Kookaburra

Do you remember singing this song in grade school? I do. You can go here to sing along.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That's not a monkey that's me

Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail
Gets a boo-boo in his tail
Cry, Kookaburra! Cry, kookaburra!
Oh how life can be!

Written by Marion Sinclair

What made me start humming this song? I'm glad you asked. You did ask, didn't you?

Yesterday, I was doing docent of the day (DOD) duty for a lady who's son is in the hospital. Actually, I need to back up a little. I already explained about DOD in an earlier post, but I neglected to mention that the education animals are housed in a replica of an old ranch house, complete with really high ceilings and exposed rafters. This same ranch house also serves as a classroom.

Now, back to yesterday, another docent was doing an animal presentation for a visiting school class while I did DOD duties. KJ was helping us both. (what a wonderful child) I had finished up when I noticed water, LOTS of water coming out of the front of the kookaburra's enclosure. His enclosure looks like a giant curio cabinet, sort of. Cobber, the kookaburra, had decided to take a bath...a very messy bath. He had splashed nearly all of the water out of his pool of water...apparently I had filled it a little more full than usual. Oh he was happy, fluffing his feathers and preening, while I mopped up water. Once I got the floor clean, I opened his enclosure to replace the sopping wet newspaper. Cobber hopped to a closer perch to watch...and then whoosh, he was over my head and out of there. This class of kids was the 4th class in 2 hours, and I guess Cobber wanted to visit. Cobber flew from rafter to rafter laughing his fool head off, which of course the kids absolutely loved.

After the class was over, the other docent and I tried to catch Cobber with no luck. Cobber would not land on the broom handle we held up, nor was he lured down by a mouse. He just laughed and laughed. I eventually called the education curator and the bird staff. They showed up with a long net and managed to catch Cobber in mid-flight. I was horrified that all this happened, because of ME. The education curator just laughed and said that Cobber has gotten out on everyone, including her. She said some of the docents let Cobber out ON PURPOSE so he can fly around while they're doing DOD. Apparently, you get a few people with brooms to block his flight until he flutters to the ground and then you grab him. I don't think I'll every purposely let Cobber out.

Click here to learn more about the kookaburra and hear its laugh.