Jennifer Watterson knew immediately what she was going to name the newest member of the family.

“Her coloring is that of a mango,” said Watterson. “Her belly has the reddish and yellow color that fades into green. She just reminded me of a mango, so that’s what we named her.”

Mango is a pineapple green cheek conure, a breed of birds originally from South America, that has been missing from her home in Cabot for over a month. After Mango escaped through an open door, Watterson is running out of options for finding her missing pet. She has been posting online and even resorted to searching on foot for Mango.

“I’m kind of flying in the dark,” Watterson said. “People have told me that they have found their birds 8 to 10 miles away. I have driven down 356, different places to park, taking my bike on the local trails, calling for and looking for and posting online.”

Each year, about 10 million pets are lost in the United States, according to the American Humane Society. While not every pet is reunited with their family, there are steps that can be taken to prevent and to improve the chances of a reunion.

Getting the word out is one of the first things a pet owner should do after realizing their pet is missing, suggests the director of the Armstrong County animal shelter Orphans of the Storm, Bethann Galbraith.

“For pets in general, I would certainly call all the local animal shelters,” Galbraith said. “I would call veterinarian clinics and pet stores if there are any in the area. I would make up flyers and send them to the offices of veterinarians, shelters. Pet stores will sometimes list them.”

Mango was a gift to Watterson in 2020 from her former fiancé. Watterson likens her pet bird to a toddler.

“Mango is needy; she always wants to be on someone,” Watterson said. “She held grudges if you didn’t give her enough attention. She would be mad at you for the whole day, but once you develop that bond with her, she was very loving.”

Over 3.5 million homes in the United States have domestic birds as pets, according to the American Veterinarian Medical Association.

A 2021 study from the National Library of Medicine states that pet birds can be a major source of comfort to owners, with those owners showing improvements in mental and physical health, including a reduction in blood pressure and depression.

“She is playful,” said Watterson, who said she was given Mango during a challenging time in her life. “She liked to be babied. When she was tired, she wanted me to hold her in my hand.”

Galbraith suggests using social media as a way to getting the word out about a missing pet.

“Our shelter doesn’t see birds, but when we get a missing bird listing, we get the word out and refer them to a proper agency,” Galbraith said. “If they have their own social media, I would suggest getting their animal pictures on as many sites as possible so it reaches as many people as possible.”

Watterson said she was unable to start her search until about a month after Mango went missing.

“My ex-finance had two daughters, the little one really developed a bond with Mango. They took Mango. I took everything I had to them. Mango for the last year has been living with them,” she said.

She had only recently found out of her bird’s escape. She then took to social media to post about her missing pet and also listed Mango as missing on pawmaw.com, a website where owners can post about their missing animals.

Mango is not the only bird in Butler county that took flight from their homes.

Fenelton resident Amanda Crawford’s bird, Jersey, recently flew the coop.

“We had her on the deck in the cage listening to music; she likes music,” Crawford said. “She heard a loud noise in the distance, like a gun shot and busted through the cage. It was shut, but the latch wasn’t that strong.”

Jersey, a budgie parakeet, was not used to flying outside her cage, but that day, Crawford watched Jersey take off and fly over her neighbor’s garage.

Wanting to get the word out as quickly as possible, Crawford posted on her Facebook site.

“It probably got over 100 shares in the first day,” Crawford said. “Some people gave me ideas. I put her cage on the deck in case she came back.”

Fortunately for the Crawford family, social media worked. Within a few days, a concerned citizen tagged Crawford in Facebook post.

“Anyone in the Worthington area lose a white Parakeet with a light blue belly?” Kathy Peat asked in a Facebook post. “And no I haven’t been drinking lol. I’m at my sisters and she saw it, and I went outside to look for it, but it wasn’t there.”

Crawford received several responses and was able to confirm that Jersey was about 8 miles away from her home.

Locating Jersey was just half the battle; with her new taste of freedom, capturing the bird would come with its own set of challenges.

“I took her cage over, and I kind of hung it in the tree, and probably within four or five hours she went in,” Crawford said.

However, when Crawford pulled into the driveway, Jersey flew away.

Later that evening Jersey finally decided to come home.

“It was probably six hours later,” Crawford said. “She flew back in, around 6 o’clock.”

Galbraith said that one way to prevent losing a family pet is to take preemptive measures.

“Any animals that can be microchipped, pet owners should look into it,” Galbraith said. “So if they are found, that is a way the pet can be identified. I think there a lot of animals that went missing that would be found if they were microchipped.”

She also believes there is a lot of misinformation when it comes to microchipping a pet.

“There other options; microchipping doesn’t have to be for just tracking,” Galbraith said. “It is not expensive, and it is given the same way a vaccination. It helps so many people.”

After Jersey’s six day, 8-mile adventure, she was finally home. Crawford said she believes that Jersey’s adventure may have led to some spiritual growth for the parakeet.

“She is fine; she is back into her cage, but you can tell she’s different now,” Crawford said. “She’s very upbeat now. She thinks she’s the queen bird now; she lets you know who is boss. She’s outgoing. She must have been tested from other birds and had to fend for herself.”

When a pet goes missing, both Galbraith and Crawford suggest not giving up.

“Don’t lose hope; everyone is attached to their pet,” Crawford said. “They are a part of the family. Keep trying; don’t give up on them.”

And despite so much time passing, Watterson has not given up hope, and offers some insight into how someone might recognize Mango.

“Mango, sometimes her little squall like she’s saying “beep beep,” keep your ears open to that,” Watterson said. “She likes oranges; she likes freeze dried chili peppers.”

If someone does see Mango, contact Watterson through Facebook or call 724-256-6036.