I sometimes miss my birds

I have a good friend who is a Vet. He has always been into having strange and exotic animals in his office, and on his farm. He has had everything from sugar gliders and coati mundis to camels. He would often keep some of these wonder pets in his office and I got to handle them and watch them. It was fun. I particularly liked the pygmy hedgehogs...too cute. He went through a phase of birds. He started with an amazon parrot. He was very cute, and talked up a storm. He soon got grumpy at all the kids poking at him. Poor boy. Pretty quickly, he added a blue and gold macaw. Technically, that is blue and yellow, but well... Anyway, on my trips to pick up this or that, or bring one of the barn dogs in for shots or whatever, I started talking to the macaw. At first, it was not at all friendly. There was a chair by it's cage, so I would sit and talk. After a while, the bird began to actually listen to me. Then, slowly, it began to be curious enough to actually climb down the cage to come see me. I would scratch it, and talk quietly, and the bird actually started to like me. This went on for about 9 months or so.

I had to bring one of the dogs in for something, and as I was about to leave, Randy asked me if I had ever thought of owning a bird. Well, yes I had. As a kid I had a couple of small birds. I liked them, but we never bonded, and they didn't live very long, so I moved on to various other animals. I have always loved birds. They are just so... other. They are not like other animals as pets. After all, what other pet can actually speak to us in our own language? They are beautiful and fascinating. I told him that I had often wanted one, but I hadn't really thought about it. He told me that he would like to sell the B&G. He would like to sell it to me. I asked him why, and he told me that every time I left his office the bird would scream for hours, and was inconsolable until my next visit! Hmmm, imagine that. I had unknowingly managed to bond with this big old bird, and it really didn't want to have anything to do with Randy any more. I sort of felt awful about it really. I had no idea that these birds would actually bond with a human. The person becomes the mate, and they can get so attached that they will actually grieve if they are take from their "mates". I knew that Randy was very fond of the bird, and I think it hurt his feelings that the bird didn't want to have anything to do with him any more.

I told him I needed to think about it. I was working at the barn, and was hardly well paid. Even at the cheap price he quoted me, it was a ton of money. Here I had managed to get attached to this bird. It was gorgeous, and it loved *me*. Gah! Well, you know what happened... I saved my money and bought the bird. Randy said he had been told it was a male, and that his name was Max. I was in heaven. He was such a cool guy. He could talk a bit, and he was pretty gentle. Randy was upset to see him go. He continued to care for him and asked after Max often over the years.

I took him home and got him settled in. He was a hoot. I used to take him outside and he would talk to the other birds. He was always very eager to go outdoors, but he was a big coward too. He was very insecure outside, and would tightly grip my arm and talk the entire time he was looking around to see what ws going on. It was fun to put him down in the grass. He would start shoveling dirt with his beak and digging with his feet. Very amusing guy. I was *not* very amused the morning I went in to feed *him* and found an egg! LOL I remember being in a panic over it and calling Randy, frantically ranting about my bird laying an egg. I am sure anyone watching would have been rolling on the ground, convulsed with laughter at my panic. I however, was not amused. So we tried to change her name to Maxine, but it just didn't work... Max it was.

She was such a fun bird. She was very attached to me, even after we got her a companion bird. She would talk to me and you could hear her when she wanted attention: Hi Max... Hi Max. If that didn't work, then it was Hi Popeye! Whoever owned her previously had apparently liked Popeye cartoons and taught her to say Hi Popeye. She had a sort of limited vocabulary - Hi, Hello, Max and Popeye. Any combination of those, including Hi PopMax would do. She would come running for a good head scrubbing. She would also, very gently chew on my fingers or hair. She loved grooming me. Occasionally she would be pissy and bite, but not often, and not hard.

I can totally understand why people are afraid of birds. Birds are pretty smart, and they *know* when you are afraid of them. It tends to make them act like bullies. If they bite and you pull back, it becomes a game, so when they bite you, no matter how bad it hurts, you have to sit there and act like it's nothing. You can reprimand them, and they will learn, but if they latch on to you, hold still! Max used to close her beak on my finger, just enough to apply pressure. If I flinched, she would clamp down harder, but if I just stayed relaxed, she would rub my finger with her tongue and then release it. It is kind of scary with a bird big enough to cut your finger off :) Parrots will also pinpoint their pupils. This is hugely intimidating to the unschooled, and a warning to those who are. Pinpointing means the bird is either excited, scared, or agitated, and you are likely to be badly bitten if you continue annoying or scaring them. Some pinpointing is harmless, like when you make an interesting noise. Max would pinpoint wildly if I whistled the Popeye the Sailor song. She tried very hard to sing along, but she just couldn't do all the words. Poor girl. They are merely showing an active interest, but unless you know the bird, it is best to cease and desist, or you could become it's next meal. They are also scary just because of what they are. Watch their behavior and see what it reminds you of. The eyes, the beaks, the legs and feet. They really are feathered dinosaurs. My DH calls them Dino Birds. It is a bit freaky :)

I had her for almost 15 years. She died of cancer. I miss hearing "Hi Popeye!" first thing in the morning. She was my buddy :) She is buried at the rear of our shop building with my dogs.

Next, I will tell you about Max's friend Cassie!