Bud, the Bird

A member of the Frost family who doesn’t get a lot of ink, but should, is Bud, the bird. Bud is a budgie, a parakeet. Bud lives in his cage which is hung in a corner of the living room.

For the first years of Bud’s life, he was allowed to fly free around the house. He loved to fly up to the top of the mirror in the dining room. There he would sit on a perch and admire the incredibly beautiful parakeet he saw in the mirror. He would stay up there for hours and on his perch was a clip to hold a spray of millet. Our cat, BuzzBomb, was mildly interested in Bud, but she never tried to eat him. They co-existed remarkably well. Sadly, we lost BuzzBomb to old age and Bud could fly with no feline worries whatsoever.

Then we got the cats.

At first all was well. The cats, Zena and Zoe, were kittens and they couldn’t really cause much trouble. But that tranquil period ended. That is why Bud’s cage is now hung from the ceiling in the corner of the living room. There is a carefully constructed open area around the cage. No furniture or launching pads are near Bud to keep the kitties from leaping and hanging on to Bud’s cage–as they were want to do. It must have been a terrifying experience for poor Bud.

We have had two near misses with Bud and the cats. Zoe once had Bud in her mouth and he suffered a puncture on his chest. It was horrifying for everyone, but Zoe. We were so worried about Bud, but he recovered. Bud is a very strong and brave bird.

Bud joined our family in August of 2000. We got him in Canaan, CT and for a long time Bud traveled back and forth to the country with us in a portable cage. He was a very adventurous Bud. Bud is a very friendly bird. He loves it when his “flock” sits in the living room with him. He sings a lot. He will sing when music is playing or just a cappella. When Jim plays the piano, Bud will often sing along. The best moments are when Dakota joins in and we have a trio with Jim on the piano, Bud singing his birdsong and Dakota chiming in with a doggier sound.

Bud is a pretty old bird. The average parakeet lifespan is 5-9 years. Some parakeets have lived as long as 20 years, but that is very unusual. Despite the rigors of living with two cats, Bud seems quite healthy and happy. Although many times we might seem almost to forget Bud perched in the corner of the living room, he is an integral part of our family. Our house would be much emptier without him. Here’s to a long, long life, Bud, the bird!

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