How did you & Comet come to be together?
My daughter who has Autism Spectrum Disorder had been wanting a companion to help with her Anxiety. She did lots of research and then one day just after Christmas she found Comet in a pet store in 2016 and fell in love with her.
How you discovered Comet was missing?
Our 3x cockatiels were having some out of the cage time, Comet (our female) and Nico & Pikachu (our boys). They were in the other room so I went to slip outside via the side door and just as I opened it Comet flew round the corner and I couldn't quite get the door closed quickly enough.
What were your first thoughts?
Panick... Then trying to get her to come back as she circled.
After that failed and I lost sight of her altogether I got in the car to do a grid search for an hour calling out.
After that I came home and put her cage outside, recorded my daughter whistling and calling for 2 mins (leaving gaps to hear any birdy responses), so I could play that on repeat with a speaker.
Then I created a flyer with all the information on it and began posting it all over Facebook and listing her as lost on places like Lost Pet Finders NZ.
Once that was done I printed lost bird posters and dropped them off to all dairies, supermarkets, cafe's etc in the local and wider area.
I went outside every morning before sun rise and played the recording when the birds began waking up and did the reverse each night until it was dark.
I also everyday drove around different areas in my location each day to play the recording to see if I could find her.
The most important thing I did was to stay visible on Facebook posting updates regularly and this was finally how we were reunited. Because someone's daughter in Wellington saw our post with the flyer on Facebook and called her dad here in Taupo who had found a bird and he returned it to us.
Describe your emotional journey.
There were lots of tears most mornings and evenings, but I made myself stay positive and I wasn't going to give up.
Describe the support you received from the local community.
Absolutely fantastic! I made sure to connect with people and ask for their help. I wanted each and every one of them to want to find our girl Comet and know if we found her it was (or would be) because of there help.
In the end, what was it that brought Comet home?
A white Tesler Car... Lol
But in all seriousness it was a Facebook post that was shared in a group that had nothing to do with lost pets.
I think it was because I shared my post in every group I am a member of and asked everyone in each of those groups sharing it and so forth. So word spread in days.
What advice would you give to someone in the same situation?
1. DO NOT GIVE UP! You are of no use to your lost Pet if you give up.
2. Create a clear concise poster with ALL important contact information on it and only 1x main clear photo. Have JPEG and PDF copies of the poster.
3. Create a post on Facebook, then share 'that post'... This is really important because by doing it this way you can update the post and it will update everywhere you have 'shared' it.
Do not copy and paste a blurb into a post in each group, otherwise you end up having hundreds of posts to update.
4. Print out A4 posters and hand deliver them to all high traffic places in your areas, e.g. Dairy's, supermarkets, Cafe's, even schools etc. Always tell them your story BEFORE asking them if they would mind displaying one of your posters, always have tape and bluetac with you as it then saves them having to look for some to put your poster up.
Don't email your posters to businesses asking them to print it out and display it..... Most are busy and just won't have the time to get around to doing it.
Here is the post I shared on Facebook of how Comet came home.
Comet is Home - 19/08/2023
I would like to thank Mark from Kirk Automotive TAUPO NZ for unexpectedly turning up this morning with the best surprise ever!
Mark heard Comet calling out on Thursday afternoon, so called out to her and she flew down to him, he was having fish and chips in his workshop so she helped herself to some food and water. He's taken wonderful care of her and his daughter (who lives in Wellington) messaged him at 4.30am this morning after seeing one of our Facebook posts, and said it might be our bird.
TJ and I would like to Thank you all very much, we are so grateful to everyone who helped, shared and followed our posts, getting the message out there about Comet. If that hadn't happened she may never have been found.
