CAMP SNAKE PIT, Iraq -- At five inches tall and less then two pounds, the suspect that Cpl. Scott B. Lyon and fellow Marines with Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, have in their custody here is not the average AK-47-toting insurgent – he’s a pigeon. “You’ve got your good pigeons, and you’ve got your bad pigeons,” Lance Cpl. Stephen A. Norton, an intelligence analyst with the infantry battalion’s Headquarters and Service Company, said with a chuckle. “This could be a bad pigeon given the circumstances,” he said. The bird was bagged because of the company it was with, according to Lyon, a rifleman with 4th Platoon, Company C. The 23-year-old from Des Moines, Iowa said his platoon was providing security for elements of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines during a mission in the city when things turned fowl. The platoon set up a cordon of the area with their up-armored humvees and “kept seeing a vehicle with men driving around off in the distance,” recalled the 2000 Valley High School graduate. “It seemed like they were watching us. They kept circling our position and were acting suspicious.” Lyon said he and his fellow Marines watched the car come and go several times while they posted security. They finished their mission and were driving back to their base when they met the car on the road. He and his comrades jumped into action. “We stopped the car and searched it,” he said. “There were five men inside and one was holding a pigeon.” The pigeon was of particular importance to the man, according to Lyon. “He wouldn’t let go of him during the search.” Lyon and his Marines discovered four of the men were wearing two sets of clothes. They all had expired military identification cards, and the vehicle had stolen license plates, which, Lyon said, was enough to win them a trip to the detention facility for further questioning. “We put it all together and decided they were up to no good, he said.” Platoon Sergeant Gunnery Sgt. Tracy L. Reddish was optimistic about the event. “I feel like we captured five bad guys today and got a bird in the process,” said the 35-year-old from Jesup, Ga. “It’s very hot out here, and the only reason they’d be wearing two sets of clothes is if they were up to no good.” In addition to being guilty by association, the pigeon was captured because it could pose a threat to coalition forces, said Reddish. “We don’t want other insurgents using the bird for signaling,” he said. According to 21-year-old Norton from White Plains, N.Y., insurgents sometimes use pigeons and doves to signal other insurgents to attack coalition forces. “It’s good we got him off the streets, Norton said.” Reddish said they’re holding the bird for evidence and are undecided what to do with it. “We might make him our mascot,” he said.