I always feel sad when I see signs for lost pets. This one particularly because I don't imagine a parrot could survive long here in winter. Telegraph Hill, we're not. Still, I hope Zoozoo gets found. I'm resisting quoting Monty Python.When I was a kid, I had a series of parakeets, all named Paddington. One of them lived more than 10 years. The Paddingtons were allowed regular exercise outside the cage, and liked to imitate sparrows.
We also had finches named Henry, Henrietta, Raucous and Wretched. Their lives were a soap opera that ended badly and did not go into syndication. I believe it was Henrietta who escaped to the great outdoors, never to be seen again.
Have you ever lost a pet?
funny i had 3 hamsters all named Pinky.
ReplyDeletei lost my first dog once for a week. i could not function. thank God i got him back...
A friend of mine who works for the Parks Dept. here in the Bronx just found a parakeet. She couldn't catch it for a few days and kept coming back thinking it'd be dead, but it was doing just fine. They're hardy little guys.
ReplyDeleteJeff had a 69 cent pet store parakeet named Sam that lived to be something like 16.
I lost my box turtle once. He was roaming in the backyard and found a way out of his pen. A neighbor a couple houses down found him a couple days later.
ReplyDeletePeople found it funny when I told them "my turtle ran away."
I have been lucky to never have lost a pet. I did find one once, though. A parakeet was flying around our yard, I put out an old birdcage, and he flew right in and lived with us for several years.
ReplyDeleteMy first pet, Leo had a brother who my Grandma owned but it looked just like him.
ReplyDeleteWell my uncle was watching them both at our house when we were away on vacation years ago and he always liked to scare them or make them bark, so he opened the garage door and yelled and Leo's brother ran away.
We never did get him back, but a couple years ago while my mom and I were driving home, we swear we saw him in the neighborhood. We tried to call him to the car but he just ran into the darkness. So it does give us hope that he did find a good home.
I get upset when I see lost pet ads too. I have been lucky not to have lost any. I can't imagine life without either of my pups.
ReplyDeleteI lost a favorite little cat named Sneakers, and finally had to write a children's story called Five Happy Endings to force myself to get over it. We lost her moving - and she escaped from her new home when the neighbor kid left the door open - I always feel like I somehow betrayed her trust. Even all these years later.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
Dani
http://blogbooktours.blogspot.com
When I was 11 my parents put a second story on our house. I thought my cat got scared by the construction and ran away. I knocked on every neighbor's door for blocks! Turned out she was between floors she didn't come out for about a week.
ReplyDeleteI tried putting up flyers when Velveeta ran away but they didn't help. She never came back.
ReplyDeleteThere was an escaped parrot living in our neighborhood for decades. We called him the Green Pigeon because he lived and hung out with the pigeons. We moved away from there 6 years ago but I'm pretty sure he's still there. Loved seeing that bird hanging out at the hospital.
Yes, lost a cat who jumped from an open window on a highway. We searched nearly the entire state of Connecticut. I was devastated, my father was inconsolable, he was driving the car. (before carriers, it was a long time ago). In any event, here in Fairfield County there are wild parrots living! They apparently make it through the winter, no one knows where they're nesting and parrots generally build fairly large structures (at least in the rain forests) so it remains a mystery. They are in a very specific area and reappear every year, never been captured. Makes me happy when I think about them.
ReplyDeleteI had an indoor cat that bolted out the door when I was a teen. I searched everywhere, calling for him. He was gone 38 days and just showed up on our porch one afternoon. He was a little skinny and dirty, but otherwise healthy. I was so happy.
ReplyDeleteSo...I'm the only one laughing at the idea of a Quaker Parrot?
ReplyDeleteMy parakeets were named Jodi - all 3 of them. I then broke the trend with "Cowboy" I tried to teach him to say "get along little doggie" - they weren't big talkers.
ReplyDeleteTanyaK, that's a good hamster name! Glad you got your dog back.
ReplyDeleteLisa and Alecto, it's good to know Zoozoo might have a fighting chance, then. Still, it gets pretty cold. Lisa, I think the one Paddington lived to 12 and finally had a stroke. He was a happy bird.
Val, that's a hoot! Yeah, "turtle" and "ran" don't go together. It's funny you should mention a turtle, as I did have a penny turtle go missing for three weeks, only to find him crawling across the kitchen floor one day. His name was "Studs."
Kathi, you're doubly lucky! As was that parakeet.
Aw, that's a sad story, Wonderful. Mean uncle!
Natashya, me neither! I've had a couple occasions where I thought a dog was lost, but they never really were.
Dani, that's so sad! I hope writing the story helped. I still feel bad about things that happened to pets long ago, too.
HB, poor kitty! Must've been terrified at all the disruption. I'm glad she wasn't gone for good.
Denise, I hope Velveeta found a home somewhere else, and that's why she didn't return. Love the green pigeon. You do live in a gentler clime.
Oh, that must've been a nightmare for you, Alecto. I still think about a dog I saw trotting down the middle of the highway in rush-hour traffic; he must've gotten out of someone's car. Maybe your kitty was able to make its way to someone's home. I have my fingers crossed for this parrot to survive!
Betts, wow, lucky! If only that kitty could've talked.
DG, it's a little-known sect. They really like Communion, too.
Beeb, mine weren't big talkers, either. They could imitate sparrows, but people talk sounded like gargling.