It happened again, I thought I'd passed the test the first time, but it appears that was just a warm up. Remember a few months ago the episode with the dead pigeon, well yesterday it was a beautiful Western Rosella.
I called in to check on my friend on the way home from work. As I entered his house I asked him how he was. His reply was "I'm both happy and sad" and with that he walked me to the kitchen and drew my attention to the very deceased Rosella resting in an empty plastic food tray on the sink. We talked about how pretty it was and he mentioned that he thought that a hawk may have knocked it out of the sky.
So I suggested that we bury it to which he responded that he'd like to get it stuffed. "It's a good specimen and you don't see many of these anymore" I said I'd take it to someone and that we should put it in a paper bag and I'd find someone who could stuff it and drop it off to them. So the bird along with the tray it was resting in was carefully lowered into a paper bag and placed in the boot of my car.
He thanked me for being so gracious and helpful! I suggested that we go to his favourite cafe for a coffee. By the time I took him home the memory of the bird was gone.
Given the state of the bird and the lack of taxidermists nearby on the way back to my house I detoured past a bin at a local dog park, which I knew would be emptied first thing in the morning. As I walked towards the bin, I thanked the bird for its beauty and apologised for it's method of disposal.
I wonder how many more deceased birds he'll find. But as long as he still sees the beauty in them and has the capacity to care enough to take them home, I'll keep dealing with them.
Lib xxx
Photo Credit: https://rewildperth.com.au/resource/western-rosella/
