Daisy and I were best friends and will still be forever. She would light up my day when I felt bad, and always wanted to play or just be with someone. It all started back in September of 1987. My Mom took me to the Zellers store at Millbourne Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, because we had not been having very much luck with our fish. We ended up leaving the store with a new addition to our family, Daisy my budgie.She was a beautiful female sky blue colored budgie, full of energy, excitement, and curiosity. My Dad had experience with 4 previous budgies from his childhood, so we immediately started to tame her. It did not take long at all, because in a matter of a few weeks my dad was walking around the house with her on his shoulder. At first I was scared of her because she was a slightly vicious bird. She didn't like to be touched or held; a swift bite was her usual warning. But I soon became very attached to her and she became my best friend for life.
One of the strangest and funniest times of her life was when we were taking care of Noel the guinea pig. We took care of Noel through the Christmas Holidays of 1988, when Daisy was about 1 year old. I had been paying a lot of attention to Noel, because she was just a baby and I wanted to tame her so she wasn't so scared of us. Well, I think Daisy was overtaken by a fit of jealousy! I was out of the dining room, and had left Daisy to play on the dining room light with her swing and rings. All of a sudden Noel started squealing and banging around in the guinea pig cage. I jumped up, wondering what was going on. As soon as I entered the dining room I couldn't believe my eyes! There was Daisy sitting on the side of Noel's cage with a beak full of fur!! She looked at me and proceeded to bite Noel through the bars on the cage. I then chased Daisy back into her cage, hardly being able to believe what I had just seen. But this was not the end of it. Later on, in January of 1989 my Mom had to return Noel to work where she was from. I was deeply saddened and missed Noel. Shortly after, I woke up one morning to guinea pig squeals. I went out to see Noel, but then remembered she was gone. It was Daisy, imitating guinea pig squeals perfectly!!
Years passed, and in October 1992 we moved to a motel while we were waiting for our new house to be built. Daisy learned the motel room inside and out in just a few days. She'd sit on the lampshades, or wherever she could land. In December we then moved to the house we live in now. It took Daisy a few weeks to learn the new house, but she learned it inside and out.
My beautiful Daisy loved many places in our house. She loved to sit on the lights hanging from the roof, the bathroom door where she secretly chewed off part of the base board that goes around the door frame, the venetian blinds, the curtains, the counters, fireplace, back door knob, under the ironing board, bathroom lights, and many other places. You name the place, she was there. She also loved to sing. You could see how serious she was when she sung...by the way she'd shake her head and close her eyes to express her feelings. All her sounds she made were imitated. She sung everything from the little growls she picked up from when we'd play with her to the beep and the sound the door made on our microwave. She never learned to speak until she was about 8 or 9 years old though. We never even realized she was speaking until my Grandma came over and heard it. She used to say "Hi bird!", "Pretty bird!", and "Baby bird!".
My parents and friends used to think I was too attached to my bird. I'd spend hours every day playing with her, and we'd do everything together. I understood her and she understood me. It's really hard to explain, but I could tell what kind of a mood she was in by just looking at her or listening to her singing.
We'd chirp quietly to each other, or would play rough with each other...she liked this. The louder and more crazy you played with her the more she would like you.
A couple of years ago, my family decided to buy a dog. He was a Brittany Spaniel and loved to chase birds. Shortly after we bought him I was playing with Daisy. She was 9 years old and was getting very tired from flying long distances. She was flying and became very exhausted, and had no choice but to land on the floor. Buddy our dog then jumped up and grabbed her in his mouth. We caught him just in time and she was unharmed. After that Buddy was scared of going near Daisy, and would hide whenever we took her out of her cage.
At about the time we got Buddy, Daisy developed a strange growth on her oil gland on her back. It formed into a strange lump that never grew any bigger for quite a while. We were never really sure what it was, but it never bothered her until a few months ago. It seemed that her oil gland was somehow clogged up and was swelling up. Her spirits were down, she didn't want to sing, and wanted to stay in her cage. On October 6, 1998, I caught Daisy in my hands (something she hated), so I could get a closer look at the growth on her back. It had grown to almost the size of her head. Suddenly I noticed something wet on my arm...somehow it had opened up and was draining. I put her back in her cage and kept a close eye on her. To my amazement she started singing; something she hadn't done in quite a while. I was very happy and felt relieved.
The next day, on October 7, 1998, which is about a week ago from the time I wrote this story, I woke up and went downstairs to see Daisy. She seemed very happy, and was in a good mood for once. The strange lump on her back had shriveled down to about a third of the size as yesterday and seemed to be healing up. Since she was in such a good mood I took her out of her cage and we played our hearts out with each other. She had not wanted to play like this for such a long time...we did things we hadn't done for so long. Maybe she knew something at the time that I didn't. At about 3:20PM, I had to leave for work, so I left to catch the us...forgetting to put Daisy in her cage and close it up. What happened after this we aren't completely sure of so we haven't jumped to any conclusions...
My brother was home alone and was unaware of Daisy being out of her cage. Buddy my dog was also in the house roaming around sniffing as usual. My brother was watching t.v. and did not hear anything out of the ordinary at around 4:45PM. His friend showed up at the door, and naturally my brother went to say goodbye to my dog. He looked around for him, and found him by the dining room table...with poor Daisy lying on the floor beside him. She was still warm, but had died after 11 long, wonderful, loving years. We aren't really sure what had happened to her. There were no bite marks, drool marks, her feathers weren't ruffled much, nothing out of the ordinary except for a small trickle of blood on Daisy's beak, which came from inside her. There were some feathers lying around the spot she died, but nowhere else. We don't know if maybe she flew into something, or if Buddy possibly played a bit too rough with her. He naturally doesn't bite hard, so we don't know what really happened to her. My Mom came later that night, picked me up from work, and told me the bad news. I was devastated.
I know one thing for sure...I love her and I miss her very deeply. People say to me "It's just a bird, all they do is squawk", but they just don't understand. My Mom tells me I shouldn't be so upset about it...she says "If you can't handle this, what are you going to do when a person you know dies?" Well, Daisy was more than just a person to me. She was my best friend. They don't understand because they never had that special bond. I love that bird with all my heart and I always will. I know that she's with me right now, and that we'll be together again to play with each other and share that love we had. She lived so long...11 years is a very long time for a budgie. I just wonder how long she would have lived if I had remembered to put her back into her cage...
We haven't buried her yet, because we are waiting for my dad to come home from hunting to be there with her. He also had a bond with her so I requested that we wait. It's going to be very hard the next little while without her but we'll have to manage. I hopefully will have more budgies in the future so I can share new bonds and love with them.
I love you Daisy and will miss you...I promise we will see each other again! This story is dedicated to:
~Daisy, my pretty bird and best friend~
~1987 - October 7, 1998~
~Passed away at 11 years of age~- Submitted by Jeff
