2.5 Homer... RIP 220219

. Eighteen year old 2.5 was a beautiful white Homer, always so clean. ..  So brilliant white that she glowed.. She bathed nearly every day even at below 0 temps.

Very wise, kind, stately, noble, and compassionate. She was two and one half months old when I got her, hence the name. ... She was a role model that humans should aspire to. My hero. She lived a very dynamic eventful life. She survived many traumatic events and performed some amazing feats.

 

I put out seeds for 2.5 but a Cardinal got there first, so 2.5 patiently waited until the Cardinal finished, then she ate what was left.

 

 

. . The evening of Oct 20,2021 when I went out to the aviary where 2.5 and her husband Newbie Modena lived, I found 2.5 resting on the sand floor, not up high in their nest box as usual. Why didn't she fly up?... I picked her up, she looked fine, but I immediately noticed a gurgling sound in her breathing. I could find no evidence of wounds, predators, struggle or any other cause, not a ruffled feather on her. Her husband was fine. I immediately rushed her to the emergency vet where they discovered a punctured air sac and broken collarbone, could not be reset. It's a mystery about what could have caused this to happen. . . 

 . . In a day or two she quickly fully recovered from the air sac puncture but the broken collarbone could not be reset. She would never fly again. ... Devastating because she and her husband Newbie had always enjoyed free flying but always stayed in our yard. They would fly to the house several times per day and requested for me to open the patio door for a few hours of indoor visits ... and then she'd come find me and lead me to the door for them to fly back out to their aviary. .. a daily routine for many years. . . She seemed quite depressed with not being able to fly anymore but eventually adapted when I built more ramps in the aviary to allow her to walk up to their nest. She then learned to walk to the house while her husband flew, BUT she could not hop up the 6 steps to the deck and patio door. . So, another ramp. . . Then she seemed happy again and resumed the daily house visits. 

 

. . She was always an expert at avoiding predators, she always knew exactly what to do. But now on the ground she would be quite vulnerable to predators so I now had to monitor her trip everyday. . . On one recent indoor visit, I heard a commotion and found her laying on her back frightened and panicky because she was unable to right herself. Her wings were not functioning enough to help her. A bit later it happened again, she was again panicky. I didn't know how long she could survive that way. . . Now I knew that she would not be safe living out in the aviary anymore where I could not rescue her. So now she became a house Pigeon for the rest of her life. She and Newbie both complain loudly when apart so I had to move him indoors along with her, they loved each other very much,... then they were happy again. They had the freedom to roam the family room where we spend most of our time too. They were happy. 

. . Feb 19th 2022, my neighbor called me and needed a ride. It took longer than expected and 2 hours later when I returned home I found her motionless upside down, her feet straight up, .. and in a pool of blood. ... While she was panicky and unsuccessfully struggling to right herself, it appears Newbie attempted to help turn her over but she couldn't move and he accidently pecked her eye, and she bled to death. I can't imagine her fear of first being helpless upside down, then the pain of her eye, then being aware of her desperate situation and ultimate death. . . The whole process taking but mere minutes. She was extremely healthy, happy, and robust, but old, so I knew her days were numbered and the end was expected. ... But the pain to me is the thought of the fear she must have experienced as she was laying there helpless and dying. . . A very undignified ending for a very dignified bird. 

. . The next day I took her to be cremated. Her ashes will be buried at my farm in a pet cemetery with my other pets who have passed over the decades. On a hill overlooking a creek and our cabin there. . . . . Her husband Newbie now seems lost. He doesn't know how to behave without her. He seems to know she's gone forever, .. he no longer calls to her. ... But he just keeps going in and out of their house, just wandering around, constant pacing, confused, searching for a purpose in life without her. . . Sadness for everyone.