Around Mid July my mom found a little baby collared dove with an injured wing by the side of the road. He was in shock but after a few days he began to respond and when anyone walked in the room he would flap his wings excitedly. We called him Charlie. I began to talk to him in a nonsensical way-shalamalamootamata and
Charlie would twirp back to me.
I’ve always had a special affinity with animals and can understand how they are feeling. He would only twirp back if you talked to him my way. He was like a human being, he would sit and watch telly with me and when I brought him outside he twirped excitedly about his surroundings. He didn’t want to leave us. He liked to be fed by us. He was a very special bird, I’ve never met a bird as intelligent or friendly as him. We used to let him outside our back garden for a few hours everyday.
Unfortunately there were 4 cats from neighbouring homes that usually visited the back garden. We would encourage him to fly on top of the drainpipe or to sit on top of the top bedroom windows which he would do.
On 26th September 2002 he flew to my sister who was sitting on the garden bench. He loved company and always flew when he saw any of us in the house or garden. He would sit on your shoulder and nuzzle your ear.
On that day the neighbour’s cat crept up on him and jumped over our wall to the neighbour’s garden with Charlie in his teeth, looking plaintively at my sister to save him. My sister tried to stop him but in vain. I was in college so didn’t hear about it till I came home with the photos I had taken of him that day. My mam ran to the neighbour’s house but they were all out and she couldn’t get to him. Charlie was still alive 15 minutes later being tortured by the cat before the cat leaped over the wall. We never found his body.
I feel that if I was there that day it would never have happened. He never flies on to the ground unless one of us is outside and when Im out I always spot the cats.
I want to say Charlie that we love you and we are sorry it happened this way. You are a very special bird.
xxxxxx
Sandy
Ah shamalamoota mata agh agh shamata moota meaning
Hello baby and I miss you
xx