u/hotsexyrosemary

My kitty lived with my ex for about 3 months last summer and rapidly gained weight and developed behavioral issues/depression. My ex finally agreed to give him back and this is where he is now! There’s a 2 pound weight difference between the photos. I love my baby.
Here are all the lifestyle changes we made:
Wet food (Purina pro plan or purina one) with added water
Probiotics (Fortiflora)
Psyllium husk
Fish oil
Food puzzles
Leashed walks and trick training

On April 9th of this year, I noticed a stunning red pigeon among a flock of gray pigeons near the courthouse. Since then, I have seen them on a weekly basis. I have asked many other people whether they have witnessed this phenomenon, and none of them have. This suggests this occurrence may be as rare as I initially believed, rather than a simple observer effect.

I have several theories as to why this might be happening. There are the obvious explanations: perhaps I am encountering the same pigeon in multiple locations. Perhaps this is a designer pigeon that has escaped into the wild. However, one theory continues to reverberate in my mind.

Back in the 1800s and early 1900s, when pigeons were widely domesticated in the US, this color morph was relatively common. When pigeons were abandoned by society and reclassified as vermin, their survival depended on blending into the concrete jungle. As a result, the gray color variant prevailed.

I believe the red color variant is now beginning to re-emerge. As selective pressure to camouflage within their environment decreases, these once-suppressed genes may be returning to the population. We may be witnessing the dawn of a new era in pigeon evolution.

Has anyone else witnessed this?