| Joey's Story |
| Joey is a "wild-caught" bird, which means that at some young age, he was netted and shipped to the United States in a space as big as a shoe box. I think he was about 2 years old at the time.(If you are sitting there thinking that he should of remained there, you would be right. Under normal circumstances, you would be right. However, thousands of these kinds of birds are netted and killed as a pest in his native country. Are you shocked? The United States had a parrot native to this country, but are gone because of the same treatment from the farmers here) Off of my soapbox and on with the story. I only know bits and pieces of his history and I understand that someone tried to breed him. His mate pulled out her chest feathers and at that point the breeder sold him to a family. This family had many other birds and at some point, they decided to put him up for adoption. I happened to be friends with a well-known bird behaviorist Mattie Sue Athan, who knew about Joey and his situation. She not ony helped me to get ready for him; but, helped me to bring him home. I saw this white, aggressive bird situated in a cage amongst other birds when we arrived where Joey was staying. We had to trick him into his carrier and I took him home. When we got there, we just let him relax and get use to his surroundings. I promised him that he would be the only bird in my home. We had mutual feelings for each other. He was afraid of me and I was afraid of him. I told him that we would learn together. At one point, Joey launched himself at my chest and I allowed him to drop to the floor, and from that point on we were bonded. He has jumped off of his cage, when I wasn't looking, and bitten me on the heel and through my big toe. He has also bitten me when I don't keep eye-to-eye contact. It is up to me to remember that he is still a wild creature, no matter how long we are together. It is not a matter of him not loving me, it is his nature. The Fire in May 1999 The fire started in the apartment building that we live in. It started down in the basement apartment (1 floor below) while I was at work. Joey was in his padlocked cage and it was about 4:30 pm. I got of off work and got aboard a bus for Golden, as I had an appointment to meet with a new friend. I was about near Denver West (about 15 min. from Golden), when my pager started going off. I read "Get home as soon as you can, the apartment building is on fire." I bowed my head and said "Please protect my bird" and immediately tried to figure out the best way to get back home. I go off the bus in Golden, and the woman met me. (I might add that she was driving a red car and she was wearing a red shirt). I leaned into her car and told her who I was and told her that I had to go home because I just got word that the building was on fire. She told me that she would take me. We arrived close by and we walked up to where my neighbor was standing. I asked her if any one had heard my bird, and she said that they hadn't. I walked up to the police officer and told him that my bird was in my apart ment while pointing to the area of the building that had smoke still billowing out the windows. He told me that he couldn't allow me anywhere near the building and that my apartment was right in the "hot spot". The boiler had blown up and had taken out the apartment right next to ours. For three hours I anguished over the fate of my birdboy. I called work and left a message that I would not be in that next day just to keep me occupied. The woman who brought me, Carol, was close by me the whole time. At around 10pm, a policeman came to me and asked if I was the owner of the bird. I answered that I was. He told me to follow the fireman who would lead me to where they had placed his cage. I asked him if Joey was alive and his reply was that he didn't know. I walked over to the blanket draped cage and held my breath as I removed it. There was Joey, doing circles around the inside of the cage. HE LIVED!! I was stunned and so were all of the fireman that were standing there. I had the lock cut and coaxed him to me. As I hugged him, he leaned into my chest and he heaved a sigh of relief. He smelled like smoke, but he seemed to be alright. So, here we were without a place to live until they fix everything. Now what? Well, the miracle continues with Carol offering her home to us. Now I had Joey and a place to stay. I realized that the help that I had prayed for had watched over him during this ordeal and continue to watch over us. |
| Links |