Barbara Booth: She was a lot of fun. She shared everything with me, really. Yeah, she was just generally like another small child. Paloma was a beautiful white dove. She actually wandered past my door when I lived in Eton. Nobody claimed her, so I took her in. And that was the beginning of 14 years she stayed with me.
Peter Barr, ABC: Paloma and Barbara Booth did everything together.
Barbara Booth: People would come over and play Scrabble and she'd be flying around. She'd sit up there and watch us all. She'd be naughty. She'd come and pinch everything off my, off my desk and my computer. She'd take all the paper clips and then pretend that she was building a nest. And I'd go chasing after her and she'd fly to the top of the air conditioner or somewhere where I couldn't catch her. And she'd hide behind a box or something up there, just like a naughty child would hide in the unit. She came with me everywhere I went. We even came across an olive oil plane together. So she was in the back of the car. There was a cage and I'd take her out at every motel I went to and put her in the cage and cover her up, tell her not to go cuckoo-caroo. And so she'd be very good.
Peter Barr, ABC: The two lived in harmony for years, but Paloma still made time to catch up with her feathery friends too.
Barbara Booth: That was the only time she'd be in a cage so that she could eat with them. So I'd set up food for them outside the cage and for her inside. And they'd meet out there and have a little chat in the morning.
Peter Barr, ABC: That's where she met fellow wild bird, Pierre.
Barbara Booth: He'd come to visit, and he had a turned foot.
Peter Barr, ABC: Pierre was bullied by the other birds, but never Paloma.
Barbara Booth: She was very happy.
Peter Barr, ABC: The beautiful friendship inspired Barbara to write a children's book about pets. But from Paloma's perspective,
Barbara Booth: “I am not a wild dove. I'm a pet like your dog or cat. I only fly inside our apartment, but I still fly like a jet plane. You may not even see me, just feel a whoosh near your door as I zoom by. I have to be careful that I don't knock things over like a vase or lamp. I get upset when I read the cooking pages in the paper. No bird should end up in a pie.”
She was very happy the way she lived, and she explains that in her story, living as a domestic pet, you can still have a wonderful life.
