Indian Myna and Tonie Meiring

This is an amazing story that should have been told a long long time ago.  Now it is with sadness that I do it.

Someone found a little Indian Myna in the street.  Probably hit by a car (or so it seems).  He/she was still very much just a baby.  This person took the little bird under their wing, so to speak.

In time though the little one flew over the wall and just “adopted” my mom.  He was free to go where he wanted but preferred to sleep inside the house.  Eventually he made a little nest for himself in my mom’s bathroom.

The relationship was so special.  He would come and go as he wishes but once every hour of half an hour, he would fly through the house, looking for my mom.  He would sit on her arm like a bracelet.  She could move her arm and he would just hold on.  His food was here, he knew when my mom called Sophie to give him bread.  He would fly straight to the kitchen. 

My mom loved him and the feeling seemed very much mutual.  My mom is such a caring person and he was a part of the family for almost a year.  He didn’t like me though and would constantly tell me to “stop it”.

Unfortunately three weeks ago, he went missing.  He was still in my mom’s house at 4 pm and just never came back.  We don’t know if he was killed or if he is now being kept in a cage. 

My mom would be okay with him being dead, since he really did have the perfect life for a year.  However if he has to be in a cage, it would kill her (and him)  He is used to being free and was petrified of even just being closed in the room.

My mom put flyers up and even advertised in the newspaper.  We had some people offering their Indian Myna’s for her to take care of.  People worried about Myna’s being kept in cages.

However, my mom got one sms yesterday from Tonie Meiring that was so upsetting.  He basically told her that they are pests and he hopes that Piet went back to India with his whole family.  That if she had any knowledge of birds, she would now that they kill our own birds.

Well, he just doesn’t get it.  It’s not about the fact that it’s an Indian Myna.  It’s about the fact that the bird that she loves is now missing.  Her knowledge about birds (especially since my dad is involved in bird atlassing) is probably more than his anyway. Still , her ad in the newspaper was not about saving the Myna race but the fact that she was looking for her bird.  Regardless of what type.

I sent him an sms (cause no-one will upset my mother like that) and in the end he call me trash.  Lovely.  For someone who is a DA counsellor that’s pretty sweet. 

No-one calls me trash, Tonie.  I don’t care how involved you are in the community.  You have no regard for someone else’s feeling.  She is already upset, no need for you to make it worse.

I was raised with “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything.”  Maybe you should look into that.