Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501160034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But a pigeon?
That's what happens every day when Danielle Conner boards the bus for the one-mile trip to Back Creek Elementary School in Roanoke County.
The pigeon, named Baby, used to just wait at the bus stop with her in the morning and meet her there in the afternoon.
But now he follows her to school, where he perches on fences and tree limbs and waits until Danielle comes out for recess.
When Danielle, a second-grader, goes home in the afternoon, Baby does, too. He usually flies. But on one recent day, he rode inside the school bus after he landed on its steps.
Danielle, 7, and Baby have been inseparable since he was only a few days old.
Danielle's father, who works for Powers Fence Co., found the tiny pigeon in July as he was removing an air-conditioning unit from the old Sears building on Williamson Road.
He brought the pigeon home. It had no feathers and could not fly. Danielle and her family used a syringe to feed him a mixture of rice cereal and corn meal.
Danielle said he was named Baby because that was what he was when she got him.
The Conner family taught Baby how to fly by putting him on a tree limb, walking away and whistling for him.
Now, he lands on Danielle's outstretched arms when she whistles. He stays there as she talks to him.
Baby stays outside most of the time, but the family does have a cage for him inside the house and feeds him a diet of regular bird seed.
When the bird learned to fly, he began to follow Danielle around the yard, flapping along behind her as she rode her bike.
A few weeks ago, Baby stretched his wings and began flying to the school so he could see Danielle during recess.
The pigeon never has pecked or hurt Danielle or any other child.
"Baby loves children. I guess that's why he goes to school every day, waiting for Danielle, so he'll have someone to play with," said Danielle's mother, Dorinda.
Debbie McClure, Danielle's teacher, said the pigeon has created excitement for the second-graders, who seem impressed by Danielle's skill in handling the bird.
"It's cool. Yesterday he flew down near where we were playing," said one of her classmates.
"We see him almost every day," said another.
"We've had dogs to follow children to school, but this is the first time we've ever had a pigeon to follow a student," McClure said.
by CNB