This month, Sid’s Spotlight shines on a very, very special girl, Congo African Gray Scooter.  Scooter has special needs.  I deliberately am not showing her photo at the beginning hoping that you will read her story and recognize her special abilities rather than dwell on her special needs.

Mary had always had little birds – budgies, cockatiels – but she wanted a big bird.  She got in touch with a breeder who had one egg in the incubator.  He called Mary to tell her that the chick had hatched, but he was going to euthanize it because it had lain in the egg awkwardly and its head was twisted.  Despite never even having seen a baby bird, Mary said, “No, I want the baby”.  The breeder worked with her for weeks, teaching her where to buy formula, how to mix it and how to spoon feed the chick.

Mary finally brought her home and proceeded to to revolve her life around this precious baby she named Scooter – because she scooted across the box on her fanny.  She grew into a beautiful, petite African Gray.  She was the light of Mary’s life.  Mary wheeled Scooter’s cage into the living room during the day (not that she spent much time in the cage), then wheeled her into the bedroom at night to sleep with her.

Several years ago, Mary had an extended absence and asked me to babysit.  Scooter was the perfect house guest, but she had no interest in being picked up or in leaving her cage.  Every time I walked into the room, she said, “Good girl”, which was very validating to me.  When Mary got home, Scooter was thrilled to see her mom, telling her she was a “Good girl”.  We didn’t know if Scooter meant she had been a good girl staying with me or Mary was a good girl for coming home or maybe I was a generally all-around good girl.

The next time we got together, Mary asked me that – should anything happen to her (because people in their 70s don’t use the word “die”), would I take Scooter.  The greatest honor Mary could give me – trusting me with her beloved little girl.

A couple of years passed, then I got the dreaded phone call from Mary’s daughter.  Mary had died unexpectedly in the night.  “Mom told us over and over that Scooter was to live with you.  She’s so mean and nasty we can’t imagine you want her, but we don’t know what we’ll do if you don’t take her”.

A couple of days passed while the family was making arrangements, but finally we connected and I picked Scooter up.  Her cage had to be serviced from the inside and it was obvious that they were too frightened of her to open the door.  The water bowl was green and slimy and they had just thrown seed through the bars onto the floor.

We got her travel cage ready, then I opened the door and said, “Step up, baby girl, let’s go home”.  She stepped up and whispered “Good girl”.  I put her in her travel cage; she whistled and told me either I or she was a “good girl” all the way home.

I left her in her carrier while I set up her cage; when I opened the door, she stepped up, then snuggled against my chest – she knew that being with me now was different than before and she was home.

Still always a perfect lady, but now self-confident and in control.  Fascinating to live with her; all my birds had been rescues, with all the attendant baggage to work through in a new home.  But Scooter had been the adored center of her human’s world since the day she hatched. She has no baggage, no insecurities, no trauma to work through, just curiosity and joy and love and mischief, intelligence and stubborness.