What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas — except when it involves pigeons wearing tiny cowboy hats.
A video recorded in a Sin City parking lot last week shows at least two pigeons pecking and scratching at scattered seeds on the pavement while wearing pigeon-sized cowboy hats. One hat is bright red while the other appears to be beige or white.
The original video was shot by Bobby Lee, Las Vegas TV station KTNV reports. Lee posted the clip on Facebook Thursday but the video has really picked up steam on Twitter, where it has been watched more than 2 million times.
“Just another day in the neighborhood,” Lee wrote in his Facebook caption.
The video went viral through the Las Vegas Locally Twitter account.
WARNING: The following video contains harsh language. Viewer discretion is advised.
In the video, a man’s voice can be heard freaking out about the pigeons and their hats.
“These f—ing birds have hats on, bro!” the man says.
Many Twitter users were amused by the bizarre video.
“I’m not a gambler, but I’d go to Vegas just to watch pigeons flying around in little pink cowboy hats,” tweeted @5heribr0wn.
User @44bella_ applauded whoever put the hats on the pigeons in the first place.
“Do y’all understand what type of person it takes to be able to catch a pigeon, let alone secure a cowboy hat on its head?” she wrote.
“Some people wanna watch the world burn,” added @HamfistHarold. “Others just want to put tiny cowboy hats on pigeons.”
Many also raised concerns about the hat-wearing pigeons.
“The cowboy hat pigeons are cute but they might not be able to see well, making it so they can’t escape predators coming from above,” Holly Conrad pointed out on Twitter. “And the hats are affixed possibly with glue?”
The Nevada SPCA acknowledged the incident in a tweet on Sunday, adding that a “local pigeon rescue group” is currently trying to find the birds.
That group is Lofty Hopes, a non-profit animal rescue that focuses on pigeons. Mariah Hillman, who runs the rescue, says she’s concerned for the pigeons’ well-being.
“At first I was like, ‘Oh my God that’s cute!'” she told local station KVVU. “Then I was like, ‘Wait a minute — how did they get those hats on there?'”
Hillman says she and her team are working to corral the pigeon cowboys so they can remove the hats. She also worries that they’ve been glued on, and that they might expose the pigeons to predators or impair their ability to fly.
“We drove up and down here yesterday for a good two hours just handing out business cards to any location where I saw pigeons and people,” Hillman told the station.
Hillman has one simple message for anyone who sees a cowboy hat-wearing bird: “Just feed them until I get there,” she said. “I’m only 3 miles away and I’ll come trap them.”
It wouldn’t be her first pigeon rodeo.
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