In ancient times, pigeons were basically used to deliver mail.
If we modern people want to contact relatives and friends, as long as there is a network signal, a mobile phone or a computer can do it instantly.
if pigeons don't have the special ability to recognize the way, wouldn't the ancients have to wait for a letter to reply indefinitely? If you are also curious about the way pigeons recognize the way, please continue to read the following content!
1. Pigeons have the characteristics of a strong love for home.
In ancient times, the people have discovered a relatively special habit of pigeons, that is, they love home very much. And this kind of love is divided into two situations, one is for single pigeons, they love the home of their owner. The other is that for pigeons that already have a partner, they love their own little family.
When the ancient people brought the pigeons raised from childhood to other places, the pigeons would show a very strong desire to return home, and this desire is difficult to be weakened over time. On the contrary, the longer the pigeons are left home, the stronger their desire to return to the original home. After the owner releases them, the first thing they will do is fly back to their old home.
Especially for those pigeons who have established their own " small family ", this desire to love home tends to be more intense. Because of this, ancient people would raise a pair of pigeons at the same time. The ancients understood this habit of pigeons and raised them to send messages. And in order to exchange information with several people at the same time, they tend to raise many pairs of pigeons at the same time. In this way, even if some pigeons have accidents during the delivery, the owner does not have to face the embarrassing situation of no pigeons to send information.
2. Scientists use experiments to prove the way pigeons recognize the way.
Although ancient people learned through observation that pigeons have a special habit of loving home, and can use their habit . But in fact, they don't know exactly how the pigeons recognize their way. You know, the animal that loves home is more than a pigeon. Because of this, many modern people are still curious about the way pigeons recognize their way even if they no longer need to use pigeons to transmit information.
Since we want to figure out how pigeons recognize their way, the best way is to do related experiments. Scientists once conducted research on this issue. At that time, they conducted an experiment with pigeons. They placed the food they like to eat in a place in a maze, and then asked the pigeons to find food. As a result, although the pigeons found the food, they also got the wrong position in the middle.
Later, the scientists placed a magnet under the food bowl for feeding the pigeons, and the pigeons found the location of the food quickly and accurately. And after many experiments, the results are the same. Therefore, scientists believe that pigeons recognize their way through geomagnetic induction. But if you want to use them to deliver letters at this time, you probably have to weigh the severity of the possible results.
Of course, modern communication methods also have certain drawbacks. For example, the signal is easily intercepted by others, which can easily cause a very big hidden danger to our communication security. In view of this, even people living in modern times cannot underestimate the traditional way of using pigeons to convey information.