The Aviary Mystery

As you all might have heard by now, I have suffered a great aviary tragedy. Something, or someone, pushed open the bottom part of the aviary door, which resulted in me losing half of my cockatiels. I got two of them back, but my precious speckled opalines and all sorts of fancies are gone forever.

I wondered what could have opened the aviary for a while. I have a large brick at the bottom of the aviary door I placed there due to the gap at the bottom. The gap was caused due to the fact that the wire hook I use to shut the door is at the top and cannot pull the entire door closed. So I put the brick at the bottom to keep the bottom part of the door closed and for extra security. But somehow, something pushed the brick aside, leaving the small gap open. The gap is just-just large enough for a cockatiel to slip through, and so 8 of my precious birds flew the coop.

The aviary before the Great Escape

I figured it was a dog, because a cat couldn’t do that… But after seeing a Maine coon larger than a Yorkie sneak up on my chickens, I knew. I don’t have any proof, no evidence, but I am pretty darn sure it was that Maine coon.

Maine Coon cat

But that’s not all, my dearest neighbor also has an aviary. He has stunning diamond doves and finches of all sorts, and a budgie.

A Diamond Dove

Sadly, the same horror has befallen him. Something burrowed underneath the ground by the side of his aviary, and hence most of his birds flew the coop. But Uncle Danie is sure he knows who or what the culprit is. He has seen a cat hang around his aviary, and he says he has seen it in our garden. Someone has a huge, fat, aggressive Maine coon with no manners. Uncle Danie has seen it stalk around his aviary, he knows who the owner is, and he has confronted the person about it.

Other people with chickens or birds also have complained about the cat, but the owner won’t do anything about it. As any other owner would say, they want photographic evidence of the cats crimes first.

I’m not sure if Maine Coons can burrow under aviaries or push aside bricks anyway, so I am a bit skeptical of this. But they are pretty big and muscly.

However, I am going to get to the bottom of this mystery if its the last thing I do. Until then, the aviary is being fortified and the door hook being replaced.

Please comment your thoughts on what sort of critter the culprit of these aviary disasters could be!