Continuing my quest to bring you pigeon-related news.
The day started out typically, according to Bobby Lee, our story's main witness. On the afternoon of Dec. 5, he was on his way to the grocery store when he noticed something red outside his car window.
Pigeons were milling around a parking lot near a dumpster, pecking the ground. Ordinary behavior for the birds, but for one detail: Two of them were wearing miniature cowboy hats, one red and one gray.
Baffled, he grabbed his phone. The "birds have hats on, bro!" Mr. Lee exclaimed in a 12-second video that he later posted on Facebook.
Mr. Lee said he had no idea who had put the hats on the birds, though he noted one coincidence: The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was in town. But the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, which organizes the event, "had nothing to do with the pigeons wearing cowboy hats," according to Scott Kaniewski, the editor of ProRodeo Sports News.
The mystery deepened. Animal welfare agencies contacted Mr. Lee, including Lofty Hopes, a bird rescue organization, which told him to stay on the lookout for the birds. Mariah Hillman, a founder of Lofty Hopes, said she had a second report of a sighting on Monday in the same area, as well as an unverified report of pigeons wearing hats in Reno.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said it "does not appear to be a police matter at this time." A Clark County spokeswoman, Stacey Welling, had no immediate comment.
Many more takes and concerns for pigeon welfare at the link.