Pigeons wearing tiny cowboy hats spotted in Las Vegas

Two pigeons have been spotted in Las Vegas wearing tiny cowboy hats.

While many have been amused by the sight of the birds, with social media users excitedly reporting sightings since a video was first posted to Facebook in early December, there are concerns for the welfare of the animals. The birds have been seen between McCarran international airport and the University of Nevada.

Mariah Hillman, who works with the local animal rescue charity Lofty Hopes, said the hats were glued on to the pigeons. “When we saw them today, you could see some loose feathers in the glue around the hat. It’s definitely a concern,” she said.

Opening with the exclamation: “These fucking birds have hats on, bro!”, a repost of Bobby Lee’s Facebook video of the pair has already garnered 2m views on Twitter. Observers have named the two birds Cluck Norris and Coo-lamity Jane.

Cluck Norris can be identified by the red hat he is wearing, as opposed to Coo-lamity Jane’s pink headgear. There are unconfirmed reports that a third pigeon has fallen victim to the trend and is sporting a brown hat. The Las Vegas Metropolitan police department told the New York Times it “does not appear to be a police matter at this time”.

Some people pointed to the fact that the National Finals Rodeo are in town as possible reason behind the stunt.

Hillman’s group has been attempting to capture the pigeons to remove the headgear, with little success so far. They said the birds had been difficult to trap as they were being fed repeatedly by people curious about their appearance, making luring them with food difficult.

With the hats having stayed in place for at least five days, the group said they must be fastened by a strong adhesive, and would likely remain in place until the pigeons moulted.

Lofty Hopes is holding a workshop to make toys for rescue pets at the weekend – where presumably cowboy hats will be off the agenda.