Warming birds

A young bird-lover was only six when he got his first pet bird, Dale. Dale was a white and yellow cockatiel.

One cold, winter day, the young boy decided Dale was very, very dirty and was in desperate need of a bath.

With his tiny hands, the boy gently held his new little friend under the bathroom sink and washed out tremendous amounts of dust and dirt.

He then dried Dale with a hand towel, but that wasn’t enough. Dale was wet and shivering.

The boy worried his bird was cold and would get sick. He started brainstorming ways to get his cockatiel warm.

His little-boy, scientific logic kicked in.

The young, caring bird-lover opened the microwave, placed his wet cockatiel onto the glass tray and set the timer for 10 seconds.

The boy noticed Dale was walking around inside, panicking and restless. Not exactly what he had expected.

He took out his bird seven seconds later – with three seconds still left to go on the timer. Dale came out warm, still wet and with a bleeding foot.

The young boy, who had been alone in the kitchen this whole time, desperately yelled for help.

His older sister rushed down, examined Dale and applied Kwik Stop (a powdery animal medicine that stops bleeding) to the affected area.

The cockatiel healed and had plenty of kids, then grandkids.

Dale lived a happy life, and died at the age of 9.

The boy’s passion for birds intensified, and he took in four more birds – all of which he adored. Still, he never loved any bird as much as Dale.

 

 Helen Dane, Veterinarian and owner of Danada Veterinary Hospital in Wheaton, Ill.

“Cockatiels are a very personable bird, and owners tend to have them out living with them more commonly than other birds that stay in the cage at all times,” Helen said. “Because they’re very inquisitive and interactive with their owners, they’re also one of the most common birds to be involved in household accidents.”

Helen said she has seen many household accidents with cockatiels. Once an owner accidentally sat on their bird and broke both of its legs, and another time a bird flew into boiling water.

“It’s because we love these birds so much that it’s very easy to forget they’re on the shoulder, door, etc., and we have to go out of our way to watch out for and help them,” Helen said.

As for accidentally radiating a bird, Helen said such an incident would damage the bird’s cell walls. However, if the radiation was not excessive and the bird had enough time to cool down, it could potentially recover.

“If heated up, there would definitely be thermal damage to the organs and cells, but the body also has an amazing ability to regenerate itself,” she said.

Helen said a cockatiel’s average life is between nine to 15 years, but could also be longer.

 

Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this short story, excluding interviews, are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.