Walter Pigeon................

Many years ago now we had a pigeon, we named him Walter. Yes, Walter Pigeon. 

One day coming home from work I saw this poor thing flapping across the road in front of me. Obviously hit by a car, he had a broken wing. I went home and got laura and went back to where I saw him last. Found him in the car park and chased him down. We caught him and took him home. I took him to the vet to try to get his wing fixed. He tried but his wing never did heal. I tried the wildlife rescue place, they would not take him. They said he was not considered wild, so all they would do was put him down. Well...........I could not do that. SO we took him home and set up a nice little place for him. At that time we had an entrance on the back of the house, like a closed in porch. We made a cage for him, it was all chicken wire and had a removable lid. Eventually we just left the lid off. On the back of the house was an enclosed deck. We would put him out there in the summer. He had a pan and a hose so he could bath, we tried letting him out in the garden so he could see other birds but it was a job to get him back inside. One day a hawk was sitting out there so Walter was not keen on that any more. As he got older he liked to stay in the house. Over the years we rescued a couple of rabbits who were his room mates for a time. They would all be on the deck together. Well Walter lived with us for 15 years. Can you believe that. I never knew they lived so long. SO when he died, we took him to the vet to have him put to sleep. He had an obstruction in his crop. We were sad when he died he had been a part of our life so long. He would sit on the stairs and look out the window sometimes. He didn't make a mess in the house although there is a heck of a lot of dander that comes from birds. Even my husband wiped a tear as he buried him where our rabbit was buried. 

I wrote this poem for Walter. 

Walter Pigeon Walter Pigeon died today  Shed a tear with me. He lived with us for 15 years Now he's flying free No bars confine his spirit now No more broken wing. His body's healed, his spirit too. He's where the angels sing. Goodbye old friend My sometime love Goodbye old pigeon My little grey dove.  October 2nd 2000  ©JKS