Joy and Tears

This has been a very difficult season for me. I wrote before that we said goodbye to our oldest lovebird, Piro. Since then we also lost Fletch, one of our oldest cockatiels. When you lose an older bird, one who has been acting sleepy and quiet recently, you are more prepared. The loss still hurts, but solace might be found in the fact the sweet little one is no longer suffering. Even if not sick or injured, old age brings some pain with it. (Warning — the last photo may be disturbing to some people)

Mayn Street

If you lived with me, you would know that anything you said could and probably would end up in something I write. A novel, a short story, a blog post, anything. My husband made a bad pun about my Amazon parrot being on Mayn Street, and I knew I had to use that.

PWS: Parrot Withdrawal Syndrome

As a writer, I had a chance to go away for a weekend and be with other writers in an environment of learning and celebrating achievements. I had a great time, made new friends, visited with people I knew, and in general focused on writing as a craft. I had a great time.

I Hate Mice

I killed a mouse, and I like it. No, I am not just talking about with a trap or bait, although I have some pretty good numbers in those categories. I actually took a rusty knife and stabbed a mouse in my aviary. They are pretty small, and he bled out in a couple minutes. Then I had to call my husband to figure out how to get the corpse out of the gap between the aviary wire and the corrugated metal wall that makes up the roof and two sides of the structure. His solution: he pulled the mouse through the wire. That had never occurred to me.

Hold the Phone! Stop the Presses! Somebody Bring Darwin Back to Life!

Lorikeets are beautiful parrots from certain islands in the near vicinity of Australia. They have evolved special tongues for slurping up nectar from flowers. They come in a bunch of colors and flock in huge groups mostly. And they DO NOT EAT MEAT!

Or, do they? Photos are showing up from backyard feeding stations in Brisbane showing Lorys eating MEAT put out for kookaburras and other carnivorous birds. How do they manage when they are evolutionally designed for liquid sugar only?

Spring Chickens

I don’t know if this needs to be said to my audience, but I would rather say it needlessly than ignore the issue. Holidays in households that have children, especially households that have children, sometimes cause an animal to be purchased and brought into the home. I know from experience that these animals have a very short life span on the average.

Parrots in the Wild

Much as I love the Monty Python’s Flying Circus skit about the dead parrot, there are no Norwegian Blues. At least, not any more. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-566600/Norwegian-Blue-parrot-really-DID-exist–stiff-bereft-life-ex-parrots.html Currently, some parrots do like cooler weather, yes, and live in snowy climates, but they are the odd ducks, so to speak. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea 

Happy Wing

Surely you’ve experienced Steve Martin’s Happy Feet routine, or seen either of the animated movies of the same name. For parrots, Happy Wings means uncontrolled flapping without actually flying. I notice my birds tend to get a good case of Happy Wings now and again. It’s an excellent way to get attention.

The Dangers of Aviculture

My hands and arms are covered in scratches. My neck is scabbed over. My legs are bruised and my toenails black. All because of my birds. More or less.

I tried to get a lot done at one time last Friday as I was going out of town for the weekend. I needed a clean dish, so I reached into a plastic tub. I didn’t bother to pull the tub off the shelf and take the lid off all the way. No, I unsnapped one side of the lid and reached in. On the way out, something on the lid scratched me across my forearm. Lovely.