Bird Snag

This morning, when I went downstairs to feed my two parakeets, I was surprised to find Sofie, the female, clinging to the outside of the cage. Oscar, her mate, was still inside the cage, and all of the cage doors were closed. 
     It takes a moment for one's mind to adjust to a situation such as this while the probabilities and possibilities are sorted through. How did Sofie get out? How long has she been out? And, most pressing: How am I going to get her back in the cage? I imagine that both birds were thinking much the same thing.
     I am not without experience in these situations, so I immediately made sure the cats were elsewhere, closed all connecting doors to the room, and donned my leather gardening gloves. (I've been bitten before by parakeets. They're a little like pit bulls; once they grab a mouthful of flesh, they don't let go.)
     The chase began. Sofie made an exploratory lap around the room, up near the ceiling. I calculated how far I'd have to jump if she passed overhead, and I knew I'd never get my 100-and-many pounds far enough off the floor.
I should mention that hanging adjacent to the birdcage is a 4-foot-long mobile made from fishing tackle: bobbers, trolling lures, and hooks. 
Concerned that the bird would be severely hurt if she became tangled in the mobile, I reached up to detach it from its ceiling hook, just as Sofie made another circle around the room. As she drew near, I tried to intercept her, only to discover that the mobile had snagged me. One of the largest hooks was now embedded in the fabric of my shirtfront. 
     I lunged for Sofie, the mobile jerked me back, lures jangled, and Oscar screeched from his cage in alarm. Despite my entanglement with the mobile, I managed to capture Sofie. As I had anticipated, she clamped down on the thumb of my leather glove. 
     Now, I had a struggling bird in hand, a fishhook deeply embedded in my shirt, and I was out of arm's reach of the birdcage.
     It's not been often in the past few years that I've longed to be married or living with someone again, but this was one of those times. It's not often that I've had to remove my clothing using only my teeth, without stabbing myself in the eye with a fishhook, but this was one of those times. Somehow, I managed.

     Sofie is safely back in the cage with Oscar. I'm going back to bed for a while.