CAMILLA Marker, an uMhlanga Rocks resident’s, heart sank as her cheeky little cockatiel, Carling, decided to fly the coup on the Wednesday afternoon, 2 July.
The heartbroken bird lover was convinced that she would never see her beloved pet again, but fate had other plans.
The next morning, at approximately 8am, a lecturing Netcare 911 paramedic, Bryan Adams, spotted an obviously exhausted cockatiel perched on his superior’s vehicle. He whistled at the tiny creature and slowly approached it.
“It seemed calm and did not to try and fly away. I called Dagmar Mühlbauer, my boss. When she arrived the two of us slowly approached the bird from either side of the car, and I gently grabbed him. He did not fight or try to break free at all. That is when I knew that it was someone’s pet,” said Adams.
The duo took the bird to a nearby pet shop, in an attempt to find its owner. “We asked around if anyone had been looking for their bird, but had no luck,” said Adams.
Later that day, Marker, who had been distributing flyers in the neighbourhood, arrived at the pet shop and asked if anyone had seen Carling. “I was ecstatic when the receptionist told me that she remembered that a paramedic had brought in a cockatiel earlier that day, looking for its owner,” she said.
She immediately headed down to the Netcare 911 centre, where she found Carling safely perched on Mühlbauer’s desk. “He went crazy when he saw me, and I knew that I had found him,” said Marker.
While Marker is thrilled to have her feathered friend home safe and sound she still shudders to think of him being cold, tired and alone. “He was obviously starved and exhausted when he got home, as he drank and ate a lot, and then immediately went to sleep. My husband and I are so grateful to Adams and Mühlbauer,” she said.
Carling has since been taken to the vet for a check-up, where he was also given a flea bath and had his wings clipped, ending his days of dangerous adventures. He did not seem fazed, however, as he snuggled safely next to his cherished owner.
