Calif. man distressed over pet parrot's escape

A California man is worried sick about his pet parrot after the bird flew to the top of a tree and won't come down.

Fitz left home Wednesday night, according to CBS Sacramento.

"It's really frustrating," said Rick Grimmett of Citrus Heights. "He took off out of my garage like a 747."

"It's a horrible thing," said Ray Teel, a friend of Grimmett's.

Grimmett, who says he hasn't caught a wink of sleep since his feathered friend fled, has tried everything to lure Fitz down. The master goldsmith and diamond setter at Kenny G. Jewelers, who even took work off Thursday, wheeled out his cage, peeled bananas, brought his bucket of food out and brought another bird for moral support.

He also called the fire department, who came and shot water up in the tree. But that just spooked the parrot and made him fly to another tree.

"I just hope my son's not watching because I haven't told him," Grimmett, who shares custody of his son 50 percent of the time, told the station. "He's an 8-year-old at school right now. He would just be devastated to know his bird is high up in a tree.

Grimmett said that when he purchased Fritz from a family in Lodi, Calif., last weekend, he was told the parrot's wings were clipped. That was apparently not the case.

The bird switched trees Thursday and remains 35 feet off the ground.