New York City TikTok user goes viral featuring a potty-trained purse pigeon
NEW YORK - One New York City gal is going viral for bringing her pal—"Pidge" the purse pigeon—on all her adventures in the Big Apple.
"This is a weird pet that's actually, totally ethical," says Pigeon owner, Abby Jardin. "And this is a great thing for her—so I think there's something there that people kind of latched on to."
One TikTok comment proclaimed, "I’ll never skip a purse pigeon post," the videos gardening millions of views—it all started when Abby Jardine found Pidge near her apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
"I was walking around the corner from where I live, and I saw her sitting in the trash, basically," says the 26-year-old. "And I was like, 'something looks wrong.' I didn't fully realize how young she was at the time, but I ended up contacting a wildlife rescue and they were like, she's a baby. She really shouldn't be out of the nest yet."
On their advice, Abby took Pidge in—and just knew it was the right decision.
"I picked her up and she just immediately kind of bonded and that was that—like there was really no going back. And then afterwards I learned that they live 15 to 20 years as a pet and like 2 to 3 on the street. So I couldn't do that to her after about 24 hours. And so here we are."
In Abby's words: Pidge is: "one of the best things that's ever happened to her" and is now an advocate for all pigeons.
"Most people don't know that they're actually domestic animals—every single one that's out in the city. They're descended from carrier pigeons. So they have the domesticated energy and if you spend enough time with them, they get super comfortable."
Abby adds that pigeons are very clean, any vet that treats birds can treat pigeons and as to how she discovered her pigeon was a girl—Pidge had a little surprise for her.
"When we first had her, we arbitrarily were like, this is a boy and we were calling him, 'him.' And then at a certain point, if they reach an age when they start laying eggs, that's how you know it's a girl. And that's what happened. One day she was just sitting in bed with me and then there was an egg—she's a girl. So, it was kind of like a gender reveal, in a way."
And like most New Yorkers, Pidge enjoys taking the subway, fine dining and pigeon watching... or should we say people watching?
"There are a couple of pigeons that will come and land on the window, and I think they're friends because it's always the same pair and they kind of socialize," adds Jardine. "But other than that, she kind of just sticks with us. I don't know if she thinks she's a person or if she thinks we're pigeons."
FOX 5 New York can confirm Pidge is potty trained—and handles her business on command —not a lot of New Yorkers can say that about their four-legged friends.