I'm having the hardest time finding a white dove, I've searched all the pet shops in my area, and nothing. I had a magician from Virginia offer me 2 of them for free, but I would have to find out about the shipping. What I found out is that the post office will not ship live birds, FedEx and UPS are the same way. I'd love to get one and start to train it so that I could later buy some effects that I could produce and vanish him/her. Any ideas?

:idea:

Take a weekend, drive to Virginia and pick up the birds?

I'm thinking that is my only option.

Have the guy tell the birds where you live and have 'em fly to you.



What's that.....



Lazy birds.



Might there be a dove society (maybe national) that could direct you to the closest source?



Tom Cutts

Try Donna Gordon dgrg2@yahoo.com

-OR-

Greg Kozlowski Kozlowski@forcomm.com



Bengi

Benji, I'll look into that. Thank you

I did some more checking into doves. A couple of years ago I had two doves shipped to me.... now I am finding out they have to be shipped by airlines. I was told the MINIMUM charge would be $180.00!!! WOW!

Maybe you should continue searching locally!!!

Bengi

Ouch, with prices like that I'm thinking along the lines of a parakeet in a dove costume

Hello,

This is my first offering at The Magic Café, so please bear with me, and any mistakes I may make.

I think magic using livestock can be one of the most rewarding fields of our art. I know some magicians can become jaded to the point that whenever a silk is produced, they yell
"Here comes the birdie".

Yet non-magician audiences are always amazed when a living creature is made to appear. If done well you’ll be rewarded with honest oohs & ahhs.

But this comes with a price. Doves can live, and work up into their twenties. So unlike other props that can be set aside, or stored with care, animals need’ and deserve dailey 24/7 care, and maintance.

I raise Doves, hand tame, and train them. I fell in love with them back when I was a professional student at Chavez College of Magic.

The most important thing about working with doves (or any animal be it rabbit, or tiger) is are you willing to make the comitment to
care for, and give love to these special magical assistants.

Most people don’t know that you should vaccinate doves every year. Their diets change with the seasons, or breeding, and producing milk for their chicks (oh yes they do). They need fresh water twice a day, and proper hygiene to stay healthy.

It’s an awesome responsibility, but the rewards are great when they become a full working partner in your show.

I hope I don’t sound like I’m preaching, but if it saves one animal’s life it’s worth it.

I also raise Polish Rabbits (they make the best magic bunnys), and I’m starting to work with white homing pigeons for outdoor productions (they fly home!).

There are ways to ship doves without it costing a lot. If you’re interested contact me, and I’ll tip you in on all the ins & outs.

Hope this helps....... Manyfingers

Thanks, KingsnQueens, for stressing that point. I have used doves for many years, and was lucky enough to have bought them from a breeder who was willing to teach me what I needed to know BEFORE I got them. I have seen some dove workers who should never had been allowed to. Some look too sickly to even perform.

My birds are all a part of my family. Like me, they all see their "doctor" regularly.

Doves are a very playful bird. They do enjoy being excercised, and can be easily trained.

Unlike some humans, a pair of doves are mates for life. But what always amazed me is this.... when a pair of doves mate, the male pecks the top of the females head until there are no feathers left!!! What woman in her right mind...........?? Oh, never mind!!

Anymore info you can give on doves, KingsnQueens, I’d appreciate! E-mail me!


Bengi
:yippee:

MagicMan!

Please try looking in your local Nickel Ads for doves! I have seen numerous ads in our local publications and have used them in the past to find them!

I hope this helps!

Steve Landavazo

Thanks for all who responded, I still haven’t been able to find one, but I’m still on my little quest. I’m going to be sending you E-mail kingsnqueens, thanks for the heads up. You made a fine first offering to the Café, welcome you’ll love it here!!!

Hello my name is Manyfingers Hostetler, recently I posted a response to a discussion about the problems some members were having acquiring doves for their magic acts.

Because of the many replies from fellow magicians asking for more information, I think it would be best to share my answer with everyone.

If I may I’d like to repeat part of my reply from that discussion. I want to thank everyone who took time to e-mail me with their questions, and I hope this reply will help set them in the right direction.

I think using livestock can be one of the most rewarding fields in our art.

I know some magicians have become so jaded with dove acts, That whenever a silk scarf is produced, they yell “Here comes the birdie”.

Yet non-magician audiences are always amazed when a living creature is made to appear. If done well you’ll be rewarded with honest OOHS & AAHS.

Now the question, is Dove Magic right for you, and even more important are you right for Dove Magic?

As I said before few effects in magic will bring you as much audience appreciation as working with animals, but it comes with a price.

Doves can live, and work up into their twenties. so unlike other props that can be set aside, or stored away with care. Animals need, and deserve daily 24/7 care, and maintenance.

I raise doves, hand tame, and train them. I fell in love with them back when I was a professional student at Chavez College of Magic.

The most important thing about working with doves (or any animal be it rabbit, or tiger) is are you willing to make the commitment to care for, and give love to these special magical assistants.

Most people don’t know that you should vaccinate doves every year. Their diets change with the season’s, or when they’re breeding, and producing milk for their chicks (oh yes they do). They need fresh water twice a day, and good hygiene to stay healthy.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m preaching, but if it save’s one animal’s life than it’s worth it. Remember not everybody’s suited for magic, and that’s okay.

I also raise Polish Rabbits (they make the best magic bunny’s), and I’m starting to work with white homing pigeon’s for outdoor products (they fly home).

There are ways to ship doves without it costing a fortune.

The Doves are shipped by U.S. Postal Service - Express Mail (Post Office to addressee delivery).

Special Postal approved boxes must be used. Birds cannot be insured.

The Post Office regards birds as perishable items and WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR LIVE ARRIVAL.

The Package is insured for a maximum of $500.00 only if damages or loss result while
en-route.

We take every effort to ensure your doves arrive quickly and in good condition.

The Post Office does a GOOD job of handling bird shipments. They are rarely late and they rarely experience loss or damage. However, once the doves leave our aviary, they are out of our control and we cannot be responsible for, nor can we guarantee them.

Please understand we have NO control over time of arrival once the doves are en-route. We confirm all shipments one day prior to shipping.

NO SHIPMENT WILL BE SENT WITHOUT PHONE VERIFICATION.

Shipping birds by Express Mail is safe, very efficient and the most cost effective method.

The average shipping cost is $18.50 (depending on shipping address) per shipment plus $5.00 for each shipping.

More information come from postal regulation 525.1 shipping live birds.

I added this as an example of shipping cost for doves.

Proper shipping boxes are a must, and are available from Global Pigeon

(I’ll have links to this, and other useful sites at the finish).

http://www.globalpigeon.com/main.html

I also put a listing for The American Dove Assoc. This is a wonderful group.

They put out a good magazine, and are a great source for doves.

(check member listings in your area. )

Also a good place to meet other dove people who might have answer’s from their experiences from breeding, and raising dove’s.

http://www.doveline.com/

Last, but not least Foy’s. I recommend sending for their catalogue for dove supplies. You can call them for advice over the phone.

They even offer to check for disease of your bird, or flock from dropping’s sent by mail. Overnight mail could save your birds lives.

http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/

This information is free for your use, but it comes from research for a book I’m working on

(The Care and Feeding of Magic Assistants!). Please do not copy, or publish this without my permission.

I’m not an expert on doves other than years of working with them. I would be interested in any information you have, or any original dove effect you’d like to share.

If used with your permission, you’ll receive full credit, and a copy of the book with my thanks.

I hope you find something in this article that helps you and your doves to make great magic together!

Manyfingers

As I've said in my e-mail to you, thanks a million, I'm going to be checking out those sites as soon as I get some free time.

Kingsnqueens!



What a wonderful reply! I think your compassion and experience working with doves does make you an expert.You definitely deserve the title!



I really enjoyed reading what you had to write about doves, and have saved pertinent information under my "favorites" file.



Again, Thank you!



Steve

Well hi everyone,

This is my first time posting so hopefully I’ll make sense.

I’ve been working with doves for awhile now and I first started with two and just recently got two more. Three are girls and one is a guy.

The guy is always cooing non-stop and jumping at the girls and hitting them with his wing and eveything. I know it’s their nature to do this, but, I was wondering... Is he going to do this while I am on stage?

I produce him, put him in the cage with the others and while I am finishing my act he is beating up the girls.

I have talked with a couple of other people about this and some have said that when he is on stage with the music and lights he probably won’t do it and some even said just to get rid of him.

I don’t want to and I know many magicians who use the guys too. I just wanted any comments or help that you all might have.

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

AceofCards:

Most likely the lights, music and action on stage WILL keep the frisky daddy occupied enough to stay away from the momma!!!

I have worked with doves for 20 years, and have found my doves to be a lot like me in that respect!!! I believe they like privacy when "getting it on"!!!

DON’T get rid of him.... he is only doing what comes natural to him.... and even if he does flap at her during your show, your audience probably won’t notice. If nothing else, after his "appearance" just put him in a seperate cage.

Bengi

Thanks Bengi. I don't want to get rid of him because it would just be a waste to get rid of a perfectly normal dove. Thanks I do have to say, since he is a lot bigger than the females, he does look pretty on stage.

AceOfCards, be glad you have a boy bird who is frisky. I think the female doves will be too and I don't think you'll have a problem with him in public.
This thread reminded me that I have a short piece which Card Mondor wrote a few years ago (when he owned Aladdins, my Magic shop) about caring for doves.
It is basic and, as I said, a few years old. If anyone wants a copy, email me.
You will not go on my spam, sorry newsletter, list if you do that unless you specifically ask to be added.