Hunting Pigeons for Soup in Havana

By Nike

A Rabiche Pigeon

HAVANA TIMES – It’s incredible what people do to eat meat.

A neighbor has continued to work despite the quarantine. This makes it difficult for him to wait in the lines to buy chicken or mincemeat, so he has invented a way of eating meat by setting traps for wild pigeons.

He leaves his traps in a place in front of his house and watches them from his doorway or through the windows. He says that two or three pigeons make a delicious soup.

One morning, a few days ago, I went out the door of my house and I saw another man walking slowly on the sidewalk in front. The man stopped, stealthy, took a stone thrower from his pocket, aimed and shot a rock at a pigeon perched on a pole. The shot missed and the bird fled. Then he saw me watching and said he is no longer a child, put away the stone thrower and continued on his way.

I have heard that rabiche pigeons are an imported species that has adapted very well and is abundant throughout Cuba. But man is a very effective predator and can lead a species to extinction. That makes me feel very sorry for those little animals.

What the hell happens to people who believe that they have the right to eat any living thing that walks on this planet. Can’t we coexist with other beings? Could that be precisely what has led us to what we now go through.

Nike

I was born in Havana, Cuba. All my life I have had the sea as a landscape. I like being close to it, feeling its breeze, its smell, as well as swimming and enjoying the wonders it gives us. Thanks to the manual skill that I inherited from my parents, I have been able to live off crafts. I work primarily papier-mâché, making puppets for children. I write for Havana Times for the possibility of sharing with the world the life of my country and my people.

2 thoughts on “Hunting Pigeons for Soup in Havana”

  • A few comments for Nike.

    In the UK, some cookery books include recipes for pigeon pie. Pigeons lay only two white eggs, but up to three clutches per year. They too although smaller than a hen’s egg, are good eating. In Cuba, the zun-zun also lay two eggs with about three clutches per year, but includes insects (protein) with the pollen in the regurgitated food it feeds its tiny chicks.

    In North America, the carrier pigeon existed in flocks of millions, but became extinct due to man’s predations.

    Man’s dentition reveals dietary history – in short, eating a mixed diet including other species.

    In English, there is an old saying: Little fleas with bigger fleas upon their backs to bite them.

Comments are closed.