Hillview Terrace Neighborhood Association

WE HAVE THE BEST NEIGHBORS IN THE WHOLE WORLD by Vicki Sanger

Feb 12, 2007

Coco is a 10 year old Quaker parrot who has been part of our family since he was a youngster, a birthday present to my husband. When the weather is nice, he likes to sit on his perch in the back yard (his wings
are clipped so he can only fly 2 feet above the ground and I?’m always present to supervise because of the
hawks that frequently fly over our neighborhood).
One day this Autumn I brought Coco into the back yard for an outing. The weather was warm and sunny but much windier than I thought. As I put coco on his perch the wind swept him away, depositing him on the utility lines over our fence. I ran to get my ladder and tried to coax him down, but I wasn?’t able to get close enough. While on the ladder, I noticed two hawks that were circling overhead. I then panicked and called my next-door neighbors, Danny and Jill, to come over to help. Danny brought a much taller ladder and we climbed onto my roof to get closer to where Coco was perched. When we got there Coco was gone. We could not see him but heard his very distinctive chirp coming from my other next-door neighbor?’s Live Oak tree. Danny ran to Loveanna?’s to ask if we could climb onto her roof and she said yes. Before we even got the ladder to her roof we realized Coco was now chirping from the Smiths?’ tree across the street. This time we could see where he was perched at the very top of the tree, much too high for any ladder to reach. I watched Coco hang on for dear life as the wind became even more brisk, blowing the limbs of the tree as if they would break. Coco?’s increased effort to hang onto the limb made it less and less likely that he would pay attention to my efforts to coax him down the tree.
One of Coco?’s favorite things is to sneak into our other parrot?’s (Bimbie?’s) cage and eat her food. Bimbie is not very fond of Coco?’s visits but he has a large time and tries to be with her whenever he can. So I decided to bring Coco?’s cage with Bimbie in it outside and put his favorite snack, an ear of corn, on top of the cage. Maybe that would coax him down. After some time I realized this wasn?’t working. I also realized that Coco was now chirping from a tree in the front yard of the McBride?’s. I couldn?’t see Coco from his latest tree but went into the yard just below the tree and began calling his name and waving the ear of corn over my head, but to no avail. I did get attention from my neighbors, however. Mrs. Taylor noticing the large birdcage in her front yard and upon hearing my story told me I could keep the cage in her yard as long as I needed. Mr. McBride came out and laughed as he told me he was glad to discover I was a neighbor so he didn?’t have to call 911. He also invited me to stand in his yard yelling up into his tree as long as I wanted. Louise next door brought me coffee. Dennis Tubb came to visit and offered some helpful suggestions. He also stood watch for Coco so I could go inside my house when I needed to. Danny and Jill came out from time to time to check on my progress. Mrs. Watts came by with her binoculars to help me locate Coco. Another neighbor I had not met came down to join us. Eventually it began to get dark and everyone went home. I got a blanket and lay down in Mrs. Taylor?’s yard to watch for any change in Coco?’s location and wait for the sun to go down. Just as I was ready to go in, Tom and Michelle from down the street drove up. They thought someone had fallen. (Do you think there are neighborhoods where such a thing would go unnoticed?) Not in ours.
Once the sun went down I went inside, leaving an empty birdcage with an ear of corn on top for Coco to see. The next morning I woke at dawn and went outside to learn that Coco had spent the night on the same tree limb where I left him. I began looking through the yellow pages and making calls to find someone who might rescue Coco from the tree. Once again, I had support from my neighbors. Since my husband was out of town, having someone around really reduced my feelings of stress. After about two hours of calls, I finally talked to David Ross from H&E Equipment Service, who said he had a cherry picker we could use to reach the top of the tree. He told me he understood how I felt since he was also an animal lover. Within the hour he was at my house and 30 minutes later I had Coco back in his cage. As I rolled Coco and his cage back into the house Coco said ?“I wanna go outside?”. I told him ?“You can?’t go outside?”. To that Coco then said ?“It?’s dark outside?”.
Coco is a very smart little bird and a prolific talker. I think I?’ll try to teach him to say ?“We have the best neighbors in the whole world?”.

We hope to see you at the next meeting!