Jennifer McCurdy's adorable aviary
Published:Sunday | September 15, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Jennifer McCurdy has received some of the most titillating birthday presents any woman could possibly get from their husband - a 2008 Mercedes-Benz, a litter of dogs, two rabbits, and jewellery beyond description. But her latest present is by far the most unusual.
For her 47th birthday on August 20, the Montego Bay businesswoman who runs the family-owned Last Resort Detective Agency, asked for an aviary. Her husband's response was a 20 foot long, 10 foot wide and eight foot high walk-in bird cage.
It took her husband, Henry, three days to build the dream cage, which boasts a large ficus branch for the birds to perch and various feeding stations.
But it wasn't an empty aviary. McCurdy also received more than 50 birds, including the adorable Java Finch, the social and affectionate parrot called 'love birds', the talking ring neck cockatiel, an unusual parakeet called 'the budgie' and a host of quails.
"The day after the birds were put in the aviary, the quail laid four eggs," a very happy McCurdy told Outlook.
The mother of four, three sons and a daughter, admits she was never a bird lover, but having tried orchids, poodles, and all different types of pet dogs, including the shih-tzu, as well as rabbits, she wanted something different to care for.
"Pet dogs became toys. Everywhere you walked in downtown Montego Bay, someone was carrying a poodle or a shih-tzu, I was no longer inspired," she confessed.
Today, with her husband off to Norman Manley Law School, a son entering the same institution later this month, and another enrolled at the University of Technology, she told Outlook that her house is literally empty and she has become lonely.
However, whether or not she was lonely, her husband would have had her request granted. "I didn't even consider the request for an aviary a strange one," he told Outlook, adding, "anything she asks for, I try to satisfy, because she is such a very supportive wife". He admits to spoiling her every opportunity he gets.
"While I have been in law school for the last five years, she has been running the security business along with our son, Henry Junior," he stated.
When Jennifer McCurdy gets close to animals, it is very difficult for her to let go once a bond is formed. She remembers returning from a trip overseas only to learn that one of her dogs had died.
"I cried all the way from the airport and was inconsolable," she recalls, adding that her pets become a part of her family.
She admires the intelligence of animals and speaks glowingly of her birds who now know their feeding time, sing beautifully in the mornings, and are now a conversation piece and an attraction to her neighbours and their children who come over to play with the birds.
Living in the quiet residential area of Fairfield Private, just about seven minutes from downtown, Montego Bay, the McCurdys enjoy the luxury of easy access to the city and their quiet, close-knit community.
Photos by Janet Silvera