Tuesday, April 2, 2013

"B" is for Bird

About 2 years ago, when my pet tarantula died I wrote about some of the more unusual pets we have had…skunks, foxes, raccoons, salamanders and more. We almost had a flying squirrel when I was in junior high, but the owner backed out of giving it to us. I still have a python named Dr. Finklerstein and one day hope to have a monkey, although I haven't decided what kind yet. I don't think the poo-flinging kind would work well for me. Which ones fling poo?


Ideally, I would like a miniature buffalo, although I don't imagine that an animal with hooves would be very forgiving with my furniture. Maybe an elephant the size of a dachshund would be better, but not long like a dachshund. That would look ridiculous.


We did have one hoofed animal for a pet. My brother Trevor came up on an object in the road one day that was moving. When he got out to investigate, he discovered that it was a baby deer. It appeared to still be wet from being born, but the mother could not be seen. Trevor picked up this slimy creature, put it in the back of his El Camino and drove home.

We put it in the barn and decided to take care of him. We cleaned him up, watched him stand for the first time, and started bottle feeding him. After much deliberation, we decided to name him 'Bird' after the scene in Bambi when he speaks his first word.


Our BIRD never started talking, but he was very entertaining for several months. It wasn't long before we started letting him out of the barn. He would frolic around the yard playing with dogs. They all got along great. At night, we would put him back in the barn to keep him from wandering off and keep him safe.

During the day, he would hang out at the front door just like other pets hoping to be fed. We had to be careful around him when he got playful. His hooves were sharp and we got busted in the face occasionally when he would jump up. While smashing other deer in the face may be considered endearing to deer, it is not a very appealing quality for people. We soon learned the dogs didn't care for it either.

When the dogs and deer were all playing in the yard, jumping around, and enjoying each others' company, eventually Bird would rear up high on his back legs and butt his rock hard head into one of the dog's heads. The dog would yelp and skulk off to a hiding spot to nurse his headache. After getting popped a few times, the dogs lost all interest in playing with Bird.

With time, we quit putting him in the barn at night and for weeks it was just like he was one of the dogs. With time, he got to where he would wander off, but he always returned at meal time. As he got bigger, he would sometimes disappear for days at a time and for the first time was a bit timid around us. He wouldn't always let us approach. We saw him less and less as time went on.

Sometimes we would see him in a farmer's field grazing with the cows, but he never came by the house any more. The following November, my uncle was out deer hunting and thought it was odd when he kept creeping up on a deer that didn't run off even when it noticed him. He then realized that it was probably Bird and we would never forgive him if he shot it, so he left him alone and looked for another.

A few months later, we heard a story that one of our neighbor's told at the local bar. He had been in the garage behind his house changing his oil when he noticed a buck standing in his back yard. He slowly moved to the wall to grab his bow, aimed and shot. The arrow missed and went over the deer's head. The deer's head shot up and looked directly at him. The man froze wondering if he would get the opportunity to get another shot when the deer started walking toward him.

Shocked at what was happening, he didn't draw another arrow. The deer walked right up to him and nuzzled his hand. After about 30 seconds, it turned around and hopped the fence in his back yard.

When he finished his story, the other bar patrons laughed at him and asked if he had been drinking that night. No one believed his story, but we had a feeling it was true.



Happily participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. For the entire month of April, 1,968 bloggers are working their way through the alphabet. One letter every day except Sundays for a total of 26 days.

Click here to visit the website and get more information to see if you might want to join in next year. It's a lot of fun, introduces you to hundreds of new blogs and gives your writing some fantastic exposure.

96 comments:

  1. Happy A to Z April!
    My son would like a monkey...I never really thought about it throwing poo...and intelligent of not I wouldn't stand for it...for now I will stick with dogs and rats for pets.

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    1. I don't know if I will ever have a monkey, but I imagine it would be a lot of fun. Although, a lot of work. A lot of work.

      I don't think I want a monkey.

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  2. I love animals and currently reside with two cats. How beautiful you lived with a deer. Bird sounds like he was such a character. I love to watch the deer that flock near my house. the flock is decent sized and they look like a tawny wave in the summer.

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    1. We have a spot near our house now where about 50 gather every evening near sunset. I love going to watch them.

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  3. A name that is Disney-related? That makes me unreasonable happy.

    Bird sounds like he was funny to watch and be around. You guys saved his life and made him into a deer-dog-bird.

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    1. He was fun. I just wish he would have hung around longer.

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  4. I always wanted a Bambi deer as a pet when I was a kid. There was a place just outside of town that sold them, but my parents would never agree. Probably for the best, by the sounds of it.

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    1. It was an interesting pet to have and has made for some good stories growing up, but the novelty wore off pretty fast. It also didn't last long. He seemed to know he was a wild animal and just moved on.

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  5. Replies
    1. I agree. I don't know if they have found away to genetically remove the poo-flinging gene.

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  6. As you can imagine, I loved this post! That picture of Bird and your dog on the couch is so cute! It's interesting that he just naturally weaned himself off of your family. I'm really glad your uncle and that other guy didn't kill him!

    I would love to have a monkey too!

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  7. I'm weaning myself off of pets entirely. It hurts too much when they're gone.

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    1. As an adult, I came to realize how much work they are. Now I just have a snake.

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  8. Thank goodness Bird didn't decide to butt heads with your neighbour.

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    1. At the size he was then, it would have been a big problem.

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  9. Lovely story, I do hope Bird didn't get shot, would be such a shame.

    Thanks for dropping by my blog.

    JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

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    1. That is the last story we have of him. No idea what happened after that. Some deer hunter just might have had a very easy season.

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  10. Great story.

    I'm thinking about how much I like the name of your blog. It occurs to me that part of the joy of being a non-conformist is the fact that transformation is a near-constant state of being. I am greatly charmed by that revelation. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you. I got it from Romans 12 which tells us to be transformed my the renewing of our mind, but not conformed to the ways of the world.

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  11. I absolutely love your deer story, and I love the photo of the dog and the deer on the sofa.

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  12. The most exotic pet our household ever had was a blackbird which we named Penguin because we were perverse like that :). He was abandoned as a chick and we hand reared him, then one day he flew away to be with other blackbirds.

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    1. The only bird we ever had was a rooster named Rodney who thought he was a dog. He followed us around the yard and we even put band aids on his boo boos.

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    2. That is a story I would love to hear!

      Hestia

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    3. Ask me next time you see me. Otherwise, I will forget.

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  13. the picture of the dog with the deer is priceless :)

    A to Z Ninja Minion
    http://baygirl32.blogspot.com

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  14. Hey Brett,

    Thanks for dropping by my blog yesterday....

    Love the pic with pooch and deer...

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  15. Thanks for stopping by my blog yesterday. We have a dog but she keeps things pretty interesting : ) Plus we back up to the woods and have a wide range of wildlife in our own backyard including deer, chipmunks, fox, groundhogs, and our favorite (most of the time) a big black bear.

    Good luck with the challenge!

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    1. I always thought it would be cool to look out the back door and see a bear. We don't have them around here.

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  16. you're a total hoot! :)

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    1. Thank you. My daughter says it keeps her up at night, but I enjoy it.

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  17. What a wonderful pet Bird was for a bit anyway. I've never had any unusual pets. For me that's a good thing.

    Have a terrific day. ☺

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    1. He was pretty cool. He injured me a few times, but we still loved him.

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  18. I love birds. I have four parrotkeets. Two are nesting and we have an unknown number of eggs. Don't like to open the box because the eggs sit on the edge and could fall out. We may have a bunch of babies on the way for spring. Now, i use to keep a rat snake before I got married, but my husband doesn't like snakes. We also have grandkids. But I think snakes are cool to keep too.

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    1. My daughter loves snakes, which is why we have the python. She was the reason for the tarantula as well.

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  19. you might read Jenny Lawson's book. She grew up with some interesting "pets".

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  20. Brett, this just shows what a little love can do. I'm glad I read it.

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  21. We have always had a zoo... Birds, Horses, Chickens, Snakes, Chinchillas, Scorpions, Rabbits, Hamsters, Cats, Dogs, My dad had a Monkey growing up.

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    1. I've always wanted a scorpion, but haven't had one yet. It's so cool your dad had a monkey. Was that in the States?

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  22. A miniature buffalo - now that sounds fun. But you're right - the furniture... ;)

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    1. Yeah, I hear they are hard to house break as well.

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  23. Great story! Deer are so cute and I often thought they would make for good pets!

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  24. What a wonderful story! It's neat to think there's a semi-tame buck walking around out there.

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    1. We sometimes wonder if he is still out there. He may have ended up as an easy target for some hunter.

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  25. I always wanted a wild pet growing up and every time I was out playing in the woods I would keep a lookout for baby raccoons, chipmunks, anything! Never happened. I'm so jealous. Not of the head butting of course, but everything else, totally jealous!

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    1. We had them all. Some were great. Others, not so much. Raccoons are not fun for long and their teeth are unbelievably sharp.

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  26. Wow that's quite an assortment of wildlife.

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    1. We tried them all. The skunks were one of my favorites.

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  27. Aww, I loved that ending.

    I too would like a pet monkey, though not a Bonobo chimp for obvious reason. I'd also quite like a Panther but the thought of having my face chewed off while I sleep, kinda puts a dampener on that idea. :)

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    1. No one ever believes me, but a friend and me once came up on a panther in the wild. We were so stunned we didn't shoot it, despite the guns we had in our hands.

      I would like a Carpuchian monkey. They are about the size of your thumb.

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  28. Great story :) I'd like to have a pet like that :)

    Jamie @ Mithril Wisdom
    www.mithrilwisdom.com

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  29. That should have been a life changing moment for that hunter.
    Just stopping by to say g'day from the A-Z
    Love your posts so far.

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    1. to my knowledge, no one ever believed him and we didn't speak up.

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  30. It would be awesome to have a pet deer. They're such beautiful creatures. Although, the head butting and getting clobbered with hooves would be a deterrent.

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    1. He was fun to have, but it did get a little rough at times. I was walking across the yard once in shorts and he came up behind be to play. He cut the back of mt calf with his hoof.

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  31. What a touching story. You raised a good one there!

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  32. What a delightful tale!

    Any animal lover is a friend of mine. New follower :)

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  33. That Google search made me laugh.

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  34. Okay, you're making me want an Orangutan. NOT GOOD.

    Great post ;)

    Sarah Allen
    (From Sarah, With Joy)

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  35. Always thought it would be fun to have a monkey, poor guy must have had himself believing he was drunk haha

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  36. The first line of this post immediately grabbed my attention..."my pet tarantula"!!! Huh?! A great read, I really enjoyed this. Hmmm, not very good at suggesting pets, not having any myself, but I did eat tarantula cooked in garlic in Cambodia once and I think they make a better meal than a pet :)

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    1. I've had small roasted spiders. I would love to try tarantula, but no restaurants in Southern Illinois serve it.

      Our tarantula lasted about a year. My daughter wanted it for photo shoots. He was a great conversation starters at parties.

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  37. Oh my, what a beautiful story, I'm a pitiful mess please excuse me while I grab a tissue and dry my eyes, Bambi does that to me every time. I've always wanted an elephant and a donkey but adopted two Jack Russell pups instead

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    1. We had a donkey when I was a kid. Not really much fun. We have always wondered what happened to Bird. The story with the neighbor is the last one we ever heard.

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  38. That's pretty cool!
    I always wanted a raccoon.
    My uncle had squirrels when he was a kid (that sounds like a disease when I say it like that), right up until one of them bit through my grandmother's thumb.

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    1. We had several raccoons over the years. My kids even got to have raccoons once. They get mean pretty fast, but they're fun for a few weeks.

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  39. Cool! A pet deer?
    Great post!

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  40. I am so glad you are doing the A to Z!

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    1. Thank you. This is my first year. I saw people doing it last year and thought it looked like fun.

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  41. What a fun blog! Love your writing. Lots of animals in your sight. I have a Quaker bird named Hancho that drives me nuts. I love animals but I think you have me beat. So glad you joined the A to Z challenge you will have so much fun with it. I do every year. Welcome! And thank you for coming by my blog.
    Blessings

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    1. Thank you so much.

      I am not sure that I know what a Quaker bird is. I don't really know what a Hancho is either, but that's okay.

      Delete
  42. Great story! When I was about ten I got hit by Orangutan poo at the zoo, so I know what you mean. Nice to meet you through A to Z.

    Julie

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    1. That would be awful. I never want to get hit with any kind of poo.

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  43. What a wonderful story.

    My dad lives in Texas, which was hit with an awful drought in recent years. There are tons of deer where he lives, and he and a lot of the neighbors took to feeding the deer during the drought to keep them from starving. While they wouldn't exactly come up and nuzzle anyone's hands, they no longer run at the sight of people either.

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    1. Even if they are not pets, it is awesome if they don't run off just so you can watch them. Deer are so beautiful.

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  44. I love that story. Thank you great post.

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  45. What a great story. I can't imagine having a pet deer!

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  46. Ive had some sort of unusual pets, a couple of turtles and a chinchilla. I loved our chinchilla merlin (he was grey) and what a character he was. In the cage he was a gorgeous, timid little ball of fur, out he would climb the walls and bounce all over! He was brilliant!
    My brother now has a gorgeous little albino hedgehog! The snuffling they do is adorable!

    Happy a to z-ing

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    1. My daughter has been begging for a chinchilla for years. I'm a little worried about allergies. I'm leaning toward the hedgehog.

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  47. Oh. *sigh* What a lovely story. You're a marvelous storyteller. More please. :-)

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    1. Thank you so much. Good to see you here. Especially with compliments like that.

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  48. That is so amazing. We had a bunch of animals, but absolutely nothing that cool. Great story!

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