英国现“空中百慕大”大量鸽子神秘失踪

Pigeon racers are mystified after hundreds birds disappeared in an area they have now dubbed the Bermuda Triangle.

Only 13 out of 232 birds released in Thirsk , North Yorkshire, on Saturday by a Scottish pigeon racing club made it back to Galashiels, Selkirkshire. It follows a summer on which hundred more have vanished in the same area.

Keith Simpson, of the East Cleveland Federation, said pigeon racers across the region had all suffered massive losses since the season started in April - with many losing more than half of their birds.

Some fanciers are considering stopping flying the birds until they establish why so many failed to return.

Scottish pigeon racer Austin Lindores said: "When they fly down to the Thirsk, Wetherby and Consett area we call it the Bermuda Triangle because something always seems to happen.

"This is not the first time it has happened in that area. I won't be racing there again."

The loss of homing pigeons, which can be worth up to £200,000, has baffled experts, but the most popular theory is the abnormal number of summer showers, sending birds off course as they attempt to fly around the downpours.

Unusually high levels of solar activity distorting magnetic fields and even signals from Menwith Hill spy base, near Harrogate , an electronic monitoring station, have also been blamed.

Wendy Jeffries, president of the Thirsk Social Flying Club, said: "The weather wasn't too bad around here on Saturday. It has been an atrocious year. I am down to ten young birds out of 29 and the people I have talked to are the same."

The high numbers of birds going missing in the region have also been linked to the high numbers of pigeons being released within minutes of each other at weekends, meaning different groups of pigeons send each other off course.

Darlington pigeon racer Stuart Fawcett, who has been racing pigeons for more than 30 years, said: "It is the worst year in the memory of people who have been racing for 60 years.

"The area being talked about is very heavily congested with pigeons because the raptor problem became so great elsewhere that races have moved to east England."

数百只赛鸽近日在英国上空神秘失踪，令赛鸽手十分困惑，他们称这一区域为神秘的“空中百慕大”。

上周六，苏格兰赛鸽俱乐部举行比赛。232只在约克郡斯克镇放飞的赛鸽中，只有13只按计划抵达塞尔扣克郡的加拉希尔斯。此前，仅在今年夏天，该地区就有100多只赛鸽神秘失踪。

东克利夫兰联盟的基思-辛普森说，今年4月以来，不少赛鸽手已在该地区损失大批赛鸽。很多人的赛鸽损失过半。

不少参赛者都纷纷表示“飞不起”，称事情没弄清之前不会再带鸽子来参赛。

苏格兰赛鸽手奥斯汀-灵多乐说：“英国斯克镇、韦瑟比镇以及康赛特镇所形成的三角带被称为‘空中百慕大三角’。这里总发生一些怪事。”

“这不是该地区第一次出现失踪事故了。我不会再在这里参赛了。”

神秘失踪的赛鸽总价值高达20万英镑，这也让专家们感到困惑。但最流行的说法是，夏季骤雨频发，让赛鸽为了躲避暴雨而偏离了航向。

太阳活动异常升高使地球磁场发生扭曲，甚至还使哈罗盖特附近的一处电子监控站、曼威斯山情报基地的信号失真，人们认为这也与赛鸽丢失有关。

斯克社会赛鸽俱乐部部长温迪-杰弗瑞说：“上周六这里的天气不算太糟糕。今年的情况真残忍。我的29只赛鸽只剩下了10只，我了解到其他人情况也差不多。”

也有人认为，失踪事件也与周末大量赛鸽在先后几分钟内一同放出有关，这意味着不同群的赛鸽互相扰乱了航向。

达灵顿地区的赛鸽手斯图尔特-福西特从事赛鸽业已经超过30年了，他说：“在从业60年的人们记忆中，这是最糟糕的一年。”

“出事区域有大量赛鸽，因为在其他地区肉食鸟的问题非常严重，所以比赛搬到了英格兰东部举行。”