"Groundparrot" Gilligan- A Lakewood Legend Leaves Us

Those of us who own pets share a unique experience of living with animals. I am, of course, referring to real animals here, and not your college roommate. Whether you have a cat, a dog, or in my case, birds, these lives intertwine with our own in ways sublime and wonderful.

"Groundparrot" Gilligan got his nickname one year by predicting six more weeks of winter for Lakewood, much in the same fashion as certain groundhogs around the country do on February 2nd. Over the years, Gilligan regularly saw his shadow (or did not) and this was dutifully reported on the Lakewood Observer Observation Deck chat room.

Gilligan came to me in mid-1983. I had just lost my grandmother to an insidious form of bone cancer in the leg, and so Gilligan provided a welcome diversion for our family. (For those who do not know, macaw parrots can live a long, long time.) We purchased Gillie "used" from a pet store. Supposedly, he had been owned by a little old lady. We began to doubt the veracity of that story when, on the way home, Gillie chewed his way out of his cardboard transport box, climbed up on Dad's shoulder, and began a string of salty epithets that would no doubt cause cardiac arrest in some preachers. Turned out, we heard later that Gillie's former home had been a bar, and that he'd learned his expansive vocabulary from the patrons there.

We got him into the house while riding on Dad's shoulder, swearing all the while, and put him on a T-stand as we went out to the dining room for lunch. Almost immediately, we heard the flapping of a two-foot wingspan, as Gillie landed on the table and helped himself to my french fries, with language even saltier than the fries.

That night, the family was hosting a group of distinguished company. We warned Gillie against speaking out of turn, and the bird was as good as gold while they were there. After they left, I told him "Good job, Gillie!" and I received a disgusting response from him that would have stopped a clock.

Over the years, other birds came and went, but Gillie was a fixture at our home. A favorite of our friends, he almost never talked in the presence of company (parrots seldom do), but once the company left? Whooo boy!

We had Gilligan for more than a quarter of a century. About a month ago, we noticed a growth on his leg. We took him in for surgery from a leading avian vet, but ironically, like my dear late grandmother, a nasty cancer was also well-developed on that leg, and Gilligan did not survive the surgery. He died just a few days before Christmas.

Dad and I are doing pretty well now, all things considered. Gilly had been going downhill for several weeks. Bird metabolism is much faster than human metabolism. It was shocking to see Gillie's devastating problem develop as quickly as it did.

In later years, Gilligan had also developed epileptic seizures, and that kept Dad and I from going on overnight trips. It was worth staying home though. It always is when you are close to those whom you love, and who love you.

We are discovering that animals share quite a bit of our own DNA make-up. They are a great deal closer to us than we probably realize. Unlike some of those theologian types, I do want to think that animals also have souls, and also would like to think that Gilly's will go on and on. I'm also honestly getting closer to the point of vegetarianism these days.

Well, Groundparrot Gilligan won't be seeing his shadow this year, but we do have two new, incredibly sweet little parrot babies who are keeping us busy, along with two other great birds that we've had for many years.

I guess you might say that instead of seeing his shadow, Lakewood's beloved Groundparrot Gilligan simply saw the Light.

Here's to all of our great companion animal friends living in the pulse of this city!

Happy Groundparrot (or dog, or cat, or fish or ??) Day to all of you!

Sincerely,

Gary, with Bob, Bandit, Hans, Baby, and BB (along with a few dozen other deer, chipmunks, sparrows, blue jays, field mice, possums, raccoons, and whomever else happens to live around our Lakewood neighborhood)

The Rice family wants to sincerely thank Dr. Jamie Lindstrom and the staff at Animal Clinic Northview for all that they've done for Gilligan, and for so many other needful animals over the years.