Mike Tyson: Gentle as a dove

(Photo by J. M. Garg)

… be wise like a serpent, and gentle as a dove…

(from Matthew 10:16)

Most everyone knows that Mike Tyson is no stranger to serpentine ways.  As a youth, he was wise enough to shift from a delinquent lifestyle into becoming one of the world’s most striking opponents.

What the world may not know is that Tyson also has (in this case, quite literally) a dove side to his nature.  During a 2011 New Yorker interview, Tyson discussed his long-time “love affair” with pigeons.  Growing up in a tough section of Brooklyn, Tyson had turned to pigeons for solace.  He confided to the interviewer:  It took my mind off the world I was living in, people bullying me and stuff.  I’d just go on the roof and fly my birds. 

Although the first punch that young Tyson ever threw was due to a stolen flock of pigeons - these days, he is

way more the lover than the fighter.  [And… according to deterapigeon.com, there are a number of amazing

things to love about these descendents of rock doves – things like the following:  Pigeons saved thousands of

lives during both World Wars by carrying messages across enemy lines; pigeons were greatly appreciated

by Sikh Guru Gobind Singh; Navy researchers have found that pigeons can be trained to locate shipwreck

survivors; pigeons are able to undertake tasks (such as recognizing all 26 letters of the English alphabet) that

were previously thought to be only within the purview of humans and primates; and – saving the “best” for

last - pigeon excrement has been an essential crop fertilizer for centuries.]

As if it weren’t enough to be kissing a pigeon on its beak (as Tyson gently demonstrated during the first

episode of his “Taking on Tyson” Animal Planet series), Tyson has also now “gone vegan.”  During a Fox News interview with Greta Van Susteren, Tyson said that he had been a vegan for two years and felt “awesome.”  He then stated:  I wish I was born this way…   I wonder why I was crazy all those years…

   

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Tyson

http://www.deterapigeon.com/21-amazing-facts-about-pigeons.htm

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2011/03/14/110314ta_talk_wiedeman

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/transcript/mike-tyson-039i-live-boring-life-i039ve-learned-love039?page=2

Copyright March 10, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved