Allee
Well-known member
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.
~ D. H. Lawrence
So few words to describe such an incredible life form. This short quote has always made me think of Zeke. More so, now.
I met Zeke during a mad dash to rescue an unwanted U2. Zeke was shoved onto the sidewalk, cage and all and the door she'd been unceremoniously shoved through was then slammed behind her. How awful for a parrot to live in a home with people who didn't like her. At first glance I thought Zeke was a plucker, if so, she would be in good company with our Harry. Zeke wasn't a plucker, her scars were from a previous accident with a happy hut. We were told she was tangled for hours while her humans were away. The three hour trip home was my first glimpse of what a brave little quaker she was.
Zeke was cage bound. We weren't told her real age. The first time we saw her fly, she fluttered from her cage to the floor, she sat there looking at us, I offered my hand and she took flight all by herself and flew to the balcony on her cage. She was delighted with her accomplishment.
Zeke had a soft raspy voice due to her accident, but when she was extremely happy she made a high pitched, loud chuckling noise that to me, sounded like music. She didn't talk too much, but she would greet me by saying, giveussakisss in her whispery voice, usually followed by, whassupp.
Harry could get Zeke to talk better than I ever could. She taught Zeke to quack like a duck and to say Pretty Pretty Bird, only much to Harry's dismay, Zeke often replied with, Pretty Bird Bird, instead. The first time the two girls with guy's names were out of their cages together, Zeke yanked Harry's tail very hard, Zeke took flight, Harry followed and being the better flier, she had the upper hand, or wing. I evened things up by snatching Harry right out of the air, she was so surprised, she let me get by with it. After that Harry and Zeke were good friends and more often than not, treated each other with respect.
Right after Zeke regained her ability to fly confidently, she invented a game. When it was her turn to go back inside her cage, she would cage hop from one cage to another, as soon as I approached, she would fly to a different cage top. That's where Harry learned the phrase, you're wearing me out.
Zeke so loved attention, but at first she was very shy about it, she would do a little shuffle on her balcony while shaking her head side to side when I asked her to step up. I could tell she really wanted to, but it was just too scary. She would get so excited, she would run over and bite the tip of my nose. She would let me know she was ready to be picked up by grasping my finger with her foot. She loved skritches and she loved to sit on my shoulder and play with my hair.
Birdie bread and sugar snap peas were Zeke's favorite foods, I made sure Zeke got the first piece of every fresh batch of bread and I kept fresh peas just for her. She liked plastic chains and toys she could weave into the bars of her cage.
Another of Zeke's favorite pass times was untying knots in leather strips, she would untie them and I would tie them back for her while she was out of her cage.
She adored Sweet Pea, our cockatiel, she stayed right beside her when they were out of their cages. Sweet Pea learned to step up and fly to my shoulder by imitating Zeke.
Zeke recently learned to play soccer in the floor of her cage. We played every day before I closed her door for the evening.
We found out last month that Zeke was actually a female. She laid an egg. Harry and the flock knew her as Zeke Beak though, that's how she'll be remembered.
September 25 would have been two years since that day her former owners shoved her to the sidewalk. Zeke was a special treasure and I'll miss my little love for the rest of my life. I didn't get to keep her nearly long enough.
Zeke had a violent seizure last night and passed away two hours later. I called her vet who agreed to meet us at her office but we decided together not to traumatize her further. If I had believed there was a chance she would pull through, I would have taken her, instead, I held her and talked to her and told her how much she was loved. I'm so glad I had the chance to say goodby. My golden retriever stood beside us and whined and Harry kept saying Zeke's name. That was the last two hours of her precious life, but those two years that came before, those were a journey I'll never forget. I'm a better person for knowing Zeke, all of us are better for knowing her.
I've talked to two people today who knew what to say and both of them cried with me. Thank you for always being there, Joe and Wendy, I love you for it. My husband who has known me since high school told me it hurts so much because I love animals with my whole heart, unreserved, unconditional and absolute. Is there any other way to love a companion, that's exactly how they love us. Would I take the chance again? Ask Sammy or Sparkle or Crazy Harry or Sweet Pea....
Zeke's vet will do a necropsy tomorrow but from my description of the seizure, she's thinking heart disease.
Fly High and Fly Free, My Little Zeke. We love you, we'll never forget.
