On: When the CIA spied on American citizens using pigeons

[annoyingnoob]

My 3rd grade teacher was into Pigeon Racing. There were always some that never made it home, attrition was higher than you'd think.

[waste_monk → annoyingnoob]

That's the reason motorsport teams don't build race cars out of food. Too much attrition.

[throwawee → waste_monk]

No, that's too much nutrition. Same reason Baby Formula 1 racers never took off.

[jojobas → waste_monk]

Heard of horse races?

[waste_monk → jojobas]

Horse racing is on a relatively safe enclosed track. Pigeon races are unconstrained by geography and have predators such as hawks. If horse races went through a forest or other rough terrain with significant predators such as bears it would be a better comparison.

I am not advocating for this in any way (the horses have a bad enough time with broken legs and things on traditional racing courses). Just that the two things are not like-for-like, similar to Formula 1 vs cross-country rally racing for cars.