A young magpie that had been abandoned by its parents was discovered in the park by Juliette Wells and Reese Mortensen, the owners of Peggy, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. They made the decision to bring the infant home and nurse her after observing her condition.
But things didn’t go as planned, and the little magpie quickly assumed control of the home and remained far longer than the owners had anticipated.
It wasn’t the only surprise, though.
From Fear To Concern
Reese and Juliette first saw that their four-legged friend wasn’t very hospitable to the small bird and was even a little afraid of her, particularly because of her beak, which could pinch a newborn birdie quite a bit.
But Peggy quickly realized that the new renter required assistance; in fact, she grasped the task so well that she began to produce milk and became a true “birdog” mom. This occurrence was described by Juliette in a 7NEWS Australia video:
“After two weeks, Peggy was nursing this baby magpie and the bird was consuming the milk.”
Because of her concern that Peggy could be pregnant, Peggy’s owner took her to the veterinarian.
In actuality, though, Peggy had what is known as a “phantom pregnancy,” a disease in which a female dog acts pregnant even if she is not. These kinds of things might even cause lactation, which is how this dog began to produce milk.
Peggy became very protective of Molly and followed her everywhere, which is how Juliette defined their connection as that of a mother and daughter.
Lifelong Friends
These two friends have forged such a close relationship that they do practically everything together. Juliette said that they constantly hug and snuggle close to one another.
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