I Need a Name!

This pheasant is one of those things I picked up at my mom's house last weekend. He (she?) is a little bedraggled after sitting perched with a metal post sticking in its gullet for 40+ years, but I felt some weird need to rescue the darn thing.

My mom tells stories--and not the good kind that are told for entertainment! I kind of think she believes the stuff she says, and if you question anything, she gets mad. Take the pheasant, for instance. She insisted that my husband wanted it for a friend who collects stuffed birds. Well, it's just easier to go along, so although my husband doesn't have any friends who collect stuffed birds, and he never told my mom he wanted it, the quickest and simplest thing to do was to load it up and bring it home where it's sat on my kitchen table for the past week. I've now moved it to a tall bookshelf/hutch where the cats can't eat it and we can't quite tell how poorly he/she's aged. (Gee, I wonder why the new owners of the mobile home didn't insist on keeping THIS lovely thing?!)

I find I have a bit of attachment to this feathered doodad. In its heyday, it was a majestic looking creature. Kind of like a family pet. As children, none of our pets were around for more than a couple weeks, so this guy was the closest thing we had. (A story for another time.)

Oddly enough, we never named it. I'm kind of thinking that after all these years, the darn thing needs a name. A bit of personality. He/she is awfully stiff and formal, you know? I'm thinking maybe it should be named "Percival," but I'm open to suggestions if you can think of something better. Or do you think something more informal and friendly like "Betty" would be more fitting? Anyone?