Politics

Weekend Weirdness: Pigeons Reveal Secret Cannabis Grow

Published on January 2, 2016 · Last updated July 28, 2020

Pigeons sure seem to be attracted to cannabis in some way, whether they’re delivering it over prison walls or inadvertently ratting (or would it be “birding” in this instance?) out illegal grow operations, the latter of which happened in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, England.

Police officers happened to notice hundreds of pigeons preferring to rest on a particular roof in town that appeared to be suspiciously absent of any frost despite the cold winter temps. A subsequent raid uncovered 14 cannabis plants, and the heat lamps used in the illegal grow were acting as a makeshift radiator, warming the roof enough to attract about 300 pigeons that wanted their undersides nice and toasty.

An onlooker told The Sun that it didn’t take a genius to figure out something shady was going on in that warmed up warehouse:

“It seems obvious when you think about it. It’s like the criminals were waving a sign saying they were growing cannabis. The birds blew their cover.”

Seems like a flimsy reason to conduct a raid, but I guess that’s what happens when a little birdy (or 300) tips off the cops.

 Weekend Weirdness: Pigeon Caught Trying to Smuggle Cannabis into a Costa Rican Prison

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Rebecca Kelley
Rebecca Kelley
Rebecca is the Content Director at Leafly, where she oversees Leafly News production and other content projects.
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