![Lana Caputo holds her pet parrot, Zazoo, after she and Brandon Severns of Signs Galore, Inc. rescued the bird using the SGI bucket truck. "It was something new, something different," Severns said of the rescue. [Tiffani Ridenour | Special to the News Bulletin]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-49877b25-35bf-75ed-e053-0100007f30e0-c826c3ea.jpeg)
CRESTVIEW — A Pennsylvania woman now knows what many out-of-towners before her have learned: that she can depend on the kindness of strangers in Crestview.
Zazoo, Lana Caputo’s Congo African gray parrot, flew away from a Crestview motel in late February but the pair reunited after residents and others rallied to rescue the runaway bird.
"It was a very stressful four days," Caputo said.
Caputo was preparing to leave Crestview about 3 p.m. Feb. 21 when Zazoo, whom she has cared for an estimated 22 years, escaped. She’d removed the perch and opened the cage door to put the perch inside — that's when her bird flew off.
Over the next four days, Caputo searched for Zazoo with help from parrot rescue organizations; she also placed flyers in local businesses.
Throughout the search, she met many people who went out of their way to help.
On Feb. 23, she visited the Goodwill store on Highway 85 to secure permission to place a "missing" flyer. While talking with Goodwill System Manager Mark Walters, she decided to step behind the building and see if the parrot was nearby.
"I called Zazoo's name and (his) answer came. I got so excited!" Caputo said. "I thought he was on the roof of the building. He was that close — I could hear him that plainly."
Caputo asked Walters for a ladder, and he recommended checking with a nearby auto shop. Two men from the shop came over with the ladder to help look for him.
"One guy climbed the ladder to the roof and said he wasn’t up there. I looked all through the bushes and stuff and couldn't see him,” Caputo said. “… I finally saw him in a tree up about 50 feet or more (near a retaining wall) … he was scared to come down. He flew up and he wouldn't fly down. I had to stay until after dark so he would stay there and not fly out."
Caputo said she had to place herself in the same area around 5:30 a.m. the next day, and maintained this schedule the entire time Zazoo was gone.
Goodwill boss Steve Casker recommended contacting Signs Galore Inc. on Hammock Lane; he knew they had a bucket truck she might be able to use to rescue the bird.
At this point, Zazoo had gone without food or water for a few days.
Signs Galore Project Manager Bryan Wibben sent Brandon Severns to Goodwill with the truck.
Severns, a sign fabricator and part-time installation technician, said, "As we approached the parrot it was whistling at us. It was just whistling songs to us, and as we got closer it got upset and went from singing to screeching," Severns said, laughing.
Because Zazoo only flies to Caputo, Severns had to hold onto Caputo as she leaned beyond the retaining wall to get Zazoo, who leaned toward her.
Area employees, and even motel guests, rooted for their reunion as she finally got her bird down from the tree. People, situated all along the fence, watched as she retrieved him, Caputo said.
And now?
The bird is recovering well, his owner said.
"His feet were a little roughed up from the branches up there, and he's a little more quiet than he usually is, but he seems fine," Caputo said.
She is grateful for everyone's assistance with the reunion.
"They were really, really nice,” Caputo said of Crestview residents and those who cheered for her reunion with Zazoo.
“I just can't believe how they came through for me."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'They came through for me'