Awwwww

[crowschmo]

I have a new, if, maybe, temporary addition. My dad was outside hitting golf balls and this bird just landed at his feet. It stuck around so he came in and told me to come check it out. It wasn't in the spot on the ground it had been, so we thought it had left. Then we heard singing. We looked up and he was on the deck (I'm assuming it's a he, as he was singing). I saw that it was a canary, so probably someone's pet that got out a window or something. And he has a band on his leg. He flew around, landing on the roof, the deck chairs, the table. He didn't seem like he was leaving any time soon.

We have a bird feeder, so I got some bird seed and put it on one of the tables and he came to eat it. He looked like he was having a great time, being free and all. But, if it gets cool at night, I don't think he's made for that weather, and he was so unafraid of us and flying low, I thought maybe he'd get killed by a cat or dog or fox or something, so we had to, unfortunately, ruin his good time. I have a decorative bird cage, you know, the kind that just sits on a shelf, looking pretty, so I got that and opened it up and put some of the seed on it and a little dish of water. When he went to it, I closed it up again, feeling guilty. But, he is domesticated, so... Poor little guy.

I have a cat, so he's in the garage at the moment (the bird, not the cat). My dad went to get a real cage, so he's at the store, picking out things for this little guy who we might not even keep. I thought that was cute, that he went to go do that. And he's asking about perch covers and everything else, heh. The bird has kind of long nails, so either he's been out and about for a while, or whoever had him didn't have perch covers.

Anyway, I guess we'll be putting an ad in the paper to see if anyone's lost him, maybe tell the local shelters and vets to see if they have a network and know of anyone looking for him.

If not, I've already picked a name. I thought Sherbert. In the picture he looks more yellowy, but he's really more orange. Bertie for short, get it? Birdy? Okay, it's dumb. But anyway, he's cute.

[Mod City]

Wow, cool story. Not something that happens every day, that's for sure. Some people are really put off by birds, even pet birds, but I agree, so many of them are super cute. Looks like a happy little guy. Hope you have luck finding the owner, if there is one, and if not maybe you have a new mascot

[nondescript spice]

i think it was meant to be. finders keepers.

[Phantom Engineer]

I thought this was going to be about yawning.

[crowschmo]

So, did everyone reading that just yawn right now?

[crowschmo]

Bertie's new digs.

(Apparently, there's no second "r" in sherbet, but that's how I always pronounced the word, so...I don't care).

[Afgncaap5]

Looks like little Bertie's settlin' in pretty well!

[crowschmo]

No one else was that into the whole "Sherbert" thing, so we were trying to think of other names. I said, "Chuck. Chuck the Bird." (I was kidding). My sister was over and said he looked like a peach, so we thought "Peaches", but my dad said, "NO. It should be a boy's name." So, I was a wise guy and said, "How 'bout MISTER Peach?" Then I said, "No, how 'bout, Señor Peach?"

For some bizarre reason, everyone liked THAT name, so...

I guess it's Señor Peach. I'm still calling him Bertie.

Maybe I should have a contest --- Name that bird!

[Afgncaap5]

What about...

Señor "Bertie" Peaches, the Peachbert birdie senior?

[crowschmo]

Chuck Bertie McPeacherson.

Okay, no...


Anyway, I at least know how old he is: He hatched in 2014 according to one number on his leg band.

A neighbor of mine said it was funny I mentioned about the canary because she saw a dead parakeet in her driveway before heading to work. (Not the wild Monk Parakeets we have, bizarrely, residing in CT, but a pet blue parakeet with a leg band and everything). She was going to bury it when she got home, but of course when she returned it was gone.

So, I think we saved our Bertie from certain doom.

It's kind of a weird coinkidink that a pet parakeet just happened to show up in the area around the same time as we found Peachinator. I don't know if a pet store lost them or what. I was thinking maybe someone died and the family members just didn't want the hassle of the pets and let them loose to fend for themselves. Poor things. I haven't seen anything in the lost and found for a lost bird and the pet stores we went to said they didn't lose any.

So, don't know...

[Afgncaap5]

Wow. That definitely has a "the mystery deepens" feel to it.

[crowschmo]

I have one of those old fashioned looking combo radio, CD player, turntable thingees and his cage is on top of it. We turn the radio on once in a while for him and he's singing his little beak off. He has quite the repertoire.

I'm going to have to get a good recording device and record him.

[Afgncaap5]

I hope you do! Sounds like it'd be fun to see.

One might even say that it would be a hoot.

[crowschmo]

Wow. This bird never shuts the eff up. He sings for HOURS at a time. It's funny. He has quite a few little songs he does. I thought it would be a problem with my cat, but he completely ignores this bird, doesn't acknowledge his existence at all. Maybe a slight glance in that direction, like, "oh, THAT thing, bah" and moves on. He'll even sit on the rug in that room and not even pay that bird any mind when he starts singing up a storm.

My cat was also an accidental pet. People that lived next door to the house I used to live in had a cat that had kittens. They kept the mother cat and one of the kittens (my cat's sister) and gave the rest away, including mine. But whoever they gave mine to had someone in the house who was allergic, so that person gave the kitten back. The mother and sister cat kept attacking this one and didn't accept him back, so the people who had lived next door to me just kept this poor little kitten OUTSIDE by itself, feeding it on the porch. I hadn't known any of this yet.

Well, one day I went out to eat with my mom and my aunt at a restaurant down the street and when my mom and I came back home, there was this little mewling sound and out from under the shed came this little kitten. I had thought at the time that he had just gotten out of the house somehow and I waited for the people next door to come home. I sat on my porch with this cute little thing on my lap, purring like crazy and wanting attention. When I had gone in the house for a moment, he even jumped up onto the door, hanging on the screen and mewling for me to come back out, or let him in. Aww. I felt so bad for him, he wanted a home. I found out the story when the people came back home that night that the mamma cat wouldn't tolerate him anymore. The woman who lived next door on the OTHER side of our house said, "Aww, you have to keep him."

So, of course, I did. He's 15 now. His name is Nikita. (He had a name, Onyx, from the other people, but, no, I wasn't keeping that name).

I love the li'l bastard. (Well, he's quite big, actually, he scared some guy my dad had helping him in the yard, the guy thought he was a wild cat or something, heh).

[crowschmo]

I'm feeling really down today. The canary, who ended up being just called Peeps, passed away during the night. He seemed fine yesterday. I cleaned his cage and the only thing I did differently was put in this grit on the bottom of the cage. It had a strong smell, and I was wondering if maybe the fumes got to him, especially when we covered him at night. I contacted the company and they are sending a mailer so I can send them the stuff and they can do a toxicology test.

So, naturally I am feeling very guilty about all this; I wish I had never put that stuff in. I'm very heartbroken about it. The poor baby. Only 4 years old. I'm going to miss the songs.