Mary Brown's staff skip deep fryer, take lost bird under wing in Stephenville

A lost young pet bird found its way back to its owners in Stephenville recently, all thanks to a little generosity and a lot of grease from the staff of the local Mary Brown's.

The little starling came into Estrellita Montejo and Les Hynes' lives about two months ago, via the dairy farm in St. David's where Montejo works.

"This little guy was found on the floor," said Hynes. "The bird was no more than eight or nine days old, we figure."

An avid animal lover — who admits she'd rather shoo ants out her door than squish them — Montejo brought Li'l Les home, nursed it, and was teaching it to fly in their yard when tragedy struck.

"The bird got spooked by a motorbike and some other noises, and basically flew over the hedge and kind of disappeared," said Hynes.

The disappearance devastated the couple.

"I was very, very sad. I couldn't sleep well," said Montejo.

A deep fried friendship

Luckily, a few days later pictures surfaced on social media of Li'l Les perched on someone's hand, getting friendly with a stranger in Stephenville. Thanks to that tip, the couple were able track their pet down: at the local Mary Brown's.

"They were looking after it, feeding it — he loves french fries — they were giving him water," said Hynes.

"And they kind of turned him into a cannibal, they were feeding him chicken," he laughed, adding Li'l Les had taken to roosting on top of the restaurant.

Fortunately, Li'l Les didn't end up in the deep fryer himself, perhaps a first in the fast food chain's history.

"There were no miniature snack packs, that's for sure," joked Hynes.

The couple collected Li'l Les from the shop, thanked the staff, and brought the starling home to settle back into the family.

The two say the bird seems to have survived unscathed, although there's no word on whether Li'l Les may now need to lose a few grams after its deep fried diet.