Smart animals can be badly behaved

After my sister had moved to North Queensland, Mum and Dad were given the task of looking after everything she had left behind – including Harry, a budgie. However, there was already another pet in the family: a terrier dog called Sparky who loved to be the centre of attention, and who was very jealous of the budgie.

Sparky loved to jump at the cage, which stood high up on a stand, and bark like mad at the bird. One day, Mum had to rescue the budgie when she found Sparky with the bird’s tail feathers in his mouth. They had been protruding out of the cage. This jealousy continued each day until Harry died.

I phoned Mum to see how she was doing and remarked that Sparky would be pleased the bird had died, as he was now No. 1.

Mum replied that, to the contrary, Sparky was extremely quiet and sad. She explained that Dad had wrapped the budgie up in a cloth with his head poking out and placed him in a little basket ready for burial.

She went on to say that Sparky had been kind to Harry after his death and had licked him on the head just before Dad buried him. So perhaps Sparky had cared after all.