First pet (and how it died) - Budgies

For the inspiration behind this blog click here.
For more "first pets" memories click here and here.

How many of us had budgies as a pet do you think? I doubt it was as popular a pet as a hamster - I mean its not something that you'd cuddle or play with much. In fact, I'm not really that sure I'd give a budgie to a child as a pet. All you can do really is watch them in the cage, or inevitably, when the wee devil inside wants to play, let them out to fly about the house.....

Bingo

“Have you ever had your parents try to disguise the fact your pet is dead?” It happened to me when I was little. I had a budgie called “Bingo”. He was yellowish green and lived in his cage in the livingroom. I used to talk to him every day and he’d tweet back to me quite the thing.

When I came home from school one day I was devastated to find Bingo dead at the bottom of his cage.

“Mum, oh Mum, Bingo’s dead!”.

Well I must have caught her at a bad moment – she was in the middle of a phone call to my Gran and I‘d interrupted her:

“Don’t be silly Julie, Bingo died three weeks ago”!

Then I think she realised what she’d said when she saw the look on my face. She came off the phone pronto and looked over at me.

”Julie, Bingo died three weeks ago and we got a replacement for him because your Dad and I knew how upset you’d be. Really, it’s Bingo2 that’s died”.

Well I couldn’t take it. I stomped off to my room and cried, I couldn’t believe them and what they’d done.

I couldn’t get another Budgie after that could I. I was so upset that Bingo 1 would hate me for it.”