Story of a homeless man and an injured cockatiel

Discussion in 'Animals & Pets' started by kazenatsu, Jul 11, 2017.

  1. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I found this story posted on Reddit, thought I might share it with you all:

    A little over a year ago I was homeless in the Bay Area. I'd spent the previous night in an illegal encampment/meth den; the next morning, as I got off the BART and walked into town I only just barely noticed I was about to step on something small and colorful. I looked down to see it was some kind of exotic bird. A cockatiel or small parrot, I wasn't sure. It was hobbling along the sidewalk outside of a new apartment complex; it must have been hurt because it wasn't flying away from me and only just barely walking. I figured it must have been someone's escaped pet. I looked around and there was no one else on the street and the closest apartment buildings had no open windows I could see.

    Deciding I couldn't just leave it in case it was run over or a cat got it, I picked 'her' up and walked into the reception of the nearest apartment. I asked if anyone had reported a missing pet and they said no, and that tenants weren't allowed to have pets anyway.

    I stuck around outside the apartment for an hour or so, in case anyone came looking for her; I saw no one. After awhile I decided the best thing to do would be to get help from a veterinarian. I couldn't keep her myself, obviously, because I was homeless. I couldn't get to any rescue centers because I don't drive and from what I saw online, the closest ones were impossible for me to reach on foot. I figured a vet would be able to take her, on the off chance that someone had enquired about their missing bird, or at least one of the staff would be willing to drop her off at a shelter for me.

    I set off on a long walk towards the closest vet; I must have looked a right sight - a mildly bedraggled, possibly homeless man, wandering around with an exotic bird in his hand. I saw a lot of rubber-necking and people at traffic lights actually rolling down their windows to ask about her.

    On the journey, the bird and I actually made friends; I'd been holding her cupped in my hands in case she tried to fly off, and she'd been nipping and biting my fingers. I sat down to unpack some food for us and we shared a stale sandwich and some water. Tentatively, I opened my hand, expecting her to go crazy or try to fly off, but amazingly she just maneuvered herself to perch on my finger and seemed content there with me.

    So we set off again: one hobo and his bird. When we made it to the vet's a few hours later they explained they couldn't help, and were unwilling to take her as it went against their policies. They suggested I try the others vets in town to see if they could do anything more. The next couple I went to said the exact same thing.

    Flummoxed, I started to worry a little; what the hell was I going to do? It was early in the year so nights got very cold. I was barely making it sleeping fully dressed under a winter blanket. AFAIK, birds don't handle the cold very well, and I couldn't put her under the covers with me for fear of squashing her in my sleep. I couldn't put her in a box or anything in case she wandered off and/or got attacked by a cat. I messaged some friends to see if they could take her but they were all unwilling or able, and suggested I go to a vet. Birdy, in the meantime, didn't panic and kept her cool.

    As the day dragged on, I managed to visit the last of the vets on my list, and they all said the same thing as the others. It was now nightfall, so my options were non-existent. I decided I'd just have to pull an all-nighter at the local Safeway café, and I'd figure something out the next day.

    As I was sat in the empty dining area, feeding her some bird food, one of the staff was walking past and did a double-take. "Is...is that a bird? In here?" I thought she was going to ask me to leave, but she came over intrigued. I told her my story (avoiding the fact that I was homeless) and she had the strangest response - she explained that she was an exotic bird aficionado and offered to take the bird in! She whipped out her phone and showed me all the cages and birds she'd had over the years. She said her shift was finishing up in an hour and that if I could stick around till then, she would take birdy off me and put her in the pet carrier she had in her car. As I didn't have anything better to do and I wanted birdy to be safe, I stuck around. Sure enough, the lady comes by later and we go to her car. She has a small pet carrier in there and tells me tomorrow's her day off, so she'll take birdy to the vets for a checkup and some treatment. I said one last goodbye to my new feathered friend, thanked the lady for her help, and trudged off to my dumpster.

    Thus, the adventure came to an end. I was actually sad to part ways with the bird; maybe it was just the company. But I was happy she went to a caring home, with someone knowledgeable about birds. Whenever I went into the store after that, the lady was always happy to let me know how the bird was doing. As of six months after I found her, the bird was happy healthy, and able to fly again.

    TL;DR, homeless man finds abandoned exotic bird, roams streets with it, gets a lot of weird looks, coincidentally bumps into random store worker that loves birds, a happy ending for all.
     

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