Four Months in the Life of Oscar

Oscar, the Derbyan Parrot had a pretty good life. He had his people (Suzi & Brent) well enough trained that they took him to work every day & then back home again at the end of the day.

This story begins on December 10, 2001 when Oscar was at work on the 5th floor of a downtown office building in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A window had been opened a crack for a bit of fresh air, when Oscar, with wings that were just about due for another clipping, decided to take a look around. To the horror of Suzi & Brent – Oscar went right out the window into the cold of a Winnipeg December.

The shock of the cold air must have convinced Oscar to flap his clipped wings furiously & that - coupled with the winds that blow regularly here, and the height that he started his descent – gave him enough momentum to carry him right out of sight of his frantic owners.

By the time they made it down to the main floor and out onto the street – Oscar was nowhere to be seen. They called his name – they looked high & low – they contacted everyone they knew & people they didn’t know to help out in the search.

The next day the first report of a sighting came in. A woman called and said that she saw two boys on a bus traveling through the North End. One of them had a parrot on his shoulder that matched the description of Oscar. Then came more calls. He was seen sitting on a car in the downtown area. He landed at the feet of someone outside one morning. He was taken into a house, but flew away the next day. The problem is now – which story to concentrate on, because these sightings were in different areas.

Volunteers were walking the streets in all the areas mentioned looking for Oscar, but no one had any luck in finding him.

The story about the boy with the bird on his shoulder seemed to fit the best & that lead was followed. It seemed as if Suzi & Brent were getting close at one point – only to find out that Oscar had been taken from where he was being kept and was sold to someone else. At least they knew he was alive, but no one was talking about where Oscar was now.

Finally, the Winnipeg Police Service became involved at this time and one officer was assigned to do some investigation. It seems that Oscar was not hanging out with the best people. One of the boys who originally found Oscar was found murdered in January. Although Oscar had already been stolen & sold at least twice since this boy had even seen him, it came as a shock to know that Oscar was in this type of situation.

Finally, due to the efforts of the Police Officer assigned to the case, it was determined who it was that had Oscar. Negotiations between this person, the Police Officer and Suzi & Brent, plus an exchange of money, resulted in the return of Oscar on April 3 almost 4 months after he had flown away.

We will never know all that happened to Oscar during those 4 long months, but he is certainly happy to be back home again and Suzi and Brent are thrilled to have him back. They are getting introduced again and getting used to the new “colourful” words that Oscar has learned in his adventure.