| With the current state of the Royal Mail, and all the | | | | whilst the lofty Saint Bernard was never a courier, |
| postal delays, you may feel that a chimpanzee would | | | | post dogs have been known to exist; the most |
| do a better job than your current postie, and who | | | | famous of these was Owney, a former stray, who |
| knows you could even be right. The truth is that | | | | travelled around the world delivering mail. He made his |
| animals have been working courier jobs for centuries, | | | | home on freight trains and steamships, but was sadly |
| and as we've yet to see a Saint Bernard on strike it's | | | | forced into early retirement when a nervous |
| likely that they'll be working a more reliable service than | | | | breakdown caused him to bite a news reporter. |
| your average postman for many more: | | | | Camels are often used in courier jobs to transport |
| Carrier pigeons, or homing pigeons, are the best known | | | | packages across the desert. This may conjure up |
| animals with courier jobs and they've been providing | | | | images of bejewelled Arabian Camels travelling in a |
| this service to the public since World War One. The | | | | train across the vast expanse of the Sahara Desert. |
| pigeons were used by all sides to carry messages | | | | However, camels are still used to deliver parcels and |
| from point-to-point and were routinely deployed from | | | | packages in Australia, where they are perfect for |
| the front-line to carry status reports back to the | | | | adapting to the rougher climes of the Australian |
| headquarters. Their courier jobs even continued out at | | | | Outback. Typically a camel's load is between 250 to |
| sea, when carrier pigeons were carried aboard | | | | 600lb and they are particularly useful at carrying |
| warships and seaplanes as a back-up means of | | | | misshapen items and bedding on their courier jobs. |
| communication, should the ship's radio communications | | | | You may have heard about Postman Pat, but what |
| break down. However, one South African IT firm has | | | | about Postman Cat? At least that's the nickname |
| employed a carrier pigeon to transfer data between | | | | given to this ginger-and-white moggy, who regularly |
| their offices, as they believe their bird, Winston, to be | | | | helps out on Postman Terry Grinter's morning round. |
| faster than broadband. | | | | The ginger-and-white tom, named Beezley, loves |
| Whilst carrier pigeons may be reliable and speedy, | | | | nothing better than lying on top of the mail in the |
| they aren't exactly pretty to look at, which is where | | | | postman's basket as he makes his deliveries around |
| the Saint Bernard comes in. However, the world's | | | | the town of Lyme Regis in Dorset. If there were |
| cuddliest courier may not be all he seems. The Saint | | | | courier jobs going for cats then Beezley would face |
| Bernard is often pictured with a keg around his neck | | | | stiff competition from Postman Pat's companion, Jess. |
| and it was believed that this keg carried brandy to | | | | However, unlike Jess, Beezley doesn't belong to Mr |
| weary mountaineers. This is actually a myth and the | | | | Grinter. Instead Postman Cat meets him outside his |
| monks of the Saint Bernard's hospice, where the | | | | owner's house where they begin their round together. |
| breed originated, are adamant that alcohol would | | | | There's just a slight problem, Beezley is averse to the |
| worsen the condition of hypothermia that the dogs | | | | rain and refuses to do his job if the sun isn't shining. |
| rescued from the treacherous St. Bernard's Pass. But | | | | Maybe he's not that dissimilar to the Royal Mail after all. |