health permits. "I have enjoyed every minute of it, and I just love the birds," Bob replies. Although weakened by his illness, his love and respect for pigeons has only gotten stronger with time.

When I asked Bob what he would change about the pigeon sport if he could change anything about it, he answered, "I wish more people and the public will come to see the racing homer not as a dirty bird, but as an intelligent, smart, and beautiful bird that saved many lives during World War I and II."

Having won his fair share of prizes and stripped of any other ulterior goals, I see in Bob a quintessential pigeon man who symbolizes the essence of what the pigeon racing sport is all about, a person and their love of the birds.

If you would like to write any letters of encouragement or well wishes to Bob and his family, feel free to drop me an e-mail, and I will forward the message to them. Thank you!

E-mail: MLEE12@HOTMAIL.COM