A woman who lives on a farm in Canada has showed off her ultra-affectionate pet crow Frankie, who she’s been taking care of since he was a baby.
Romina, who declined to give her last name, has been taking care of little Frankie since she found him inside his nest on the side of a busy road after a tornado a couple of months ago in Ontario, Canada, she told DailyMail.com on Thursday.
‘I found him in the middle of the road,’ she said. ‘I thought it was a coffee cup.’
As she rolled her car closer to the little bird, she realized it was an animal and scooped him up and took him home to nurse him back to health – a journey she has documented on her YouTube channel.
In a recent update on Frankie, Romina enjoyed some kisses with her raven as they lounged outside her Canadian country home.
‘He’s actually doing it right now,’ Romina laughed as Frankie’s coos could be heard in the background of the phone call.
Romina, who declined to give her last name, has been taking care of Frankie since she found him on the side of a busy road after a tornado a couple of months ago in Ontario, Canada , she told DailyMail.com on Thursday
‘I found him in the middle of the road,’ she said in a phone interview. ‘I thought it was a coffee cup.’
The ‘imprinted’ bird can be seen in the video gently poking his rescuer’s face as he sits on her shoulder demanding kisses.
She quickly gives him a series of kisses before asking the little bird if he’s satisfied, to which he croaks out what sounds like a ‘no’ and nips at her lips until she gives him more.
Throughout several videos, Romina shows how she helped little Frankie grow big and strong and the pair have developed quite the bond – so much so that she’s afraid he won’t leave by winter.
‘He’ll have to come in the house, but that’s a last resort,’ she told DailyMail.com.
But despite their deep bond, Romina doesn’t keep any of her rescues – although they do come to visit her in the springtime.
‘The first time, I didn’t expect them to come back,’ she recalled.
She recognized one of her rescues, Waco, had returned because he was missing a feather and the bird flying around her backyard had the same distinction. She didn’t believe it until the bird swooped up to her shoulder.
The 50-year-old Ontarian has been rescuing birds for several years now and is hoping to become a wildlife rehabilitator full-time in the next five years
‘Another bird wouldn’t do that,’ she said.
The 50-year-old Ontarian has been rescuing birds for several years now and is hoping to become a wildlife rehabilitator full-time in the next five years.
Romina, who works as a house cleaner, started her YouTube in 2014 as a way for her two children, now both adults, to see her life after she’s gone.
‘I just wanted something for my kids to see when I’m not here,’ she said.
And she quickly found that others liked her silly pets too, especially her geese and Frankie.
‘Each of my animals don’t act like animals, they act like me,’ she laughed.
Her channel has reached nearly 2,400 subscribers and she’s hoping to monetize the channel to help pursue her dreams of becoming a wildlife rehabilitator – a hobby that is currently coming out of her own pocket.
Her interest in animals go as far back as when she was six years old and a wildlife rehabilitator came to speak at her school. ‘I just thought that was the most amazing thing,’ she told DailyMail.com
She also wants to fix the barn on her property to give all the animals she rescues a place to stay and wishes to have an on-call vet, but she realizes that her dreams won’t happen anytime soon.
‘In the next five years,’ she hopes.
Her interest in animals go as far back as when she was six years old and a woman came to speak at her school.
The woman was a wildlife rehabilitator and spoke about how she took care of bears and deer – a feat Romina would like to follow – and it captured the little girl’s attention for a lifetime.
‘I just thought that was the most amazing thing,’ she told DailyMail.com.