IN LOVING MEMORY OF SPANKY

3/12/97 - 4/3/07

4/3/07 We lost Spanky, our 10-year-old African Senegal Parrot this afternoon...a heartbreaking accident.  She was sitting on top of her cage as she did everyday.  We always caged her when we left the house so she wouldn't get hurt if she wandered off (which was rarely).  That morning, Dave was working on the project in the yard and he needed some help.  We were out there quite some time and I guess that Spanky got curious and decided to find out what we were doing.  She ventured from the gated livingroom, across the kitchen floor right to the back patio door...just as we were coming in.  At that moment, Zeus realized that Spanky was not where she is supposed to be and tried to pick her up.  He didn't mean to hurt her, but his gentle action caused her to have a major heart attack.  She took her last breathe as I held her on my lap repeating her favorite saying over and over again..."Good Girl Spanky"...something she said at least 100 times a day!  We immediately took her to All Pets Great & Small Cremation Service, waited and brought her home within an hour!  Thank you All Pets...don't know what we would have done without you!

Spanky was here before Augie and Austin and was raised with them.  They both respected her...and feared her...she did an awesome nose bite.  Even Dimmer (our blind Lethal) "froze" if she walked by :-)  Spanky was quite a character and spoke many phrases.  She would call the dogs by name and when they came to the cage, she would bite them on the nose.  Of course, she always threw out a few bits of food to make up for any inconvenience she may have caused them :-)  When she was younger and wandered quite a bit, Augie and Austin would bark to let me know she was away from her cage.

The more we got into rescue, the less freedom Spanky had...something that always bothered us, but it was more important to protect her.  She never stressed over that, but was a little cranky at times due to the lack of contact and freedom...but we all managed to make it work.

Here are a few pics of Spanky in her prime when she ruled the roost!  Just so you know, I never let her have a lit cigarette :-)  She did manage to chew some of the tobacco though :-)  She LOVED to give kisses!!!

Spanky's Sun Catcher from Over the Rainbow Memorials

Photos courtesy of Linda Markellis

When we bought Spanky, a tiny little parrot, we decided to get her a big cage with lots of toys, which we exchanged on a regular basis to keep her from getting bored.  With her passing, I was torn as what to do with her cage.  I didn't want to sell it...or even give it away...but where was I going to store it?  I decided, as a tribute to Spanky, to place it outside for the wild birds to enjoy.  Four days passed and not one bird would venture onto the cage (filled with wild bird seed).  On the 5th day, one flew on and took a few nibbles...then 2, 3 and the rest is history.  I got a few picture of the cage with 1 or 2 birds on it at a time.  Now, it is constantly filled with too many to fit :-)

A fitting tribute to Spanky...birds free to use her cage without ever being closed in.  Stayed tuned for more pics.

We also had Spanky's portrait done by Joe Dea (he did Augie & Austin).  Here's the proof of Spanky, click on her pic to see Joe's great work!