Hitcher

I seem to be the unofficial animal rescue of our community. I am not sure how it all began but over the years I have through no fault of my own acquired kittens, rabbits, puppies, Chinchillas, a pet rat or two. Once I even came home from work and found four goats tied to what had been my lilac bush.

I accepted the responsibility of caring for these animals. Finding permanent homes for some and making a home for others. However, nothing prepared me for the advent of Hitcher into my life.

I am not a bird lover by nature. At least not a house bird. I have always found them noisy, messy, and a bit of nuisance. However, I am not the type of person who can turn an animal in need away, so when I received a call at work one day from a woman I barely knew asking me to take in her love bird as her husband was threatening to turn it loose outside in the middle of December I found myself agreeing to help her out.

Arriving at her home right after work, I found her anxiously waiting for me. The bird was all packed up waiting to go. She practically ran to the car with it. I guess I should have asked myself why she was in such a hurry to get rid of her pet, but, I had put in a long day at work and was tired so I simply accepted the bird and headed home.

The bird was not in my house 5 minutes before I discovered the real reason why the woman wanted to get rid of the thing. He was a first rate escape artist!

I had barely set his cage down and went to get him some fresh water when I heard my 90 pound dog wailing like he was being murdered. I rush into the living room to find the bird had gotten out of the cage and was perched on the terrified dogs nose!

Speaking quietly to calm the dog, I removed the bird. Halfway to the cage, he flew out of my hand and returned to the dog, this time perching on its head. This process was to be repeated several times before I got the bird back into its cage and latched the door with a clothes pin.

The bird was not to be thwarted so easily however. As I watched in amazement the lovebird showing real determination worked at the door to his food dish until he managed to get out and once again headed straight for the dog, Kit.

No matter what I tried the bird always got out and landed back on the dog. Finally Kit, simply gave up and decided to allow the bird to perch on his back while he wander around the house. The bird sat there and looked around as Kit wandered back and forth. When Kit tired and laid down the bird flew straight back to his cage.

In the days that followed, Kit and the bird became friends, with Kit willingly giving the bird rides around the house. We named the bird Hitcher for his penchant to hitch rides rather than move about under his own steam. The rides have become a daily ritual for bird and dog.

Hitcher always returns to his cage at the end of the ride, and resides there quite happily until the next day when once again the ritual continues.