...but why?

doesn't Oz have native/feral/racing pigeons of their own?

No doubt someone will lighten my darkness...

Reg is right, his legs ARE hairy, it's like a birds nest down there!

Maybe he got the wrong idea about 'having a bird in your trousers'??

lol

nuff said

I wonder if he was wearing the kind of underwear Aussies call 'Budgie-smugglers' ??

Paris - because she'd know all about that sort of thing.

just wandering.... WHY???????????????????????

they no longer have pigeons down under?

Can't help it. With international roaming tariffs, you better bring your own pigeon to write home.

Mine's the one with the cream eggs in the pocket.

Ok, Vaguely interesting, slightly bazaar story, but I’m failing to see the technology angle on this one!

Pigeons down the pants? Are they sure it wasn't a Cockatoo?

You go, girl!

Keep it up ElReg - you're getting more like the Star and the Sun every day!

Uberfail in terms of sticking to the brief.

Now removing the RSS feed from my toolbar.

.. is worth two...

In the Aussie bloke's knickers...

See, now that just doesn't have quite the same ring to it as the usual saying. Mind you beyond "f*cking clueless fraggle" not much else to be said about the chap.

Hey Sarah... that's now El Reg's "Official Response"??? Outstanding :)

Oh and you owe me a new keyboard too......

Did they catch him because he was walking around all pigeon-toed?

...as "O2 man collared with pigeons down trousers". I thought it was going to explain why international texts often take days to arrive...

According to the _Times_ the smuggler also had:

"an undeclared aubergine in his holdall"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article5650627.ece

As they say:

"As an island nation [Oz] is particularly fearful of importing new animals or plant life, which could spread disease or threaten its native species."

But presumably there are large financial rewards awaiting Aussies who bring in contraband. Guess there are a few well-heeled pigeon/aubergine fanciers down under who'll pay over the odds for an unusual specimen.

Is this what you can expect if you bend a rule or two in Oz?

Are the Oz authorities allowed to take staged photos of the accused's nether regions & splash them all over the interwebby thing?

I bet the birds are underage so some other Oz policeman will probably nab them all for kiddyporn offences.

I'll keep my coat on thanks.

Unlike Steven Jack this article and many of the others like it are the reason I read El Reg. There's a million sites on the web which will regurgitate the latest news releases from disk manufacturers about the latest X platter disk with redundant whatsits and -1ms seek times. It's pleasant that El Reg occasionally has articles that are slightly off-beat and less relevant to tech workers.

A change is like a holiday, and that brings us back to Mr Pigeon Pants who I am sure will be spending some time explaining to his fellow inmates what possibly motivated him to smuggle two pigeons and a bunch of seeds into a country known for it's tight quarantine laws. As an aside, imagine the stench in those tights, and feel sorry for the passengers near him.

Paris, because she's only interested in cockatoos.

Typical Aussie from the sounds of it - possibly sheep are getting too expensive?

He's just a bit confused about the whole concept of bringing home birds, innit... :-)

Mine's the one with room for an emu and two cockerels.

"Sir, are you happy to see me, or is that a pigeon in your pants?"

Mine's the grey poncho with the whitish smears, please...

"(ps You mean 'bizarre'. You're welcome.)"

Maybe he does mean bazaar. It might be where the Aussie would be selling the eggs and pigeons. Maybe.

The ostriches wouldn't fit.

For setting another wanker straight...oh, wait....that's redundant...

All he had to do was show the pigeons a map and have them fly there themselves.

Lazy birds, catching a plane!

...you landed back in Aus and before you were allowed off, the Quarantine lads would come on board and proceed to walk down the aisles of the aircraft spraying the aerosols of disinfectant in the air....

You knew you were back home then!!

Must have been to kill to smuggled pigeons.

Is where Bill Lawry went!

I still haven't forgotton the incident involving the Oz and the pasta jar incident, or the violation of Jungle Jane, this is next on the list of weird crimes going on in the land of Down Under i thinks.

As for the man's Leg Hair Index he rates worse then a rainforest, if the pigeons were infact proxies for parrots to go with his leg jungle or something similar then it is a sad fail indeed...

What's the punishment for smuggling pigeons? Will he end up doing bird?

I thank you.

The punishment for smuggling pigeons in your trousers is almost certinaly this: your legs get covered in pigeon crap.

I'll get my coat - it's the one with the undisclosed aubergine in the pocket...

I'll bet that tickled his fancy!