Losing any pet can be a difficult experience, but unlike a furry four-footed friend who may be wearing a collar and tag, your feathered pet is not confined to the ground. It can hide high in a tree, and may be frightened in unfamiliar surroundings.
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One afternoon, as a man and his son were playing catch in their back yard, they noticed a bird circling and descending in a spiral pattern, then landed right between them. Thinking the bird injured, the man walked over to reach down and pick it up. Suddenly, the bird looked up and said, “Hello!” The boy said, “Daddy, I think that bird is talking to you!”
That’s a great story that happens to be true. The bird’s owners are neighbors of some friends of mine. The bird somehow managed to get out of the house and had been gone for more than a week. As part of their attempts to find their pet, they put an ad in the local newspaper.
A woman who lived several miles away from the owners happened to read the ad. So when her husband came in saying a bird had just landed in their yard and said “Hello,” not only did she believe him but she knew just who to call.
Most of us know how to begin looking for a lost dog or cat, but because birds can fly they pose entirely different challenges. Birdmart.com has some good suggestions for finding a lost bird. For example, look close to home. Birds, like other creatures, are more comfortable in familiar places.
Let friends and neighbors know your bird is lost, so they can be on the lookout for it. Notify local shelters in case they get a call.
Like the owners in our story, put an ad in the paper, and put up “Lost” posters at places like grocery stores, pet stores and veterinarians’ offices. Like the bird in our story, if your pet gets hungry it may allow a human to get close enough to help, and it could be someone who has seen your poster or ad.
So what’s the best advice from Birdmart.com? Don’t let your pet get out in the first place. One way to do that is to clip its wings. Your veterinarian or bird care professional can show you how to do it so that you don’t injure your bird. You can also have it microchipped, to help it find its way home.
After all, that’s what we all want for our best friends, whether they’re furry or feathered – to keep them safe and healthy, and home with us, when we’re speaking of pets.
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