I was lying down on the sofa bed watching tv and at the corner of my eyes I saw Maru stealthily walking down from the stairs, suspiciously carrying a black thing in his mouth and I was thinking "Wonder what that is? Tikus kot". So the intrigued me went after him to the furthest corner of the living hall and I saw he was playing with the black thing and it was a black bird! At that point I thought "Prolly dead already lah" but just as I was about to leave the crime scene, I saw it frantically hopping away from Maru, so I started shouting at Maru to stop him from chasing the bird/playing with the bird/killing the bird. Maru being Maru, he got fed up of my screaming, sat a few metres away from me and the bird. I called farhan from the room to help me with the bird (and also to make sure Maru wouldn't re attack the bird basically to keep him away from birdie). Later Farhan put the bird in the cat carrier and I went to see the vet to check on injuries.
Now I have two options of 1) go to the nearest vet in Putrajaya who is less friendly or 2) go to Bangi Perdana to Fifer's vet who is awesome. I went with choice no. 2 cuz I know how Fifer would approve of that choice (ure constantly in my thots fer :p)
When I got there, the vet was tending to a real sick cat so I was left with her husband who is also a vet! And he's cute too! Hee.. Since bird flu was as alarming like open fire, he told me to wear a mask and gloves. When he opened the carrier he said "Takde pun burung?" I was like "Biar benar." I peeked into the carrier and saw the scared bird limping at the back of the carrier and said to the vet "Ada, it's black. So dia blend into the color of the carrier. U really have to look." He groped into the carrier and went "Oh here it is."
Kesian the bird. It was really traumatized by the whole thing. Memang gelabah gile and he looked so scared. The vet checked it up and told me there was no injury and that I should bring it home. I told him "But I NEVER care for a bird!". He said "It's not hard, just put him in a cage and feed him. But this one is a juvenile, so it might need extra attention." Hearing that I said "But I don't LIKE birds. I can't take of something that I don't like." Tis the truth my friends. I don't like our aviary tenants. I can't say why. I just don't fancy them.
The vet said "Do u have anyone who could take care of it?" and I said "Yeah, my neighbour might want to take it in. But what if he doesn't want to keep it? MAN!" The vet looked at me and said "Ok, how's about u give it to me? I can take care of it." And that is why my friend, that is WHY i went to this vet and not the other - cuz I know this couple are so big hearted, they'll care for anything! I smiled and said "Really? U would do that? Geez, thanx! U really are God sent!" (bodek2). Then he called his wife asked her what she thinks about it and she said "Ok, but we have to get a licence for it." At that I asked "Why do u need a licence?" and he told me that "I think ni burung awak-awak. Protected species, not so uncommon in Malaysia but is quite rare around the world. Do u live near a river or near water?" I told him "No, the nearest water would be the bathroom at my house." He didn't laugh. Or smile. Maybe he didn't get it. It was a joke Doc!
I went home feeling happy that I did good that day - until chindian hasut I by saying "Ntah2 the bird is rare in Malaysia and costs thousands. Ntah2 the vet was like 'hehe stupid girl bringing gold to my shop without knowing it!'" The Chinese in the chindian has finally decided come out :p
Termakan hasutan, I googled it up. And true - it is a protected bird. And yes it is common in our country. But no, it doesn't cost thousands. In fact, many Malaysians have them like they would the quail (by have I meant EAT the bird). Many would "pikat" (not woe lah, tangkap) the bird and keep it. U can't blame them for not knowing that they could be saman for RM3000 if caught eating/catching/selling the bird. In Bangladesh, though sold in the black market (cuz it still is an endangered species) it's only sold for RM50 per bird! Yup, it is THAT cheap (for a near-extinct bird, it is).
So I went back to chindian and said "I is no stoopid. The bird baru RM50 je. If I sold it, I would only make that much but if I was caught, kene bayar RM3K u know!"
Aaah the power of knowing :)
No comments:
Post a Comment