By Joel van der Veen

CRAIK — For Tim and Pearl Unger, a rescue mission turned into an extended visit with a new feathered friend.

The Ungers, who live in the Eco-Village east of Craik, took on the role of pigeon protectors over the summer, welcoming “Pedro” into their home.

Late this past spring, two sickly, orphaned pigeons were discovered in an old semi trailer at the north yard of Titan Clean Energy Projects, where Tim works.

One of the birds quickly died, but Tim decided to bring the second one home and attempt to nurse him back to health.

“For Tim there was no real hesitation,” said Pearl, who herself was a little more reluctant. “This bird needed our help to survive and so we needed to do what we could.”

The Ungers began feeding the pigeon JuicePlus Complete shakes mixed with water, using a syringe. He responded well to this and before long, he was beginning to thrive.

Pearl said they named him Pedro, as his plumage seemed to indicate a male bird. (Others, convinced this was a female bird, chose to call her Lola.)

Next, they set up a food and water station in the wagon in their yard.

Once he was well enough, Pedro spent the nights outside, but was welcome inside the house during the day.

His favourite place to sit was on someone’s shoulder or head. Later, he’d ride on the top of vehicles whenever someone drove out of the yard.

Soon, he was comfortable hanging around with whoever dropped by, and vice versa.

“There wasn’t a single negative comment from anyone,” Pearl said.

Pedro and the Ungers’ dogs got quite used to each other, leading to some amusing moments.

Over the summer, the pigeon gained and lost multiple sets of feathers — “each more beautiful than the last,” Pearl said.

Gradually, the Ungers noticed Pedro was becoming more aggressive and harder to handle.

“When (he was) let in, it was all about aggressively fluffing and dancing and making an interesting sequence of sounds,” Pearl recalled.

Later, he would sometimes peck and pull at people’s skin.

The Ungers would shoo him away when he got aggressive, but by late August, Pearl said, this behaviour was wearing thin.

Last week, they released him near Holdfast, on a rural property with lots of other pigeons nearby.

Pearl said they were missing him before long, but knew it was the right thing to do.

“Ultimately we know that our Lord cares for our pigeon and we can’t worry or be anxious about where he is,” she said, adding, “We do miss him.”