I suppose it is less 'the Great Escape' and more 'Taking the Opportunity'....
Grumpy Jack, our pet
cockatiel flew away today. How, you might ask? Well, actually he was sitting on my shoulder and I went outside with him. On seeing the painter, he took fright, and took off. Terribly irresponsible of me, I know. Especially when he escaped only last week, but I managed to rescue him, AND the fact that my father found him in his garden and gave him to us, so he had obviously escaped from his previous owner. All that considered, I am clearly a slow learner!!! And Carl even managed to not say 'I told you so' - I was impressed!!!.
So, all that aside, he was gone!!! Much distress on my part (how was I going to explain to the kids that I had lost him???), and if the truth be known, I'm actually quite fond of the old codger, even though he drives me quite mad (you do all know I'm talking about the bird, not Carl?). I called and called and called, but after a while he stopped responding. So, I did all the things a responsible pet owner would do - contact the community via email, buzz on neighbour's gates in garden's where I thought he may have flown to, write signs on the community notice board, and trawl the streets calling 'Grumpy, Grumpy'. I shamed myself!
I had quite given up hope when I went outside to greet an
electrician who had arrived to do a job. Grumpy was obviously close enough to hear my voice and started cheeping to me. So,
every time I called, he responded! We managed to pin point him to the house diagonally behind us. Unfortunately they were not there, so I couldn't get in the conventional method....
which led to some creativity. I had the painter's ladder leaning against the wall/barbed wire fence, precariously close to the other neighbour's electric fence, and from there I could actually see Grumpy and I called and called and called and called. Well, let me say, that the phrase 'bird brain' did not come about for nothing!!! Eventually, I was on the verge of climbing into the next door garden, braving said fencing, when another electrician, who had come to do another job, and fortunately for me, is a
consummate gentleman, persuaded me down the ladder and he bravely took on the fencing! Perhaps, being an electrician, he has a certain immunity to electric fencing? I'm not sure, but luckily (for him!), we never got to test that little theory of mine. Anyway, once he got near Grumpy, Grumpy took off again, by which time I was back up the ladder, and he flew to me. Amazing!
I forgot to tell you that the whole event was witnessed by my domestic worker, the gardener, 2 painters, 2 electricians and their assistants! Did I mention that I shamed
myself?
Do I even need to tell you that I was at the vet's this afternoon having his wings clipped?
