When I was small, my parents told a
pre-me love story. They had a Budgerigar as newlyweds. The bird thought it was
human.
With a cage door permanently open, the little blue came out a lot.
Except for owls and other night predators, birds are morning dudes. Bluey used
to land on the pillow between the people who’d later be my mum and dad. 
| Google Image; what Bluey might have looked like. |
If they didn’t wake
instantly, Bluey chirped in their ears. If he was ignored, he nibbled on their
earlobes or gave them a kiss. That might not seem so bad except for the fact that Budgerigars have tongues like long grey worms. If Bluey still lacked attention, he squeaked out his one word of hello; repeatedly, getting louder each minute.
When you’re 5, there’s an
undeniable tendency to fall in love with stories told by those who love you
most. I wanted my own pet blue budgie. Unfortunately, I also wanted a Little
Penguin, a chimp and an elephant; though the logistics of keeping any of those
in the city were slim.
I had pets growing up; goldfish, a
mouse, guinea pigs, a kitten and a puppy. I didn’t end up with a budgerigar
until I was 20. Since then I have made up for lost
time.
 |
| Current Budgerigar loves. |
When I was wee, my grandparents had a budgie called Billy-Boy. I always thought it was weird because my Dad’s name is Billy! I have a vivid memory of being 7 perhaps and when Grannie and I came home from church one Sunday, Billy-Boy was lying on the bottom of the cage, apparently dead. My Grannie lifted him out and rubbed his little chest, fed him drops of whisky and blew on his face. He came back to life before my eyes and I thought my Grannie had powers like Jesus as I had just heard about Lazarus at Sunday School! Over the years, there were blue versions and green versions of Billy-Boy, who I realise now was not a chameleon budgerigar, but a succession of different birds!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful reincarnation of a dear pet story. The school where I work also had a succession of class pet budgies; mostly blue, but with very different markings. So much so that the children told me that he regularly almost entirely changed colour and went from a boy to a girl as well. (It happened whenever one dropped off the perch obviously.) Grannie's do have superhuman powers though; but perhaps not quite in the league of Jesus and Lazarus. I've heard of blowing air on bird faces, but never the drops of whisky with it! But, in Scotland, why not?
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