Yet Another Hoarding Crisis

I've seen too many of these notices on Facebook lately -- another hoard of birds locked up in some dark dangerous place, starving, dead, sick, all victims of someone with a serious mental illness.

This time it happened in Connecticut on September 15, 2016. Reports of a foul odor led to the discovery of over 200 animals, over 150 of them parrots. The Rhode Island Parrot Rescue has been working non-stop to get the animals out and into safe, clean environments. Of course they are not prepared for such an emergency; what rescue is? Of course, they need donations and supplies and hands.

http://fox61.com/2016/09/16/hundreds-of-animals-found-in-weston-home/

Where is the line between being mentally and emotionally healthy and being a hoarder who causes pain?

When I fell in love with parrots I thought it would be a fine thing to have one or two of each species, or at least a few more of one species. Lucky for me and for all the parrots I will never have, common sense reared its head to remind me that I have limited space, a low tolerance for noise, a job I had to pay attention to, a social life, and not nearly enough money to feed and care for more parrots.

Even though there are hoarders are both sides of my family, I have managed to keep it at bay, though it isn't always easy.

But what of those who can't keep it at bay, those who know things are out of control but continue to take in more and more and more? I don't know the statistics, but I think most animal hoarders know they have too many animals and that they cannot care for them. What of their friends and neighbors who suspect a problem -- how do they broach the subject with alienating the hoarder or losing contact altogether?

I don't think I know any animal hoarders -- or rather, I've never seen evidence of animal hoarding. Do you know an animal hoarder? Have you reported them and how did it turn out? If you didn't report them, were you able to help the animals?

Unanimous Decision About Kale

We have a lot of farmers' markets here and throughout the state, so there's always something fresh and delicious to choose from nearly any day of the week.

I keep seeing pictures on Facebook of happy little birds chomping away on clumps of kale and lettuce and other various greens, so I decided I should give my birds some, too. I stopped by one of the stalls that offered only the finest organic vegetables. I at least knew better than to buy one of their big bags of kale or collard greens because if the birds didn't like them I wouldn't eat them.

So I asked as politely as possible if I could buy just a small handful of kale and collard greens. "Just to see if my birds like them," I explained.

"Your birds eat collard greens?" the staff person seemed incredulous.

"Well," I said, "it's worth a try."

She let me pick out a few leaves but refused my money.

"If they like it, you can buy a bag next week," she told me and hurried away to help the next customer, who probably had a more reasonable request.

I took the greens home and washed and drained them. I used an old wooden clothes pin to attach one leaf of kale and one leaf of collard greens to each cage. The birds eyed this new development with much suspicion, so I told them it was a treat.

I had tried giving the cockatiels a shallow bowl of water last week with some fresh spinach in it to bathe in, but they were having none of it.

Then I went off to do non-avian chores, certain the leaves would be thoroughly chewed up and eaten within minutes.

About ten minutes later I stopped by the cages. Cheb and Flash had pulled down both the kale and collard greens, leaving the clothes pin intact. They  were stomping on the leaves, perhaps thinking they were area rugs for their cage. I did not see any beak marks.

Charli, on the other hand, had not pulled down either leaf, but had clearly chewed some holes in the collard greens leaf.  Big holes.

In this video (I apologize for the poor quality) she is hanging upside down, performing one of her favorite acts -- making a hole in something then using her beak to make the hole bigger and bigger. I suppose it must feel good to her beak. I learned long ago not to let her get started on any of my favorite tee-shirts. (The leaf looks brown in the video, but it was as green as the rest of it in real life.)

I may or may not give it another try this weekend, maybe presenting the leaves in a different shape (chopped up).

Either way, I suspect I won't be able to post cute pictures of my birds wrestling healthy green plants into their little beaks anytime soon.

The Beloved Parrot is coming back!

It feels like forever since I've updated this blog, but that's going to change soon.

I'm moving things to Word Press and writing some new posts -- just as soon as I get the details worked out I plan to publish on a regular basis. I'll be opening up comments and inviting other bloggers to post.

Stay tuned!

Cheb stops to admire himself in the mirror on the wall opposite the cage before determining what havoc to wreck on the house today.

Cheb and Toys

Another change Cheb has brought into the house is the debris from chewed up, gnawed on, and broken toy bits.  When I change the cage papers there are the usual feathers and poop and food, plus now the colorful leftovers of toys well loved.