I've posted bits and pieces of this story here and there on FaceBook, but here is a fuller version of one of my theories about Wellie's disappearance.
Many have suggested that she might have gone off with a mate. While I don't know exactly when jays choose a mate, my intuition and observation tell me it isn't now. She is a juvenile; only about 3 months old. Heck, she ain't even all blue yet. Hence, I don't think she's in the market for Mr. Right. Spring people, next spring.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch....
On Monday afternoon this week, as I was taking the dog out for a walk, Sadie ran off to the barn barking at an unfamiliar woman who was standing in the road. I was glad she didn't really seem phased by Sadie's barking. As I approached her to retrieve the dog and say hello, the woman turned and said, in an awed voice, "LOOK at this BIRD!" And, of course, there was Wellie, perched on her hand, being engaging and curious and wonderful in her quintessential scrub jay way.
We chatted for a bit and I told her the story of having found Wellie and fledged her, and how she now lives in the wild but visits us all regularly. This woman was really smitten, exclaiming more than once how much she loved the bird, wanted the bird.
A lot of people get a big kick out of having a wild bird land on them and play with them. Wellie is cute and funny and intensely interested in everything, much like a kitten. With wings. It is a pretty magical experience.
This woman was the first person I walked away from feeling a twinge of worry. I left her there with Wellie, looking back over my shoulder a couple times wondering if I should go back, but telling myself, "no, she wouldn't do that...."
Tuesday, we saw Wellie in all her regularly scheduled activities.
Wednesday, there was not a single trace of the bird. Except later that afternoon, this same woman shows up in my driveway asking about the bird. Hmmmm. She had no business up here. She told me she had tried to find a nearby winery unsuccessfully, and had given up and come here. She again said that if we didn't want the bird, she would love to have her. She told me she has birds at her house: a cockatiel and two parakeets.
She seemed pleasant enough, and at the same time, kind of odd. I was again suspicious, but couldn't quite bring myself to ask her if she had taken the bird. But I did tell her that we hadn't seen the bird all day and that we were worried.
We have walked all around the property in search of a telltale burst of blue feathers or a little dead bird. Neither has been found.
Today, I spoke to my sculptor neighbor. The woman had visited his studio on Monday, so I thought maybe he knew her. He told me that she was also a stranger to him, and moreover, he had become uncomfortable in her presence after 5 minutes. His 3 assistants all agreed that she seemed strange. Initially, her story was that she had run out of gas, or her vehicle was otherwise incapacitated. Or something. Hmmm again. Anyway, my sculptor neighbor said she "asked to buy every thing in the studio, one thing after another," but actually bought nothing. Not that there is really anything "for sale" in his studio; while it is full of fascinating objets, it's a busy workshop readying for a show a month away.
Anyway, in the grip of that unsatisfactory acquisitive episode, Mystery Woman then apparently walked outside and stole my baby corvid. (Objection! Conjecture!)
Luckily, she had left her address and e-mail address at the studio.
Given the outright total disappearance of the bird, I believe she has either been killed by a predator, or is now living with this woman in San Jose.
What would you do???
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