My father raised canaries when I was a child and remember being fascinated with them but have always had cats so i didn't think it was a good idea to have birds and a cat. I still have a cat but I swear she is the exception to the rule...she NEVER shows interest in the birds. I started with a parrotlet, then another then an african grey. I thought my life was complete with the flock I had. I never "got" parakeets. I thought they were noisy and loud. UNTIL...my husband walked through the front door with a bright yellow parakeet that fell into the road in front of his car on the way to the gym. He's not really a bird person, so I thought. He pulled off the road picked him up and brought him home because he knew I'd know what to do. He was in very bad shape so I immediately brought him to the vet where he stayed for a couple of days to get him on the road to recovery. when he came home I had a WHOLE new appreciation for these little gems. He would get so excited to go outside and chat with the outside birds. He was active and chatty...I loved it. Unfortunately he didn't live much longer...he passed away after suffering seizures. It was heart breaking.

I did try to find his owner but never did find them. I was bitten by the bug and wanted to get another. I posted a free ad looking for a parakeet that needed a new home. It was a week later that I got a response from someone that found this beautiful blue parakeet and they didn't want to keep him. So that;s how Hunter came into our lives. and now I've just added another blue keet. I don't think my obsession is quite over.
I just love how active and chatty they are.

These stories are wonderful! I'm amazed though at how many people find their birds.

One day my cockatiel, of nine years, managed to fly outside through a six inch gap in my sliding glass door. I never thought it would happen, but it did. I spent hours following her around and called a friend to come help me catch her. She flew from rooftop to rooftop. She seemed so frightend. Finally, she tried to fly across a field to another rooftop. She couldn't make the distance and she landed on the grass, exhausted. I threw a towel over her and got her in her cage. I was so thankful!!!!

Sadly, just a few days later, after six years of living together, my lab mix got a hold of her and killed her. I guess it was just her time. It still makes me sad, and it took me a very long time to forgive my dog and to understand that she was ust being a dog.

These stories are so enjoyable to read!

Ditto
I've been really enjoying them too. Some even bring tears to my eyes. I'm such a softy

Er, yes, my apologies to Sheerah! I meant the positive, upbeat parts of the stories are enjoyable, not the sadness of a dog eating a bird of course.

One time, my computer simply didn't load the last page of a topic and then I posted & it seemed like "Huh? Wha? D'oh!" This time, however, I can't blame my computer -- I was just focusing too much on the happy & serendipitous stories.

Well, sometimes "stuff happens!" I really didn't mean to be insensitive to Sheerah or to anyone else who has included quite serious things in their posts here. I should have said that all of the posts (except mine!) are quite moving.

A friend of mine was upset for months when her dog killed baby rabbits in their backyard/garden. We all tried to console her with the fact that the mother rabbit chose an incredibly poor spot to have babies -- the garden "belongs" to the dog & has his scent everywhere. Just wasn't meant to be, I guess.