Story Bird: Mo

We brought Mo home on a Sunday night. We were so excited to have our new baby. He was only 4 weeks old and very frightened. The vet and pet store told me to hold him often to allow him to get used to us. I had an appointment for the following Friday to have him examined by the vet and have his wings clipped, since I didn't know how to clip them myself. 

On Tuesday evening, I was making hummingbird food (I feed all the birds in the neighborhood), which means I had a pot of water to bring to a boil on my stove to add my sugar into.  I wanted to hold my new baby lovebird and never even thought about the stove. It just didn't occur to me.  I took Mo from his cage, not with his approval, as he was scared to death, but gently and persistently.  I was holding him and petting him when he got loose from my hands and began flying all around.  This was the first time that he had ever flown outside of a cage, so he was very frightened and awkward. We thought we had caught him in the living room, but since he had full access to his flight capabilities he got over our heads and headed back to the kitchen.

At this point, my husband realized the cat was in the room and so he grabbed the cat and ran to put him in the bedroom, didn't want to take any chances there. 

But, Mo went to the kitchen and headed right for the black reflective door on our microwave, which was right over the cooktop. I yelled and tried to catch him, but the steam from the pot on the stove, though it wasn't yet boiling seemed to take Mo's lift away and he dropped right into the pot.  Now - I screamed and grabbed him out of the hot water.  My husband put him in cool water and wrapped him in a towel as I called the vet hysterical. The vet told us to bring him in, which we did.  Little Mo lived over an hour and they thought he was going to make it, with steroids to assist with the shock and a warm incubator to sooth him. But just as we were leaving for the night, the vet had to tell us he'd not made it. He'd inhaled some of the water, she thought, and his respiratory system gave out. 

That was one of the worst nights of my life.  To lose such a tiny loving creature and to feel so guilty about being so stupid.  The vet provided us a tiny box and they drew little hearts all over it. We buried Mo in the back yard the next morning.  I also went the next day and got Mo's sister.  I felt I wanted to have a sibling if I could and to try to make up to her what terrible thing I'd done to her brother.  Moxie is now the light of our lives, but she has her wings clipped and I never, never cook anything on the open stove with her out of her cage.