# Meet Homie, The Home Depot Flooring Specialist



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

http://www.rims.net/2005Nov27

So, I get this call Saturday morning from the Garden Grove Home Depot.
Seems there is a baby pigeon "terrorizing" the flooring department and the
surrounding aisles. I ask the caller to please catch the pigeon, put it in a
box, and wait for me to get there to pick it up.

I arrive and hot foot it to the flooring department only to find that they
weren't able to catch the youngster and now don't know where it is.
So off we go on a search of the massive store and have no luck finding
the pigeon. I'm getting a little upset as I've driven 25 miles one way to
get the bird and now have spent about 40 fruitless minutes looking for it.
I suggest to the manager that he make an announcement over the PA
system asking for anyone who has seen the bird to please call the
service desk ASAP. Within another 5 minutes or so, the call comes in
that the bird is hiding under the racks of carpet rolls in the flooring
department, so off we go again on our mission.

I'm down on the floor peering under what seems like dozens of racks
of carpeting and not finding a baby pigeon anywhere. Suddenly one
of the female employees screams "OMG, there he is and look what
he's done!". Sure enough, there's the baby pigeon standing on the
middle roll of carpet in one of the racks and looking at us like we're
crazy. What he had done was merely leave a few little calling cards
in the form of pigeon poopies on the roll of carpet. 

Such a smart little pigeon! He had chosen a roll of indoor/outdoor
carpet .. I tell them it could have been worse .. he might have found
the roll of white berber to be the carpet of his choice.

I gently netted the little one and off we went for home. This little one
is healthy and just needs to grow up a bit more before continuing on
his journey through life.

Terry


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Terry, great job "netting" this baby. I'm glad that the carpet rolls stayed put while he was on them. 

Our Mr. Humphries also came from Home Depot only he was outside the building. Pigeons really seem to like going to HD. They hang aroung the garden center alot.

Maggie


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Terry, 

LOL!!!! your recounts of going to the home depot, "hot footing" the floors, having an announcement made on the P.A. system are just too cute and funny I know it probably wasn't funny to you because your time is limited, but still, your story of your trials & tribulations to get the little guy sounded so comical but very endearing

He's a very nice looking little guy and very lucky to have escaped the throng of shoppers from tampling on him in those very busy stores!


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Terry, 


Wow! Good going!


I can just picture him standing there looking at everyone wondering "What ARE these wierd beings DOING???" And just taking it all in...

Best wishes!

Phil
Las Vegas


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi Terry,

Thank you for sharing another adventure in the life of a rehabber. It did sound quite funny hearing about it, but I'm sure it wasn't being in the situation. 

Nice of him to have concern for the cleaning staff and pooping on the indoor/outdoor carpet.  

What a little doll bay..I'm glad he is healthy and will enjoy his new temporary home in your company and all your birds!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks everyone .. I'm glad you enjoyed little Homie's story! I truly was getting very, very irritated with the employees until one of the service desk ladies took it upon herself to try and really help find the bird .. everybody else was quite nonchalant about the whole thing even when I told them that somebody there would have to drive the little bird to me if we didn't find it soon. That usually gets people into action if they think they might actually have to put out some personal time and effort to help a little creature.

Anyway, it ended well, and both Homie and I are happy campers!

Terry


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## Garye (Feb 20, 2005)

How in the world do you guys get away with saving pigeons? Most people would just try to kill them instead of calling someone to pick them up. I'm glad they called you, Terry, instead of calling a pest exterminator.

Birds are like people. They just like to shop.


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## Garye (Feb 20, 2005)

I do know one thing, I hope none of those pigeons stole from Home Depot based on what I've heard about the store. Otherwise, they're going to be "jail birds".


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Garye said:


> How in the world do you guys get away with saving pigeons? Most people would just try to kill them instead of calling someone to pick them up. I'm glad they called you, Terry, instead of calling a pest exterminator.
> 
> Birds are like people. They just like to shop.


 Guess some of us are just lucky! The helpful lady from the service desk diligently took down my name and cell phone # for baby bird season.

Terry


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## Garye (Feb 20, 2005)

Well I'm glad they thought of you because like I said, most people would just call an exterminator. That lady sounds fantastic. I'm glad she's working there.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

*Great Going Terry!!*

Looking forward to hearing updates! He's is ONE lucky pijjie!!  LOVED your story!


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## KIPPY (Dec 18, 2003)

That is so cool that they called you and you went and caught the little guy. Too funny, I would have loved to have been there for that. I'm sure they will be talking about that for little while. You should send them a Christmas card with his picture on it. They will definately remember you next time they find a Pij in the wherehouse.


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## dnrslucky1 (Oct 13, 2005)

Terry! 
I love that story! It should have been on the news! I am sure that baby was terrified, but thanks to you, it now has a safe warm home! Such an adorable baby to!

Denise


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## andinla (Mar 11, 2003)

*I actually picked up a baby pigeon*

off of a newstand right next to the door of the grocery store. He was sitting there with a dixie cup of water and bread and just sleeping. From what we were told he had been there all day and people put food and water out for the little guy. (There are some nice people in this world). 

Andi


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Andi,

That's a great story, and I'm glad you got the baby pigeon .. still .. it just baffles me that so few people will actually pick up a little bird or animal in need and just leave it where it is for someone else to take care of or to perish as the case may be.

Terry


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

According to the Home Depot folks this little one wasn't scared at all .. rather it was scaring the employees and customers <LOL>! Apparently it was running all over the flooring department and up and down the adjacent aisles causing much consternation for all the humans in the store.

When I got it, it was calmly standing on a roll of carpet and watching all us silly humans looking for it. It made no real effort to get away from me when I gently positioned my net to get it and also didn't seem unduly concerned to find itself in the net or in my hands.

I will definitely keep the store informed about the little one in the hopes that they will help another bird in the future.

Terry


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Terry, 


Here in Las Vegas I used to see Sparrows flitting about in the high ceilings of several of the open-all-night Grocery Stores. Haven't noticed any lately, but I do not shop for groceries as much now, and or I jusr breeze through fast. before, when I had a girlfriend, we'd shop and talk and so on in liesure, so, I was more likely to notice a tiny blurr flying past up high.

The little Birds get 'in', and can not figure out how to get out again.

I talked to some managers, and they were willing to let me try and do something, but I could not figure out any ideas of what TO do.

Generally, the managers and employees felt kindly to the little Sparrows, and would put Birdseed or Bread in some discrete places for them.

The Sparrows are very wiley of course, and with those tall ceilings, there is just no way anyone can sneak up on them with any hope of netting them.

Any ideas?

Maybe, if one could know that "a" Sparrow was in a certain spot, the lights could be turned off for a moment, and if one had a ladder already in position, maybe, one could climb up and grab them!

But, they may not turn their lights out even for a moment, since the Stores are open 24/7...or, it would take a pretty heavy decision on management's part TO turn off the lights for any reason.


Glad the little Squeaker 'Homie' was not flying!

How did he get IN there I wonder???

Marched in with the shoppers? Shoulder-by-Ankle?


Phil
Las Vegas


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## Pete Jasinski (Jan 2, 2005)

Way to go! I'm sure that little one is going to thank you in the long run, the depot is no place for a pidgie. At least in the supermarkets the birds have a food source, I'm bad and open a find a leaky bag of seed and put it out for them on top of the freezers


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

It has been a somewhat somber couple of days, with my "bus pigeon" rescue passing away and reading about Phils latest sad story. Reading this was very uplifting and funny (of course if it was me chasing a baby pigeon down the isles, I suppose it would be frustrating!) Thanks for sharing the *adventure* with us Terry.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Great net job, and an even better PR job, Terry. Glad to hear that HD is willing to call you in the future......that's probably not a small victory, as they can be apathetic there in general. As for baby pij, what a cutie...seems like he's had photo shoots before 'cause he seems to know which way to turn next...glad he turned your way at HD  .

fp


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## phyll (Mar 15, 2004)

Terry, I had to smile (sorry) when I pictured you on the floor with the rolls of carpet.
It's great that they had a heart, & called you to rescue the baby pigeon.
Wait, according to your post, they probably called you to rescue THEM, since the little pigeon was terrorizng them. Can you believe it?
He's safe now, that's the important thing.
Thank you for helping him.

Phyll


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Well, Phyll .. I'm sure it probably was pretty funny watching my aged 57 year old skinny body slithering along the floor of Home Depot .. thankfully Little Homie gave me a break and was up on a middle roll of carpet where I could at least stand up and get him.

Yes, at least half the people were terrified of Homie and the other half were terrified for him and his safety. This ended up as a happy and funny story with a great ending, and I'm very thankful for that.

Remind me to tell you about the ducklings in the storm drain system sometime .. gotta run right now to see the Lily Sanctuary on network news .. more later.

Terry


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

*Gee Terry,*

your last post is a PERFECT example of what is called a "cliffhanger!"  

So, what about the ducklings in the storm drain?? Appropriate to this thread, I would think, if it involves rescue and a happy ending! We can "pretend" they are pigeons...LOL


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

mr squeaks said:


> So, what about the ducklings in the storm drain?? Appropriate to this thread, I would think, if it involves rescue and a happy ending! We can "pretend" they are pigeons...LOL


The storm drain duckling adventure happened probably five years ago or so. A nice lady called me from a condo complex (also in Garden Grove) about some ducklings that had washed over the edge of one of the ponds on the property into an approx 6 foot deep concrete box that opened into a huge underground storm drain system. The opening the ducklings went over was only about 8 inches wide, so there was no way to get to them from there. I tried using a long handled pole net but because of the small opening, there wasn't enough room to get the net angled correctly to scoop out any ducklings, and each attempt to net them sent them running into the tunnel openings off the box.

The lady who called was a grandmother that was caring for her seven year old grandson when the duckling disaster hit. She had called animal control, the police department, the humane society, the fire department, and the city public works department .. nobody would help her. So, off I went again on another adventure.

In scoping out the situation, it became pretty apparent that the only way to get the ducklings would be to get one of the massive manhole covers off and go down into the storm drain system. We tried to guess which manhole would be the best one and struggled to get the cover off. I think we broke three broom handles, a rake handle, a shovel handle, and finally found a guy with a crowbar to help us .. this cover must have weighed a couple of hundred pounds .. was about 6 feet in diameter and a couple of inches thick. Once the cover was off, I was able to drop down into the drain system and was able to find which "tunnel" the ducklings were in. Unfortunately, the opening of the tunnel was too small for me to get into and the ducklings were too far back to reach.

After much head scratching and wondering what to do, the grandmother offered to have her grandson crawl into the tunnel and try to shoo the ducklings out. I first said, "No way, it's too dangerous for him .. what if he gets stuck?". Grandma said, well we'll tie a long length of high strength nylon clothesline to him and pull him out if we have to. After more waffling on my behalf, this is what we did. We got the kid tethered up, took off another manhole cover behind the ducklings and stuck a long handled net down to block that escape route. 

The grandson turned out to be a real trooper .. he slithered into the tunnel and started shooing out the ducklings which I caught as they came barreling out of the tunnel. There were thirteen ducklings in all, and we got twelve of them. The last one died way at the back of the tunnel where it couldn't be reached. The grandson made it safely out, and though his hands, elbows, and knees were pretty scraped up, he was fine.

We then got the maintenance man and insisted that he cover the opening to the drain system with wire so the water could go through but no ducklings could be lost again.

This whole rescue took about six hours, and I was sore and hurting for days after, but it was all well worth the effort.

In hindsight, what we did was really very dangerous for the young boy and for myself, and we were very fortunate to have rescued the ducklings with little harm to the humans involved.

Terry


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## ZigZagMarquis (Aug 31, 2004)

TAWhatley said:


> According to the Home Depot folks this little one wasn't scared at all .. rather it was scaring the employees and customers <LOL>!


Grown up people afraid of a squeaker...   

That is funny!!!

I mean, they're all bark and no bite... squeakers that is...


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Wow! Terry, when you focus on something, you keep going till you find a way to succeed. Way to go!!! So nice to know there are such great people out there!


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Terry, 

Holy cow, the lengths and things you had to do to get those ducklings out was nothing short of heroic! LOL. You are quite the adventurer!!!! Perhaps even the "Lara Croft" of animal rescue 

Seriously though, that was pretty dangerous all around. BE CAREFUL on these missions of mercy, would ya? LOL

Great story, thanks for sharing it


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Hi Terry,

Think maybe you should try and sell the rights to a serial T.V. program on the trials and tribulations of a rehabber. I'm sure you and others could seriously use the proceeds for your on-going endeavors! You were so lucky to have the support of this Grandma & her grandson, and I'm so glad you did!!!
And without the the attention you fixed on the storm drain itself, it would have been the source of future problems, so efforts paid off to have Maintenance do what was needed to make things safe for all. Great work, tedious and dangerous work, and I'm sure only intrinsical rewards were involved.

fp


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

*A Tv*

special highlighting the adventures of a rehabber. People LOVE stories about animals! 

Actually, have you considered writing a book about your adventures? Kids would love it - teachers could use it - and even adults would buy (especially me!)  Proceeds could benefit your organization(s)...


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Terry, 


Wow...great Duckling rescue!


Hooray Terry!!!!

The Book idea is a good one!


I would LOVE an Autographed copy in fact!


Phil
Las Vegas


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## alaska (Mar 17, 2005)

Hi Terry,
Great stories about your resue efforts for both the pigeon and ducklings!!
Your pigeon rescue story reminds me of when Cecil came to me.
It was mid summer and I kept hearing stories from my other half (who is a store manager) about a pigeon that would walk into the store at about 9am and spend the whole day flittering and pecking around the pet food isle. Then as evening approached and it cooled down outside, this pigeon would casually stroll back outside for the night...the next day around 9am ...same thing again.
Well this went on for about a month, until one day I received a call saying that the area manager had noticed the pigeon...and had called an exterminator to come and kill the pigeon!!
Needless to say I was there within the half hour catching the pigeon and bringing him home with me.
The store was in a place called Cecil Hills, so this pigeon became Cecil.....and alas my pigeon days began 
Perhaps your pigeon too was looking for a nice sheltered place to stay.
He is an absolute stunner!!

Regards
Alaska


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

*Y'know*

it just dawned on me that there are soooo many GREAT pigeon stories on this site. NOT ONLY could books be written by individuals who have LOTS of pigeon adventure stories, but also a book(s) with stories collected from site members.

Anyone have ties with a book publisher and knowledge of doing this type of project??? Getting the stories would be a piece of cake and there would be enough to fill a book or two - possibly titled something like *"Personal Pigeon Stories From Near and Far."*


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks everyone for all your kind comments and interest in some of these crazy rescue stories. 

Another quick one for you .. I was hired by the City of Fullerton to rescue some 200 domestic ducks and geese from Laguna Lake Park due to draining, dredging, and completely overhauling the lake and water system there. We got delayed for about a year due to the Exotic Newcastle Disease outbreak here and had to really hustle to get all the birds out before the lake was completely drained. 

On one of the very last rescue roundups my young friend, Anita, who probably weighs 85 pounds soaking wet and who is not quite 5 feet tall was way out in what remained of the water and up to her knees in muck trying to herd in the last recalcitrant ducks. We were successful in getting the last of the waterfowl but were shocked to see this news story a few days later: http://www.tortoise.org/orangecounty/news.html Be sure to look at the pictures (link on the bottom of the page).

Anita was in the water with this massive snapping turtle still somewhere in the murky depths of the lake! Old Bob could have easily taken a leg or an arm off should he and Anita have collided.

Very scary!

Terry


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Whew, your friend Anita was really lucky that day. 

Maggie


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Yikes, that _was one close call !!!_ Glad you're both around in whole to tell the story.

fp


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Oh my...!

So, did he get to be put in the petting-zoo at Knotts Berry Farm then? 

He'd provide many memorable moments for young and old, I am sure..!

So glad your friend did not bump his nose with her ankle...! 

It's a good thing Alligator Sanpping Turtles do not need to have their throats inspected for Canker...it would be challengeing to do...!


Phil
Las Vegas


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## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

Way to go! That is a cute story and a very lucky baby to have you find it. Lets face it birds can do the darness things. For instance I had a sparrow when I lived in Colorado and he just wouldn't leave after I rehabbed him I ended up keeping him and this bird over his 4 1/2 years was so funny. He learned 25 different songs, chased his tail in his fake nest, loved to be a gymnist, so friendly and cute. I miss the little guy I named him Peep peep. When I first found him he was smaller than a spool of thread. Sorry for getting side tracked there, all stems back to them do the darness things.

Naturegirl


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

pdpbison said:


> So, did he get to be put in the petting-zoo at Knotts Berry Farm then?
> 
> He'd provide many memorable moments for young and old, I am sure..!


Old Bob is either still at the Fullerton Arboretum or is being housed and cared for by the local turtle/tortoise club. There was some discussion about shipping him back East somewhere, but I think that got nipped in the bud. Apparently this type of turtle is not native to California and some thought he would be better off being sent back to his native territory. After living in Southern California for many decades, I figure he's earned the right to stay here.

Terry


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