Gilligan’s Island reached out from the television screen weekly to bring us laughs and intrigue, of the stranded on an island variety. We were thrilled and entertained to discover that for one episode, Gilligan and his stranded shipmates were fanciers.
A homing pigeon was released by a prison inmate in Hawaii, only a short 300 or so miles away, the inmate attempted to train this young homing pigeon to fly to his lost love’s house. Sadly, the bird was quite off-course landing on the uncharted island Gilligan and his mates called home.
The pigeon arrived looking worn and ragged which made sense considering that the 300-mile trip was over water and through tremendous headwinds of a terrible tropical storm. While any pigeon fancier knows that we lose time as the birds do not like to fly over bodies of water, Gilligan’s bird had no such difficulties. Making the trip not once but five times. We could all win the million dollars Mr. Howell had desperately offered in hopes of obtaining the inmate’s help. Actually, we could win every race if we too could train our birds to defy their nature and follow suit.
gilligan island the pigeon episode – Bing images
In a short period of time Gilligan and his friends, managed to rehabilitate this pigeon. In the real world, we utilize medications, that treat, medicate, vaccinate and supplement. They fed the little pigeon papaya pie, coconut milk, and a steak feast, (where the steak feast came from is a mystery) Sadly, this led to an extremely fat pigeon.
They devised an elaborate training regimen, of a homemade; Gilligan-powered, pigeon treadmill. While we have been driving miles away to train and strengthen our birds, Gilligan simply built a miniature treadmill, with a crankshaft. They even did a bit of darkening, well they put the bird in a cave; it’s the same thing. They created a vitamin regimen that was amazingly restorative. Considering that they only had what grew on the island. And in a miraculous mind-boggling turn of events, the pigeon was completely restored and grown into a mature bird in just a few days.
They tied a thousand-dollar bill and a note onto its leg and sent it off to initiate their rescue. Sadly, the inmate, believing that the note was from his lost love, did not send help. But rather he sent a note back, and so the episode continued, with each trip the bird would return to the island looking fit and healthy, perhaps It was the coconut milk.
The pigeon resting peacefully in the darkened cave came to the rescue of the stranded group, killing an enormous spider. Makes sense, as according to the professor pigeons are the spider’s natural enemy.
Gilligan managed to train a dual-homing pigeon, create a completely organic and original supplement regimen and a unique training technique. Which allowed his pigeon to be the best homing pigeon in the history of the island. They taught it to dual home and not only trap but to land on Gilligan’s head every time.
In that one episode Gilligan managed to successfully do what every fancier dream of, he created the perfect homing pigeon.
Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a faithful trip……
Kelly Jo Stone & Jeff Butterman
https://www.metacritic.com/tv/gilligans-island/season-3/episode-28-the-pigeon