OT (sorta) - Surprise at the Shelter this week

Sherry wrote:

That doesn't make sense. He discouraged you from adopting a parrot,
simply because you were 30 and the bird
had an 80-year life expectancy? Then who's gonna adopt one? A 5-year-
old?

LOL! Good point. You just have to arrange to have someone in line
(someone much younger, preferably!) who will take the parrot when you die.

Or... adopt an older parrot - what a concept!

Joyce

Sherry wrote:
On Jul 8, 2:30 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
jofirey wrote:
Possibly, it got out of where it lives on its own, and someone found
it. Didn't want to keep it overnight or couldn't or whatever. Maybe
they intended to drop it off on their way to work only you weren't
opened yet and they couldn't be late. Figured leaving it at the
shelter beat just plain leaving it.

What an absolute beauty.

Jo

That parrot could have managed on its own for quite in while since
it is summer here in the U.S., unless its wings were clipped so it
can't fly. There are plenty of bird feeders, fruit trees, grape
vines, nuts and seeds and water to be found. But parrots are social
creatures; it wants companionship. And even human companionship is
better than none. Of course it was dumped (and what a shame!) but
it could have survived, at least for a few months, without human
intervention. McCaws are one of the smartest (known) parrots

When I spoke about adopting one (we're talking 20 years ago) the
zookeeper said, "Are you planning to live another 40-50 years?
Because, well kept, this bird will mostly likely outlive you. Then
what will happen to him?" So maybe that's the answer. You can't
adopt a parrot that will live to 80+ years when you're pretty sure
you haven't got that long of a lifespan.

Jill

That doesn't make sense. He discouraged you from adopting a parrot,
simply because you were 30 and the bird
had an 80-year life expectancy? Then who's gonna adopt one? A 5-year-
old?

Sherry

His point was to make sure I had someone in mind to take the bird when I die
before adopting one of the big birds. Since I don't have children I'd have
no idea who to leave a parrot to. Granted, my nephew is only 24 but I
wouldn't count on him to feed Persia regularly let alone take care of a bird
like that. So the zookeeper did me a favour by saying this to me. Adopting
a pet that will assuredly outlive you does require some planning.

Jill

wrote:
Sherry wrote:

That doesn't make sense. He discouraged you from adopting a parrot,
simply because you were 30 and the bird
had an 80-year life expectancy? Then who's gonna adopt one? A
5-year- old?

LOL! Good point. You just have to arrange to have someone in line
(someone much younger, preferably!) who will take the parrot when you
die.

Or... adopt an older parrot - what a concept!

Joyce

It's hard to find "old" parrots. As the OP demonstrates, most people don't
drop parrots off at a shelter If I were anywhere near there I'd consider
it.... except I don't have room for the cage that bird would really need.
Gosh, probably an outdoor flight. And Persia would go nuts!! She likes
Peaches but confronted with a bird as big as she is?... LOL

Jill

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:22:33 -0500, "jmcquown"
yodeled:

wrote:
Sherry wrote:

That doesn't make sense. He discouraged you from adopting a parrot,
simply because you were 30 and the bird
had an 80-year life expectancy? Then who's gonna adopt one? A
5-year- old?

LOL! Good point. You just have to arrange to have someone in line
(someone much younger, preferably!) who will take the parrot when you
die.

Or... adopt an older parrot - what a concept!

Joyce

It's hard to find "old" parrots. As the OP demonstrates, most people don't
drop parrots off at a shelter If I were anywhere near there I'd consider
it.... except I don't have room for the cage that bird would really need.
Gosh, probably an outdoor flight. And Persia would go nuts!! She likes
Peaches but confronted with a bird as big as she is?... LOL

Jill


In days gone by, there was a parrot shop on Bleeker Street in
Greenwich Village. There were always some free-flying birds who would
land on your shoulder and introduce themselves. You would just be
surrounded by birds.

One day, I went in there, and there was a tiny grey kitten in the
middle of the floor, looking thoroughly bewildered. There turned out
to be a family of kittens in the back. This kitten was being bossed
around and thoroughly harassed by a bunch of birds. I thought that
was curious-- I thought this cat would grow up with a different
attitiude towards birds to say the least. Fortunately, one of the
shop workers walked up, said "There you are!" and took the little grey
boy back into the back of the shop.

Several months later, I went back to the shop, and saw a grey cat
sitting companionably in the sunshine with a couple of macaws. This
was the tiny grey kitten! THings had balanced out as the kitten grew,
it turned out. He certainly didn't view the birds as prey, but as he
got bigger, the birds couldn't bully him anymore.




Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

Make Levees, Not War

wrote:

jofirey wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote in message

What gets me is some people in San Francisco actually suggested
eradicating the parrot population because they aren't "native
species". Excuse me?!

That is one of the milder ideas so come out of San Francisco,
trust me.

Hey, just a cotton pickin' minute. No ragging on my chosen home city!

It wasn't the people whom you would probably consider "marginal" who
would come up with an idea like exterminating birds. Most likely it was
real estate types who thought the birds were bringing property values
down. (Unfortunately, we have yuppie scum in SF, too.)

Indicates stupidity on the part of the real estate people,
IMO - I should think a neighborhood parrot colony would be a
selling point!


Joyce

jmcquown wrote:

I don't know about "marginal". I just got angry when I found out people
wanted to eradicate the parrots. These are the same people who want to kill
feral cat colonies. Sorry, I don't go for that type of thinking. So what
if the birds didn't originate there? People (other than Mark Bittman) set
up feeding stations. People feed feral cats. You don't kill them. You try
to find homes for them.

.... Or trap and neuter them, then return them to their
colony, if they're too wild to domesticate.

Sherry wrote:

On Jul 8, 2:30 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:

jofirey wrote:

Possibly, it got out of where it lives on its own, and someone found
it. Didn't want to keep it overnight or couldn't or whatever. Maybe
they intended to drop it off on their way to work only you weren't
opened yet and they couldn't be late. Figured leaving it at the
shelter beat just plain leaving it.

What an absolute beauty.

Jo

That parrot could have managed on its own for quite in while since it is
summer here in the U.S., unless its wings were clipped so it can't fly.
There are plenty of bird feeders, fruit trees, grape vines, nuts and seeds
and water to be found. But parrots are social creatures; it wants
companionship. And even human companionship is better than none. Of course
it was dumped (and what a shame!) but it could have survived, at least for a
few months, without human intervention. McCaws are one of the smartest
(known) parrots

When I spoke about adopting one (we're talking 20 years ago) the zookeeper
said, "Are you planning to live another 40-50 years? Because, well kept,
this bird will mostly likely outlive you. Then what will happen to him?"
So maybe that's the answer. You can't adopt a parrot that will live to 80+
years when you're pretty sure you haven't got that long of a lifespan.

Jill


That doesn't make sense. He discouraged you from adopting a parrot,
simply because you were 30 and the bird
had an 80-year life expectancy? Then who's gonna adopt one? A 5-year-
old?

You just have to keep it in mind, and make provisions for
its outliving you. (But I HOPE we do the same for any
companion animal, even though cats and dogs don't live
nearly so long!)

jmcquown wrote:


It's hard to find "old" parrots. As the OP demonstrates, most people don't
drop parrots off at a shelter If I were anywhere near there I'd consider
it.... except I don't have room for the cage that bird would really need.
Gosh, probably an outdoor flight. And Persia would go nuts!! She likes
Peaches but confronted with a bird as big as she is?... LOL

Jill

The receptionist for my vet in Pasadena had a big white
cockatoo (?) with a yellow crest. She'd bring it to work
with her, and the bird had free range of the reception area
countertop. It was a bit disconcerting for first time
visitors, since the bird apparently spoke both dog and cat,
as well as some English. (It would meow or bark when
patients of either species came through the front door!)

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
...


wrote:

jofirey wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote in message What gets me
is some people in San Francisco actually suggested eradicating the
parrot population because they aren't "native
species". Excuse me?!

That is one of the milder ideas so come out of San Francisco,
trust me.

Hey, just a cotton pickin' minute. No ragging on my chosen home city!

It wasn't the people whom you would probably consider "marginal" who
would come up with an idea like exterminating birds. Most likely it was
real estate types who thought the birds were bringing property values
down. (Unfortunately, we have yuppie scum in SF, too.)


Joyce

Not really meaning to rag on your city, and please don't decided who I might
or might not consider marginal.

San Francisco is pretty much like the rest of California (my chosen state)
only worse. If there is an extreme position of any sort, left right or just
plain looney, someone is pushing it. I liked it better back when there was
more of a feeling of letting people do what they wanted if it wasn't hurting
anyone else. Seems like any more anyone that has an opinion thinks it ought
to be a law.

One thing I was supposed to do when I was working was to keep up to date
with tax law. I got publications across my desk every week on new and
proposed legislation both federal and state. I finally just plain stopped
reading the proposed California stuff. It was just plain too often too far
"out there"

Jo

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

The receptionist for my vet in Pasadena had a big white
cockatoo (?) with a yellow crest. She'd bring it to work
with her, and the bird had free range of the reception area
countertop. It was a bit disconcerting for first time
visitors, since the bird apparently spoke both dog and cat,
as well as some English. (It would meow or bark when
patients of either species came through the front door!)

LOL! There must have been a few confused dogs and cats, looking for
the other dog or cat... (then again, they were at TED - they probably
didn't care about the other dog or cat...).

Joyce