The owners of Peggy, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Juliette Wells and Reese Mortensen, found a baby magpie in the park that was abandoned by her parents. After seeing the state of the baby, they decided to take her home and feed her.
However, things went a bit different, and the little magpie became the boss of the house in one day, and has stayed a lot longer than the owners first planned.
But, this wasn’t the only surprise.
From Scaring To Caring
At first, Reese and Juliette noticed that their four-legged buddy wasn’t that welcoming of the little bird, and was even a bit scared of her as well, especially of her beak, which could pinch quite a lot for a baby birdie.
However, it didn’t take long for Peggy to realize that the new tenant needed help – she understood the assignment so well that she even started producing her milk and turning into a real “birdog” mama. Juliette explained this phenomenon in a video from 7NEWS Australia:
“Two weeks later, Peggy was producing milk for this baby magpie, and the magpie was drinking the milk.”
Peggy’s owner was a bit worried about this, and took the doggo to the vet, thinking that she might be pregnant.
However, the truth was that Peggy experienced a “phantom pregnancy” – a condition in which the female dog acts pregnant, although she’s not. Such occurrences might even result in lactation, which is why this pooch started producing milk. [1]
Juliette described their bond as a mother-daughter relationship as Peggy became quite protective and followed Molly everywhere.
Friends For Life
These two buddies formed a bond so strong that they do almost everything together. According to Juliette, they snuggle and cuddle together all the time.
Peggy loves spending time outside, just sitting on the terrace, enjoying the view and the birds singing. Molly got used to this habit as well, which is why it became a common sight to see them together, just soaking up the sun for hours and relaxing.
Another example of Peggy’s affection and protectiveness is the way she behaves towards Molly after going to the dog park.
Juliette told the story of Peggy and her big Greyhound friend from the dog park with whom she loves to tumble, roll, and play.
Although she loves to play a bit “harsh” with her four-legged buddy, as soon as she comes home, Peggy turns into a gentle pooch again so she doesn’t hurt her little feathered friend.
Five Little Peggies Running Round The House
Although Peggy already had her little baby/friend, it was time for her to become a mother of her own litter, as her owners always had in plan.
Juliette and Reese were in fear of Molly’s reaction and jealousy, which might appear as she wasn’t Peggy’s main focus of attention anymore, even though they still spent a lot of time together.
But, Molly seemed to understand in her own way what was going on, and instead of tantrums, she shared her love for Peggy with all of her pups.
Molly started playing with the puppies the same way she did with Peggy, and they basically became a big and happy family.
Free As A Bird
As a bird baby, Molly had a little identity crisis, as she behaved more like a dog than a magpie.
However, Peggy’s owners decided it was for the best to let Molly be a wild bird and find her own flock of birds, as they never intended to keep her as a pet in the first place.
It didn’t take long before the magpie started flying around, so she now occasionally visits her furry friend.
“We’d love her to live here forever, but we also want her to have her own family.”
Juliette’s words confirmed that their intention was never to cage Molly and deny her the right to start her own magpie family.
Oh, What A Mistake Did We Make
We were just as baffled as Peggy’s owners to discover that Molly was actually a male bird. They explained in their Instagram post that it took a lot of time to recognize that their beloved magpie was actually a “he”:
“As time went by, Molly lost all of his feathers to make room for new ones, & when the new ones were appearing, we started to question whether Molly was, in fact, a boy. Before our eyes, Molly transformed into a beautiful Magpie Prince. The back of Molly’s neck was completely white and his beak was long, which are the signs of a male Magpie […]”
Did this change anything? Definitely not. This revelation didn’t even change Molly’s name, as everyone had already gotten used to it.
Did we want to change the pronoun in the article? No way – we want you to have the same face we had when we discovered Molly’s gender.
Helping Community
The story of the unusual relationship went viral quickly, especially during the time of the unfortunate COVID lockdowns.
As Juliette mentioned in her interview for 7News Australia, a lot of people had reached out to them on social media to share positive energy that these two animal buddies brought into homes around the world.
Watching them play and spend time together brought smiles to people from different countries who were going through difficult times during the pandemic.
These two pals aren’t even aware of the joy they bring to the world, and we hope they will remain doing so in the future as well.
If you’re in need of positive energy as well, I’m sure you’ll have a great time watching this adorable video below:
Reference:
1. The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA). “Phantom Pregnancy in Dogs.” Retrieved March 23, 2023 from https://www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-help-and-advice/pet-health-hub/conditions/phantom-pregnancy-in-dogs