I Just Want to Help

Saturday afternoon I took notice to an odd looking Pigeon on a neighbour's roof 3 doors over. At first glance, his wings and overall appearance had the pattern of a Snowy Owl. I knew it was not that but definitely a unique looking Pigeon of some sort.

Neighbours next door to where the Pigeon was were outside, saw me looking/taking pics of the bird, and we got chatting. Seems the bird had been hanging around for a couple days now. They knew it was a domestic but didn't know what to do with it, about it, and just fed it bits of white bread.

I asked if I could come over for a closer look at the bird. What a beauty he was! He did not appear to be banded.

We discussed how a wild life is not for such a bird. He's been raised for shows or maybe was someone's pet. Life on his own in the city would be a short life.

They agreed to help me catch him. They'd keep watch and when he came down to their backyard for some bread crumbs or a sip from their kiddy pool, they would either try to catch him or call me over.

In the meantime I went back home, posted a photo of the bird and started asking for help from others on what to do with this bird when we caught him. I guess I should have worded it differently because we never did catch him. He's not been seen since.

The next day I saw this particular cat on the roof of the house where the bird was. The homeowners allow their cats to roam freely which is infuriating. I was told the cat would never harm a bird. Hmmmm? Why did it suddenly end up on the roof of the house? Why was their teenage son climbing up there to retrieve it?

Thanks to my Facebook post, I did find out he's an Oriental Frill.

I also got some great contacts on where he could go to hopefully get a new home, if not, at least a safe temporary one until a permanent one was found.

I've not stopped keeping my eyes open for him. How I wish he would follow the flock of Pigeons to our backyard. Surely their actions led him this far!

It is disappointing how quickly this went from a potential rescue situation to nothing. It's much like the Skunk with the garbage stuck around his neck. Another animal I'm still keeping watch for.

People joke and call me things like "Dr. Doolittle" or some kind of animal whisperer because of my unique moments and interactions with some creatures. Where are these so called powers now?

I'm hoping to spot this beauty soon somewhere around the 'hood this week..

Funny thing is while this was happening here, a friend mere blocks away was encountering a lost Budgie showing up in his backyard. These poor birds.