Black and white plumage, long legs and a red beak - it's easy to recognize a stork in this description. Such an unusual pet settled with the Kuzmich family in the Lakes. The correspondent of "Perspektivy" found out how the feathered one turned out to be among the pets.
In a masterly way, a stork walks around the garden among the flowers in the courtyard of a residential building. The bird is afraid of strangers, seeing us, immediately runs to the owner. Alexander Kuzmich gently calms the pet and explains: "Alice is still used only to us, hiding from strangers."
For many years, storks have chosen a tree near a local store, every year they arrange a nest there. That's right next to him on August 15 and found a weakened chick.
- Apparently, when the birds were learning to fly, one stork hit somewhere or got caught and fell into the weeds. My friends found him there with a damaged wing, they nursed him for about two weeks. They are summer residents, so they could not keep the bird for the fall, they asked to shelter with us. And how can you refuse here? - Alexander Cheslavovich recalls.
The man arranged a sleeping place for the feathered guest: he made a small pen in the barn with a soft litter and a bowl. When the pet gets hungry, it insistently follows the family members and gently pinches with its beak, as if hinting that it is nearing lunch. Alice eats frozen sprat, but she doesn't mind hunting either. Catches mice, saves the owner's garden from insects and tracks down frogs. Sometimes he even takes a portion of fish from the bowl and carries it to the pond, and from there he catches the prey with his beak. Surprisingly, the stork quickly socialized, got used to people and other pets in the family. He enjoys playing with kittens and is not afraid of dogs at all.
The bird doesn't have a fracture, but it can't fly yet. As the owner notes, Alice definitely has a craving for heaven.
- Sometimes, he sees a school of birds flying by, looks so attentively. He seems to be pining. Then she doesn't eat anything for a couple of hours, she walks around sad, – the owner says.
There is no doubt, if not for the kind people who took the stork under their wing, the bird would not have survived. And now he is gaining strength and slowly learning to fly.
- A stork can live with a person, the main thing is that there must be meat in his diet, - said Elvira Morozevich, head of the poultry department of the Grodno Zoo. – Most likely, even if fully recovered, the stork will settle not far from its owner and will come to visit for a portion of goodies.
By the way, Alexander Kuzmich worked for many years as a huntsman in the Ozersk forestry, so it is not the first time for him to save our younger brothers. For example, he recently freed a baby roe deer entangled in the garbage.
