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More lost parrots, but no clues to what happened to Frootloop

Cochrane man’s search for lost Alexandrine parrot stymied
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Yet another lost Alexandrine parrot named Echo. (Contributed image).

Lost parrots stories are abounding since a Cochrane man began searching for his fugitive bird in Red Deer.

Cochrane resident Andre van Hoeve was thrilled to hear from the Red Deer parrot owner that he’d been seeking.

The woman had told local pet store staff that she’d became an inadvertent pet owner after an Alexandrine parrot smashed into her kitchen window. After this snippet of information was passed on to van Hoeve, it prompted him to renew his search for his lost bird in Red Deer, thinking it had flown here from Cochrane.

Unfortunately, he’s now no closer to finding his beloved pet, Frootloop, as it turns out the woman rescued a parrot in November 2016.

Van Hoeve and his wife Evelyn had lost their green feathered/red beaked bird in August 2017 — a good nine months later. “It can’t be our bird,” he said.

Surprisingly, Central Alberta isn’t short of Alexandrine parrots on the lam.

After the van Hoeves’ lost pet story appeared in the Advocate and got picked up by national media, the Cochrane couple were also contacted by two other regional pet owners that happened to lose their Alexandrine parrots last year near Sylvan Lake and Pine Lake.

Brad Footit and his wife, Marelise Kruger Footit, of Calgary, lost their pet last August while staying at their cabin on Pine Lake. “Ours was startled by our daughters friends, who were fussing over it,” said Brad, in an email to the Advocate.

Although Echo had clipped wings that had only partially grown back, the unbanded female still managed to take off and the Footits could never find her, despite extensive searching. They fear she ended up in the lake.

“We have since brought a Macaw and a Senagal (parrot) into our family, but I do still miss Echo,” said Brad, who noted his missing bird would be two years old now.

Van Hoeve isn’t sure what to make of all the Alexandrines that have made a break for it, saying “I guess they spook easily.”

He’s still hoping that Frootloop (conventionally spelled Fruit Loop by Evelyn) miraculously turns up.



lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com

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