New Additions...

After Scooter passed away there was a quiet void in our home. The corner once filled with chirps, squawks, and the famous angry bell had become still and silent. For me it took a few weeks to really register the fact that Scooter was gone, as I was away at work for most of the days and evenings immediately after his passing. However, for Bryn-Erinn the silence was deafening and isolating.
To my surprise she decided, sooner than either of us had expected, to get two new birds. She chose two different means of adopting. For the first, she wanted a young bird so she could train him and so he would be easier to integrate with another bird. For the other, she decided that she would rescue a bird who wasn't in a loving relationship. Following this ideal, she visited Pet Smart almost every day looking at the parakeets trying to find one that was interested in people and not particularly bonded to another bird. In the end she found a very small blue parakeet who likes to hold his left wing out for whatever reason (wing not pictured here, Bryn thinks he might have scoliosis). When he becomes scared or insecure his left wing quivers with great frequency. We both felt Lefty would have been a good name for him, but after much debate, we decided to call him Beaker - the name just stuck because Baby Beaker was cute. His training is going a little slow, as he hates to be away from his friend Lilly.

Bryn-Erinn found our other new friend on Craig's List. She saw the picture of a yellow bird in a very small cage and a description that her owners had lost interest in her. Bryn-Erinn took pity on this small creature and drove for over an hour to go and pick her up. To her horror, the cage was so small there was only room for food and water (both of which were empty) and no perches or toys. The family thought she was a boy and had named her Jeremiah. I felt it was a great Biblical name, but Bryn-Erinn thought she needed a new name to go with her new life. We decided on Lilly, as the flower can often be yellow and is the sign of springtime and new growth. It was also fitting as she has a bit of a temper, and it is during those times that we call her Lilith (Frasier's wife from "Cheers" who could be petulant and aggressive from time to time). Fortunately, she is warming and her temper is cooling. She still won't come out of her cage or sit on our finger, but she is learning how to play and sing, albeit tentatively. She has also gotten to the point where she will put one foot on our finger. It took several days for her to learn what a perch is for, but now she enjoys a spacious cage full of toys and mirrors. We are confident that with great patience and love, she will at some point be more outgoing and confident.

The two birds get along well. Lilly at first would beat up on Beaker, and was generally aggressive towards him. Now as he has grown and begins to mature he fights back and they appear to have reached an understanding. They have grown quite fond of eachother, and now kiss and preen eachother like normal birds do. We are pleased to have them in our lives, and Bryn-Erinn is fully occupied with their training and re-education. Scooter is sorely missed, but the fun our two new friends bring helps take the edge of off of the void left by Scooter.

My Most Precious Friend is Gone

Today I lost my best friend of over ten years. Scooter has been my most loyal companion. The day we first met I knew he was special. I had two birds of my own already, but they weren’t particularly interested in me – they loved each other most. Scooter, on the other hand, desperately wanted a person of his own. We had an immediate connection. A couple of days after our first visit, I mentioned to his owner/breeder how much I liked him, and that I would be willing to trade my pair of birds for Scooter. Bruce thought that was a fabulous idea, as my pair had unusual coloring and he wanted to try to breed them. Scooter immediately bonded with me, and insisted on doing everything I was doing. Thus began our precious and enduring friendship.

Birds are very better than human in their affections and personalities. They love, hate, want, and ignore with passionate obsession and opinions to rival most people. I have loved many other animals too, but birds, when given the chance, are uncanny in their ability to understand and relate to their people. Scooter was especially gifted with this intelligence and personality. Of the generations of birds I’ve been blessed to know, all have been wonderful and special, but Scooter is particularly important to me. He was my only daily comfort throughout the many years of bitter sorrow and loneliness I suffered during my first marriage. Scooter would kiss my tears and refuse to leave my side. He listened like any good pet would, and did his best to utter intelligible responses. He learned to make intonations that sounded like an appropriate response to whatever I had confided in him, but he never made the steps to articulate consonants and form words. Instead, we invented our own language of whistles and clicks. We understood each other, and as a result, our friendship deepened over the years.

He was always possessive and jealous of my attentions. When Brett and I first started dating, Scooter wouldn’t speak to me when Brett was around. After Brett and I were married, Scooter continued to let me know I was betraying him by biting me whenever he’d seen me kiss or hug Brett. We had many laughs about this, but he never completely got over his jealousy.

He loved his Grandma’s house too. His sunny windowsill in the guestroom looked out over a lush yard full of bird feeders and a birdbath. Scooter spent many cheerful hours on his window during my dad’s battle with cancer. We made the six-hour trek from Portland to Spokane every-other week for 12 months. Scooter would sing and crane his neck to see the action outside his window, flinching only at the occasional overpass and the windshield wipers. He could only make it about four hours before becoming frustrated with his confinement to his cage. At this point in the drive he usually started to ring his “angry bell.” He would ring with such ferocity and determination that I would have to cover my laughter so as not to fuel his fiery rage. Always upon arriving at either end of our journey, he would fly with unfettered happiness to whomever was standing nearby. He loved my parents and the family dog, Bitsy, but knew to be wary of the cat, Sydney.

After dad passed away, the other pets slowly began to succumb to their age. After a year or so, Scooter was the final pet remaining in our family. We still drove to Spokane often, and my mom always loved her visits with her “grandkeet.” After moving to Minnesota, Scooter really began to show his age. I knew the end wasn’t that far away, but I continued to hold on to the hope that he would make it to the summer months. He always loved to sing to the outside birds and chipmunks. After Christmas, he began to spend and increasing amount of time tucked under the collar of my fleece jacket. He would chirp and peep, snuggle, and kiss my neck or chin upon waking from a long snooze. As the days and weeks wore on, he began to look frail and his beak began to feel a little cold. I stopped going out much, and would often spend 8-12 hours a day reading with him snuggled in under my chin. His final days in this life were, for the most part, spent cuddled up with me. He got to enjoy his last treats of popcorn, toast, bagel, English muffin, and cheese pizza. We didn’t know these were his final hours, but now that the inevitable has come to pass, I am relieved to have been able to be home with him during this time.

In the end I am a little relieved that Scooter was able to pass in his sleep after a cozy day with his people. I had begun to fear that he would have a long, protracted illness. It’s very difficult to judge when birds are sick enough to be put to sleep, and I dreaded having to make that guess. I know he is happy in Heaven. I have no idea what roles animals play in Heaven, but I do know that God loves them, and they are perfect little souls. As naughty as he could be, Scooter deserves all the best happiness in the next life. I hope he checks in on me sometimes, and I hope he understands just how deeply I love him. He will be sorely missed, and will never be forgotten.