Advertisement

Seven hour cockatiel rescue ends when bird comes to bathrobe

Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

STOCK-ON-TRENT, England, March 6 (UPI) -- British firefighters spent about seven hours trying to coax a cockatiel down from a tree but the pet came down on its own upon seeing its owner's bathrobe.

Madge Morris, 80, said she spent four days searching for her 8-year-old Lutino cockatiel, Georgie, after he flew the coop when a gust of wind opened a door at her Stoke-on-Trent, England, home last Thursday, the Mirror reported Thursday.

Advertisement

The cockatiel was spotted Sunday morning atop a tree in Northwood Park and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals dispatched an inspector who called Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The rescue service sent a truck to the park, but a second truck had to be called when the first truck's ladder wouldn't reach high enough on the 40-foot tree.

The rescue efforts lasted for about seven hours before Morris had an idea.

"I'd tried everything else to get her attention but suddenly I remembered how much she loves to snuggle in my robe so when she refused to come down, I asked my friend to bring it to the park," Morris said. "Everyone must have thought I was a mad woman by the way I was running around the park in my pink bath robe flapping my arms and calling out to Georgie."

Advertisement

"When she saw me she cocked her head and must have realized it was me because she fluttered off the branches and down to the ground," she said. "I felt a bit embarrassed that so many firefighters and even the police turned up when all it needed was for me to wear my dressing gown."

Latest Headlines