Sally Blanchard

THURSDAY JUNE 19, 2008

Well I am sort of in my new home ... not settled but here and not completely out of there ... the ex Laughing Parrot Gallery. I have reached the point of wanting to be gone from that building so badly that I can hardly stand being there. Tonight I brought two more loads of misc. stuff to my new home. As usual on Thursday nights, the bar next door was loud and aggravating. I have until June 30th to get everything out. I know that many people would be willing to help me with this move but none of them live in this area. I do have one good friend who has been wonderful and has been a tremendous help. I can't even imagine how I can repay Jenifer Cline for the time and energy she has spent helping me both with the physical and emotional aspects of this move. It is always reassuring to know that there is someone who you can count on when you really need help.

On Sunday, June 8th one of those moments occurred. I was going from the dwelling area into the store. There is a weird set of stairs there that goes forward and to the side at the same time (bad description - I know). I slipped and fell and in trying to catch my balance, I did a number on my left pinky finger. It really hurt and when I looked down the finger was bent the wrong way and the bone of the second phalange was sticking through the skin. It is amazing how such a small part of the body can hurt so much. I called Jenifer and she and her husband came over right away to take me to the emergency room. Once I was in the car, we discovered why I had slipped and it made the event even more yucky. My older cat, Toc (16), had had an accident at the top of the stairs and sure enough it was all over my shoes and my pants. I couldn't imagine going into the emergency room like that so Jenifer cleaned my pants while her husband, Gary took my shoes off for me. He was even nice enough to clean them for me. I am not sure what they thought in the emergency area but a nurse brought out a wheel chair. I was a bit "shockey" so it seemed OK to be wheeled in even if it was for a broken little finger. I thought it was broken but the x-ray showed that it was actually a dislocation. I dreaded having the bone popped back back in place. It was painless only because they gave me pain medication and pumped the little finger full of xylocaine until it looked like a balloon. The needle hurt but adjusting the bone and the stitches didn't hurt at all. The finger was in a splint for about a week and of course, I bumped it, banged it and smashed it a bit several times a day as I packed and carried boxes. Although it still hurts some, a dislocation heals much faster than a break. It was only the next day that I realized that I had also twisted my ankle and bruised my hip. Neither was serious but made it much more difficult to go up and down two flights of stairs (32 steps each way) a dozen or more times each day. I have never had an easy move! I got to thinking that I have actually moved 27 times in my life. Of course this was mostly because my father and ex-husband were in the Air Force. During one move fell off of the ramp into the truck and was in cast for 6 weeks.

The dismantling of the gallery has been quite complicated. As you can see from the photo to the right, I have had some "help" from a puppy. She has been shredding paper towels for packing material. Shortly after my Hovawart (see April 17), Dewey, died I had a dentist appointment and I was talking about losing him. Besides being a really good dentist, Dr. Kim Danzer in Westminster, has parrots! It turned out that she had a new terrier puppy and her receptionist had the sister but couldn't keep her. I have mostly had terriers (Cairn, Silky, Scotty, Toy Fox (Kea, my 3-legged dog), and a wonderful huge Airedale) so I know what a stubborn challenge that they can often be. Actually I often think of Caiques as being the terriers of the bird world or terriers as being the caiques of the dog world. Anyway the puppy came home with me. One might think that it was bad timing but she cheered me up tremendously during this whole mess. She is supposedly a mix of a Yorky and a Westy but she looks more like a multi-colored Scotty to me and is about that size. Most of all, she is really cute and quite mischievous. I named her Tiwi after my Moluccan cockatoo friend in Tucson. Barbara Bailey's Tiwi matches the same description as really cute and very mischievous.

The house I am renting has a wonderful area in the front yard with a "grove" of Aspen trees. It has pretty much gone to weed but I have already cleaned out at least half of the area and am planting some flowering perennials. I have always love gardening and this yard has great potential. Once my move is completed I will really enjoy working in the yard. I had a beautiful front yard in Alameda but I can't find photos of it.

The amazing part of living in a house again is how compact it is. I don't have to go up a flight of stairs to go from my office to my living room and my office is right across the hall from what will be my art room. I won't miss all of those stairs!

TUESDAY May 27, 2008

Dear CPQ Readers and Subscribers,

As many of you already know, the last few years have been extremely difficult for me and while I had hoped that everything would improve, this has not been the case.

In 1999 when my mother came to live with me, she was able to take care of herself and had some financial reserves. As time passed, she required more and more care. For a variety of reasons, I wanted to leave the SF Bay area and had planned a move for some time. I was physically and emotionally exhausted and thought that living in a less stressful area would help. I started packing months before the move. After considering several destinations, I chose Loveland, Colorado. I found the most delightful historical storefront (pre-1886) with a place to live in the back. With its original tin ceiling and wood displays, the building enchanted me. I believed that I could open a gallery and museum with my extensive collection of bird and parrot art since Loveland has an internationally known sculpture show and a well-established artist’s community. I planned the move for August but in June, my mother had a series of strokes and I delayed the move by a month. My mother had been emotionally devastated when my only sibling, my brother died of a heart attack in 2004. They had always had a much stronger bond than my mother and I. My brother was a difficult person to relate to and it was not until I learned about Asperger’s syndrome that I had a handle on what he was all about. He had never been diagnosed but there is little doubt in my mind that this explains a great deal of his behavior. He functioned well on some levels and had a genius IQ with a photographic memory - especially for sports statistics. But he had some difficulties functioning on a social level. I think because of this he and my mother were very emotionally dependent on each other. Early in 2005, my mother’s brother died, which was another shock to both of us. This year my Aunt died. One of the saddest parts of getting older is losing relatives and friends.

The move here to Loveland was a nightmare that cost me far more than I expected. No matter how much I planned, there were so many variables that I could not foresee. I had a reasonable interest loan for the property here in Loveland, but virtually at the last minute, the local good ol’ boy bank decided not to make the loan because my property in California had not sold. They simply did not understand California real estate at the time. When I had to go shopping for another loan in a hurry, I found that the majority of banks and mortgage companies would not consider a loan for a combined business and residential property and since my house in California had not yet sold, I could only find a loan at over 14% if I put $100,000 down. California sales were beginning to slow but the house there sold a week after closing on the high interest loan. Because my mother required so much care and had become financially dependent on me, it took me a lot of time to set up the gallery and I was quickly running out of money.

My mother passed away over two years ago. She had lived with me since 1999 but I had visited her in southern California on a regular basis after I moved back to California. In some ways we were not close but in other ways we were very close and it has been quite lonely without her. I don’t think people ever really get over the loss of someone so special in their lives. At least I don’t get really melancholy anymore when I go to the grocery store and see the foods that she especially liked. It is strange what reminds me of her. She loved Bush’s baked beans and had always thought it was one of the sons of the first president Bush that made them – no matter how many times I told her it wasn’t.

I had neglected the store because my mother needed so much attention but since she died; so much of my time has been spent trying to make the gallery work that I have not had the time to create many friendships or a good support group here.

I did what I could to promote the Laughing Parrot Gallery but despite the concept of “if you build it, they will come,” they didn’t. I passed out discount cards at an Audubon society meeting in Fort Collins and not one person came from that group. Two Loveland newspaper articles did little to get people to come in and both the wild bird and parrot communities showed little or no interest in what I was trying to do. No one ever asked to see the bird research library that I had set up. I was surprised at the lack of curiosity. I wanted to share my books, my art, and my knowledge but day after day I would work at my computer and no one came in. The building had been a jewelry store and many of the people who came in were looking for watch batteries. It seemed that I had more people that came from other states and/or countries than local people. Some visitors from other countries were delighted that I had art representing birds that they knew and loved. Several subscribers from other states came in. If someone just wandered in, they either wanted their watch repaired or seemed to think I was crazy devoting a whole store to birds. Occasionally someone came in who was enthralled but it was not enough to support the gallery and the very high mortgage payment was draining my finances.

Last November I had a “duh” moment as I was looking over my financial predicament and realized that the times that I was most financially successful was when I put out my books. I sat down immediately and wrote and illustrated the Cockatoo Handbook and once it was finished, I wrote the Amazon Handbook. I also have a grey book, a conure/macaw book, and a caique book partly finished. I actively sought funding for the printing of the cockatoo book. Knowing that each book would sell well when they were publicized, I was sure that I could find someone who would work with me financially . The concept was that it would be a business loan and that 50% of the profits would go to pay off the loan for the book and interest until it was paid. I was also planning on donating a percentage to the cockatoo aviary fund at the Oasis Sanctuary. So far, no takers ... I am planning on printing limited (and much more expensive to print) numbers to take care of the orders I have coming in now. If there is anyone out there who has faith in the success of a quality book on Cockatoos and one on Amazons and is willing to provide a financial arrangement for their printing, please contact me at 970-278-0233. The cost of printing the books ranges from $8,000.00 to $15,000. As the books sell, you will be paid back!

I think that if I could have gotten the Cockatoo book out in February or March as planned, I would have avoided the situation I am in now and that is the foreclosure of my building that is both my business and living space. At one point it would have only taken $5,000 to keep me out of foreclosure but I couldn’t come up with it, I have the place for sale but I may not be able to get it sold in time and because it is in foreclosure, I will not get even close to what I paid for it and put into it so I am losing at least $150,000.00.

I have no employees and if I thought that I was emotionally and physically exhausted in California, I didn’t know what it meant. I moved here with 6 parrots, 3 dogs, and 4 cats. With the exception of one cat, they were all older animals. Last year 3 of my animals died; Nimbus was my 23 year old cat, Buffy another cat was about 14, and KT my beloved Silky Terrier was 20 years old. Last month was the worst of all when Dewey, my 10 year old Hovawart had to be euthanized because his back legs were suddenly paralyzed and he was in a lot of pain. My big goofy Dewey had my heart more than any dog or cat who has ever been in my life. Perhaps his most endearing quality was in wanting to hold hands with me. When I was working, he would come over and put his paw on my lap until I held his paw for awhile. I have experienced far too much loss since I have been in this building and am very anxious to leave it..

Of course, I have subscribers who are fed up and want their money back. I don’t have the financial ability to give refunds. At this point, the best that I can do is promise an issue when my life settles down. I have one very close to being finished but I have no funds to print it and my credit is not good enough for anyone to print it without being paid up front. The other way I can try to make it OK for current subscribers is to give them a 10% discount on anything on the pages where I am selling off my collection. I still think that I can keep the part of the business that involves the magazine, books and art work going but it may take time for it all to work out. I have an issue on play almost finished but do not yet have the funds to print it.

The worst part of living in downtown Loveland happened when Colorado passed a No Smoking law for bars. For me this is an absolute example of the "Law of Unintended Consequences." This meant that the bar next door that was not really a problem built an outdoor patio essentially right below my deck and bedroom window. Drunks are never quiet and certainly there is no one at that bar who cares that someone lives here. They often sound like a bunch of hyenas and baboons but of course that insults these animal species. The noise and cigarette smoke has made my life very difficult and mostly because of this, I can’t wait to get out of this building that I loved at one time and start doing the things I do best again.

Everything combined has been very depressing and I am just now coming out of a serious depression and bout of hopelessness. I have found a house that I am going to rent and it becomes available for me on June 1^st. It is going to be an incredible chore to get everything out of here but it will be worth it! If anyone who is fairly local can volunteer to help I would greatly appreciate it. The house is on a quiet cul-de-sac. Quiet ... ah. It has a nice yard and I have always loved having a garden. Yard work and gardening has always been therapy for me and I have missed having a yard here.

I will be moving from June 1^st to June 15^thbut or so will still try to get orders done during this time. Since I am moving only a few miles and I am planning on a gradual move, there will only be a few days that I will be unable to access my computer, etc.

The best way readers can help is to continue to be patient with me. I have no intention of quitting the magazine ... I still have way too much to say and share!

I also have some wonderful items from my extensive collection of bird art and collectibles on the web site. Check them out; there may be something you would really enjoy having in your home. If you are a current subscriber, you can take a 10%count on any item. Click here to go to the Collectible Index

FRIDAY May 23, 2008
SERIOUS PROBLEMS AT FEATHERED FRIENDS FOREVER!
Comparing the Oasis with Feathered Friends Forever - No Comparison!
LEFT: THE WONDERFUL NEW MACAW FLIGHT AT THE OASIS
A few days ago I got an email from some people who were taking cockatoos to a publicized rescue and discovered that the birds there receive poor care - yet the organization's publicity painted a much rosier picture. These are excerpts from their email.
On May 4, 2008, Sandi Madsen and Tina Usher, drove to the Feathered Friends Forever bird sanctuary, in Harlem, GA (run by Ronald Johnson) with five cockatoos prearranged to be placed there. After doing diligent research and speaking with Ron Johnson (the owner), they were expecting to find a sanctuary to provide a loving, lifelong and safe home for the cockatoos, similar to The Oasis Sanctuary in Arizona. (Picture to the left. Of course I am a strong supporter of the Oasis and the quality of life the birds there receive.) "Instead, at Feathered Friends Forever in Georgia we found inadequate shelter, inadequate care, inadequate diets and non-existent enrichment. In the midst of piles of junk, trash and old, rusted vehicles, birds are housed in terrible conditions."

RIGHT & BELOW: FEATHERED FRIENDS FOREVER MACAW AND COCKATOO HOUSING
They found the following:

Rooms overflowing with cages full of birds pushed up to each other and cages of birds stacked on top of cages with birds in them in dirty over crowded rooms. Not enough space to pull trays out for cleaning.
Macaw Flight – Inadequate perching - the only perches were a couple little 6” concrete pedicure perches and not as many as there are macaws in there.
Flights with no perches – birds having to sit on their seed trough, pooping in them
Dirty moldy water troughs made from 4” PVC cut in half
Food troughs 4” PVC cut in half - not protected from rain
No shelter for the birds from the elements
Nothing to prevent predators from digging into flights and attacking the birds
Natural vegetation in flights? – 3’ high weeds
No enrichment - no toys, no ropes, no ladders, no wood to chew on etc.
Home Depot tarpaulin car ports overcrowded with cages filled with birds in them
Cockatoos in cages sized for conures The photos to the right show the cockatoo cages.
No security on premises
No evidence of anything but seed diet.

A FEW PICTURES ARE WORTH THOUSANDS OF WORDS

A few readers may question how I can support the bird shop Bird Paradise and yet help expose problems at Feathered Friends Forever. I suppose it comes from the concept, "if you are going to do it, do it right." I sincerely believe this when it comes to the care of parrots. I am totally aware that there is a problem with parrot overpopulation. I also believe that parrots who come from production breeders and/or stores where there is no respect for the parrots and no quality information about parrots are more likely to end up in rescue than parrots from quality breeders and stores that educate their buyers. I also believe that one of the ways to keep many parrots out of rescue organizations is for people who want another parrot to give strong consideration to getting an older parrot who has
previously lived in another situation.

The differences between the Oasis and Feathered Friends Forever are obvious. The size of the cockatoo cages at Feathered Friends Forever are particularly appalling to me. I don't know Ronald Johnson so I can't really speak to his motivation nor has he ever contacted me personally as he states in his comments about this blog. From the photographs these two women took (I have only put 6 of them on my blog) I would never recommend such a place, both because the birds are not safe, secure and adequately cared for and they obviously have many more parrots than they can take care of properly. Mr. Johnson also insinuates that the two women snuck onto his property in the dead of night without his permission. They say they were bringing birds to the "sanctuary" and that he knew that they were driving non-stop from Illinois and would most likely arrive during the night. He asked them to call when they were close and he would meet them when they arrived. They called and he didn't answer so they arrived at the place later, looked it over and made the decision that they would never leave their cockatoos there. They took the photographs and left. Personally I can't imagine anyone planning an approximately 1600 mile long road trip with cockatoos in their car to sneak onto the grounds of a place to take incriminating photos. The macaw photo directly above with the macaws having to perch so close to the cage wire concerns me a great deal. I have known of far too many situations where raccoons have grabbed birds and pulled them apart through wires. I am also concerned about the junk piles shown in several photos that the women took (Below right). These piles of junk could easily be a habitat for rodents, which could create serious problems for any bird population.

I have known Sybil Erdin (the founder of the Oasis) for many years - since she had a few too many parrots chewing up the wall paper in her home but I knew that she had a plan and a dream. She is also a passionate and intelligent woman who has never let go of her concepts for a quality sanctuary. I haven't been back to the Oasis since last year but I spent some time in the then new Grey aviary - it is an incredible habitat that pays great respect to the needs of the birds. (Scroll down to May 10th 2007) Now I see that the macaw aviary is finished and I can hardly wait to get down there and see it. Maybe by the time I visit again, the Cockatoos will have the same kind of enclosure. The plans are for every bird to be in large flight cages and Sybil will never lose sight of that goal. Despite the fact that we may disagree on some issues, I will always admire Sybil for her dedication to parrots.

So why can't every sanctuary be as good as the Oasis? Some people simply don't have the standards to tell if they are really giving parrots quality care or not. They really believe that they are doing a great job and are shocked when people are critical of them. It doesn't matter how many parrots die in their care; there are always more to get funding for. I am in the process of trying to verify a horrific story that should change anyone's positive opinion about Feathered Friends Forever. As soon as I do, I will post it here.

It also has a lot to do with what I call the "Soft heart/soft head syndrome." People who love parrots want to help and instead of creating a thought-out plan, they start collecting birds until they become overwhelmed and can't provide quality care for any of the birds in their care. They may "love" parrots but the concepts of proper care, respect, and ethics seem to go by the wayside as they become overwhelmed. It happens far too often and sadly their rescue birds too often need rescuing.

The needs are so great that donating to such poorly planned organizations can be like throwing money into a bottomless pit. The first thing such an organization needs to do is STOP taking in anymore birds. The concept of never refusing another bird is the downfall of too many rescue and sanctuary organizations. Then they need to try and find homes or more positive situations for some of the more needy birds they have. Then they need to form a group/board with people who have financial, fundraising, and business planning experience. They need to find other people who will help take care of the birds they have. Two people with a few volunteers cannot possibly provide hundreds of birds with the care they need. The goals of fundraising should be more employees and better facilities - not more birds. As far as whether or not FFF meets the standards of the state of Georgia's animal cruelty laws, I have found that for the most part city, county, and state laws governing the care of animals are usually pretty substandard with the concern often only being food and water. There is usually no determination as to what is a proper diet or proper housing. To meet government requirements is often minimal care and in my mind birds kept by these guidelines could be suffering from serious neglect and even abuse.

Evidently at one point, the Amazona Society provided some funding to Feathered Friends Forever, which provided credibility to the "rescue." I doubt if the person who approved this funding had ever been to the facility. The current president, Shari Beaudoin, wants people to know that this decision was made before her time and she would have checked the organization more thoroughly before making such a decision. After I was talked into recommending the Tropics in North Carolina, I have been very careful about recommending Parrot Sanctuaries for fear of giving credibility to a place with little or no planning based in reality or someone with a hoarder mentality.

ANOTHER TOPIC:

Bird Paradise in New Jersey
I think everyone is entitled to their own opinions about just about everything. However when they use a BLATANT MISREPRESENTATIONS to make their point, that point becomes totally invalid for me. I was recently added to the email list of a animal rights oriented group. Their last email used a photograph in information about picketing Bird Paradise in Burlington, New Jersey. The photo is of two feather picked cockatoos who look miserable. The cockatoos do have each other cage and a toy, which is at least a bit better than a lot of photos I have seen of miserable birds in need of rescue. I feel sorry for the 2 cockatoos and certainly hope that someone, somewhere is taking good care of them now.

Of course, since the photograph is above the text of this organizations' email about picketing Bird Paradise, the clear insinuation is that the photo was taken at Bird Paradise. It was not!

I took the following photographs at Bird Paradise last October and I think the habitats that Bird Paradise has provided for their parrots are among the best I have ever seen ... Lots of room, enrichment, good food, and companionship with other youngsters. They set an excellent example for their customers. (see October 26, 2008 for a humorous series of photos from Bird Paradise)

I spoke at Bird Paradise last October and will be speaking there again this October. It is the largest bird store I have ever been too and they do have a good number of babies, but the care of the birds is exemplary ... especially in comparison to many of the bird shops I have been to in the US. Of course, the store is located in one of the most populated areas of the country and people come there from several states. The store is clean and I have never seen so many quality parrot products in one place The birds are fed a good diet and housed in good sized environments. Buyers are educated about the care of their new parrots.

The heading of the email I received states that "BIRDS SUFFER IN CAPTIVITY." Yes, there are far too many birds that suffer in captivity but there are many who have a good life with caring people. I know that there are some deplorable bird shops in the NY, NJ, PA, area that deserve to be picketed and I have been told that there is a place not far from Bird Paradise that auctions unweaned baby birds in milk cartons on a regular basis. I would certainly support the activities of this fanatical group if they were picketing that situation, but I certainly don't support their agenda when they plan to picket a quality store like Bird Paradise. This group of people with their animal rights agenda needs to get their priorities straight. Personally I think the group may be creating a positive situation for Bird Paradise by giving them more publicity.

It appears to me that anyone who writes anything on their web discussion that is positive about Bird Paradise (or other companion parrot situations) is met with derision, emotionally illogical and vitriolic comments like: "Simply put, the store owners are greedy bloodsuckers that make their living off of the misery of birds. They should be thrown into jail to rot and know what it's like living inside a locked cage." The writer may have a right to make this statement and evidently has the support of an ACLU lawyer. Sometimes I support the positions of the ACLU but not this time. It seems to me that some of the vitriolic statements the people in this group make are legally actionable but then I am not a lawyer. I would imagine these people have had or will have quite a bit to say about me too. Actually I think my success is often better judged by my enemies than my friends.

THURSDAY April 17, 2008
Late Tuesday afternoon, my beloved Havowart Dewey sat down and couldn't get up. This had happened once before but he was OK within a few hours. I figured it was his hip problems. This time he wasn't OK and his back legs remained totally paralyzed. He was about 100 pounds and there was no way I could get him to a vet. Wednesday is a bad day to need a house call vet so I stayed with him downstairs in the shop all night. His pain increased and I was able to get him some pain medication but the vet couldn't come until today. She checked him over and it wasn't his hips. There was nerve blockage. Why? Perhaps it was a tumor that finally pressed on the nerves. A 100 pound dog who can't use his back legs could not continue to have a happy life - especially living with someone with a bad back in a three-story building. He was also in pain and when the vet was trying to examine him, he went ballistic and tried to bite her. This was certainly not Dewey's personality. A few minutes later he showed his true personality as he gently put his head on her lap despite the fact that moments earlier he was vicious with pain. I sat with him and skritched his head as the vet injected him. It amazes me how peaceful a dog becomes as life ebbs away especially if they have been in pain. When my 20 year old Silky Terrier had to be euthanized last October, I expected it. I didn't expect it with Dewey so it is really difficult for me and I know I will miss him very much. I moved to Colorado with 4 cats and 3 dogs. I now have 2 cats and 1 dog. I have had 7 dogs throughout my life and without a doubt, Dewey will leave the biggest hole in my heart.

The photo to the right is probably my favorite because it sums up his goofy personality. King of the couch! Ten years ago just before Christmas, a friend called me. She had gotten a call from a woman who said her neighbors had moved away and left a dog tied up to their balcony. My mother was visiting so she took my bed and I was sleeping on an airbed in my office. I had previously had a "Ranch" Airedale that lived to 15. He was a gorgeous big boy - close to 90 pounds. When he was older, I had a lot of problems helping him move around and I decided that I would never have a BIG dog again. My friend assured me that this dog was the size of a Border Collie and looked young but was probably full grown. Yeah sure! The pseudo-border collie was delivered to my home. The first night he bounced all over the air mattress until it broke and I was sleeping on the floor and my cat, Nimbus, disappeared behind a bookcase for 8 days until Christmas morning. I knew he wasn't a Border Collie but I had no idea what he was - maybe a little bit of Gordon Setter with some Bernese Mountain Dog ... maybe even with a bit of Border Collie? A friend and I were trying to figure him out and I looked at him and said. "We don't know what kind of dog you are, do we?" The "do we" part turned into his name. It seemed like a properly goofy name for a seriously goofy yet very handsome dawg. He had lived with me for a few years when I took him to a new veterinarian. The minute Dewey walked in, the receptionist exclaimed, "Wow, you have a Havowart!" I had no idea what she meant - I felt like touching my face and saying, "I thought I had that removed." As soon as I got home, I looked up Havowart on the Internet and found out that I had a very rare and expensive dog. How he ended up as a rescue dog is beyond me. I had never seen one and figured he was "just" a wonderful mutt (as many mutts are!). Dewey was a remarkably gentle happy dog. Ten years was not enough time!

FRIDAY April 4, 2008

This is an email I received today about a bird club raffling a cockatoo. What do you think about live birds being raffled at bird shows?

"I am a cockatoo owner, active in my local exotic bird rescue and member of my local bird club, as well as the World Parrot Trust and several online parrot welfare groups. I was deeply disturbed to read in the Acadiana Bird Club press release (see below) that you plan to raffle a live cockatoo at your bi-annual bird fair. I urge you to reconsider and cancel the raffle.

The raffling of live animals of ANY kind should be illegal, but particularly a long-lived bird such as a cockatoo, which requires a knowledgable, committed owner. On your website, your club claims to "promote the health and well being of all pet & breeder birds," but the raffling of an exotic bird to the general public is directly counter to this stated goal.

I will be forwarding information about your cockatoo raffle to all my parrot-owning friends across the country, and am recommending that anyone in your area that had plans on attending this fair boycott it and/or protest the raffle in person.

Sincerely,

Sarah Becker

Kansas City, MO

ACADIANA BIRD FAIR

The Acadiana Bird Club presents its 29th Bi-Annual Bird Fair this weekend, April 5th and 6th, at the Heymann Performing Arts and Convention Center, located at 1373 South College Road in Lafayette. It's the largest bird fair in Louisiana!

You'll see all kinds of beautiful birds, both handfed and breeder, plus you'll be able to visit and network with other bird owners throughout the South. Thinking about becoming a bird owner? This is the place to get all your questions answered and get advice from the experts. Everything bird-related will be there, from toys and cages to bird supplies. A gorgeous cockatoo will be raffled off, as well. The Bird Fair runs Saturday, April 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All proceeds are donated to avian research and to local charities, including the Acadiana Muscular Dystrophy Association.
For more information, log on to the Club's website at www.acadianabirdclub.com. We'll see you at the Fair
Here are the contact for the breeder bird club:
General info: acadianabirdinc@hotmail.com
President: Donald Menard (337) 937-5113 Email: dmenard582@aol.com

FRIDAY March 28, 2008

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: I found another way to get healthy into my parrots. I bought Flax Plus Lifestream Organic Whole Grain Waffles and toasted two of them. I mixed sweet potato baby food, lowfat yogurt, and a little bit of almond butter together and spread it on the one of the waffles and then put the other waffle on top. I cut it into 6 wedges and my parrots love it!

THURSDAY March 27, 2008

PHOBIC ROSIE

How long does this flu thing last? I had been feeling better but I woke up this morning feeling horrible. I made the mistake of thinking I could go back to sleep for a few minutes and woke up at 5pm. I must have needed the sleep! The daily mail had a letter from a woman I met in New Jersey last October. It was the kind of letter that makes me feel much better. I really like to know when my information makes a difference. That is what it is all about!

Dear Sally,

"The last time you made a presentation at Bird Paradise in Burlington N.J. I spoke to you about my 2 year old very phobic Rose-breasted Cockatoo. I told you that for about a year every time I approached his cage he would flail himself around and scream in terror! Forget about even touching him unless he fell to the floor and then I'd have to chase him down and throw a towel over him in order to get him back in the cage. I tried everything I knew how to tame down a bird with behavior problems - 20 years + of working with our Adoption Program at least gave me some experience but nothing worked with the Rosie!

You suggested that I read your articles on dealing with phobic Rosies, plus your publication on Cockatoos. I am extremely happy to tell you that "we" had a miracle occur on Thursday! I had to get Widget out of his cage for his annual vet appointment. I thought what the heck, I'll slowly extend my arm towards him just to see what he would do - he stepped onto my arm and allowed me to place him into his carrier. I almost fainted! Once at the vet's office I opened the carrier door (in the exam room) and whispered to him he was such a good boy and he lowered his head to be petted. I quickly obliged him! I was in tears when my vet came in the room - she though something was terribly wrong and when I explained what happened everyone got emotional.

When I came home I sat down on the sofa with the carrier, slowly opened it and he climbed right up to my shoulder, put his head on my cheek and allowed me to give him at least a hundred kisses on his beak! He was actually licking up my tears of joy! He's come out of the cage twice yesterday and we've had some very serious loving going on! It's almost like he's a sponge soaking up all the loving he's missed over the past year! I know his personality could always go phobic again but I am willing to do everything you taught me to bring him back again - even if it takes another year to do it. Thank you!!
Sincerely,
Pat

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Parrots are prey animals, which means that predators hunt them for food. They have to be wary and vigilant in the wild. Just because they are domestically raised, their predator responses do not go away. If for some reason a parrot-family bird becomes traumatized, he or she may go into "prey mode," which means that the bird has a strong fear response. With some parrots this can result in aggressive behavior. With others it can turn into phobic behavior. It is not always clear as to what caused the fear response but the bird often becomes afraid of almost everything including the person who was his best friend. The best way to get him back is to as "un-predator like " as possible. This means being submissive - little or no direct eye contact, lowered head, quiet conversation, and the opportunity for him to come to you rather than you trying to make him come to you. It works!

WEDNESDAY March 26, 2008

I think that I will do a little "name-dropping." There are three men whom I have been lucky enough to meet and spend a little time with. Each one has had quite an influence on me and the world of birds. I wanted to write about my short experiences with them.

CHARLEY HARPER
The first is Charley Harper. Since he was not a parrot artist, I will presume that his work is not familiar to everyone who reads this. Back in the early 1980s when I was making my living doing my wood sculptures, I had a showing of my work with Charley in St. Louis. I lived in Wichita, KS at the time and had been become close friends with a woman named Helen Brewer. Helen was a bit younger than my mother and became a sort of surrogate mother for me when I lived in Wichita. She collected Charles Harper prints. The minute I saw one, I knew I had found a kindred spirit in the art world and I started collecting his serigraphs. The man was a design genius and his work, like mine, was based more on a minimal perception of the bird rather than great detail. In fact when he was asked by someone to compare his work with Audubon's, he

replied, "I don't count the feathers, I only count the wings." When I had my
show in St, Louis, I took Helen with me so she could also meet Charley and his wife Edie, who is also an accomplished print maker.

From the moment I first met Charley and Edie, I thoroughly enjoyed their company. Just seeing his work, one would know that he had a wonderful sense of humor. We clicked and spent a great deal of the day coming up with bird puns and laughing. Charley's work could be

serious too and each piece came with descriptive prose. His "Pelican in a Downpour" talked about the Brown Pelican and DDT. It was an unforgettable day. Charley even took one of my suggestions and turned it into serigraph - "Redbirds in the Redbuds." He went home with my favorite Wood Duck sculpture (pictured above) and I went home with a few more of his serigraphs. I begged Charley to do a parrot - I even suggested the concept of a Double-headed Yellow Amazon. To my knowledge, the only parrot Charley did was an early Carolina Parakeet and a small depiction of one on a poster.

A few years later my friend Helen and her husband Joe had a horrible house fire. Helen's collection of Harper prints was destroyed. I called Charley and asked him if there was any chance of getting a discounted price on some of the prints so I could replace them for Helen. He asked me which ones she had lost in the fire and I gave him a list. A few weeks later, he sent her a package of all of them without any invoice. This was one of the most generous gifts that I have ever witnessed in my life and it says a lot

about the kind of man that Charley Harper was. Charley died last year and even though I had not seen him in years, I felt a serious loss. He had many fans and admirers both in the worlds of nature and design. Todd Oldham (the TV design guru) "discovered" Charley a few years ago and has done a sumptuous volume on Charley's work called Charley Harper, An Illustrated Life. I am sure that Mr. Oldham's attention will bring Charley a whole new group of fans. An early book on Charley's work has been reprinted, Birds & Words and a second book shows most of his serigraphs on birds and animals, Beguiled by the Wild. Regretfully, I have several of his serigraphs for sale. To see them, click Charley Harper.

ROGER TORY PETERSON

Many years ago I showed my bird sculptures at an Audubon Conference at Rocky Mountain National Park. Roger Tory Peterson was the main event. He stopped by my display and spent some time looking at my work. It was an awesome experience having him comment on the various pieces and complement me on my sculptures. There were many pioneers in the world of bird watching but Peterson is without a doubt the best known and the most highly respected. His guidebook format made bird watching and bird identification possible for everyone. He was also a very accomplished bird artist. I have two of his limited prints for sale. Click here.

I met Roger Tory Peterson again. I was bird watching in southern Arizona. I had gone out very early in the morning and was coming back when I noticed Mr.Peterson coming down the path with several other people. I didn't expect him to remember me, but he recognized me as being someone he had met before and asked me if I had seen anything interesting. I have a reputation for messing up words and my my answer to him was one of my best. I told him that I had seen my first "suffer-berried frycrotcher." As I remember, he gave me a quizzical glance and then stated that he didn't think he had ever seen one of those. I was trying to say "sulfur-bellied flycatcher." Maybe that made me more memorable than my bird sculptures?

ALEXANDER SKUTCH
As a collector of bird books, I was familiar with the name that the writings of Alexander Skutch. This man was amazing. When I met him, he was 78 and he had the vigor of a man half his age. I went to Costa Rica on a group bird watching tour. We were lucky enough to visit his farm south of San Ysidro and have Mr. Skutch take us on a bird watching tour of his farm Los Cusingos (named after the native name for the native Fiery-billed Aracari. Skutch hated snakes and he brought a machete with him. His logic was that man had created an imbalance that made survival more difficult for the bird populations. Because of this, he "discouraged" snakes. As we were walking sown the path, he made a motion for us to stay back and "whap, whap, thump" a bird-eating snake was permanently discouraged. He also "discouraged" raptors for the same reason with the exception of the Laughing Falcon that eats lots of snakes. It shocked me when he dispatched the snake but I understood and respected his choice. When he first came to Costa Rica as a botanist to study bananas, he became fascinated with birds. He moved to a very secluded area of rainforest in the late 1930's. Eventually he built a house out of cattle dung and straw. No it didn't stink and if you didn't know, you couldn't tell. When I was there over 25 years ago, the Skutch's farm was the only natural land left in the area. The rainforest had become extremely segmented. I was able to talk with him for 15 or 20 minutes about parrots and he lamented that he really rarely, if ever, saw parrots especially the large macaws, in his area any longer because of the loss of habitat. When he first lived there, he would see them fly over or nest nearby on a daily basis.

Dr. Skutch and his wife Pamela lived what most of us would consider a very primitive life but this life inspired him to provide the world with in-depth knowledge of the life histories of the birds of Central America and the world. Not only did he write about families of birds, he also wrote several books on philosophy - especially the philosophy of nature. I was always hoping that Dr. Skutch would write a book about the parrot family but he never did. He died in 2004 just days before his 100th birthday. He made arrangements a few years before his death so his farm and its natural land would become the Los Cusingos Neotropical Bird Sanctuary. Although I just spent an afternoon with him along with about 20 other people, I feel privileged to have spent time with Alexander Skutch.

MONDAY March 24, 2008

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: There are several reasons why some species of penguins are in trouble due to global warming. The Antarctica is vast but there is still a concern for habitat loss as ice shelves break into the ocean. The main concern, however is a break in the food chain. The main diet for several penguins and sea mammals is krill. Krill a very small shrimp-like organism and it takes a lot of them to feed the animals that eat them. Krill eat the algae that grows on the underside of the Antarctic ice shelves. As these ice shelves fall into the ocean, there is less algae, which means less krill for the penguins and the sea mammals that dine on them. The balance of nature is both amazing and intricate and the loss of one "apparently" simple aspect can cause devastation at a much higher level. .

If there is anyone reading this who lives within driving distance of Loveland, I am in great need of a volunteer to help me with some cataloging work I am trying to get the vast majority of my items for sale on my web site and I need someone to help me measure the items and make sure that they all have a price on them. If you can help, please call me at 970-278-0233 or email me at staff@companionparrot.com

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Did you know that some early ornithologists (1800s) classified the Palm Cockatoo as a Macaw because of its bare face. Some scientists referred to the Palm cockatoo as the "Great Ara" despite the fact that it was from a totally different area of the world than the macaws. Ara is the species name for most of the large macaws. I wonder if their faces were red when they realized that the Palm was a cockatoo and not a macaw? The drawing is from my new book on Companion Cockatoos. Did you also know that the Palm never closes his beak entirely?

THURSDAY March 20, 2008

I don't think this flu stuff will ever be through with me. I got my first symptoms in early January but every time I seem to get better, I seem to get worse again with different symptoms. I have talked with people all over the country who have had the same thing. Yuck. Luckily I felt well enough to give my program in Albuquerque but the next day I spent the day in bed at my host's home and evidently missed some really good Mexican food.

I have been neglectful of posting to this blog, I thought I would try to add some parrot information at least a few times a week. Some thing that I thought of - it may be something simple or something more complicated. Today it is something simple ....

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Today I realized that the person who is helping me take care of my parrots was adding the baby food carrots to the water before she cooked the noodles. She didn't realize how much vitamin A is lost in this manner. From now on she knows to put any of the vitamin A baby foods into the glop or other moist and cooked foods that we feed after it has been cooked.

WEDNESDAY February 13, 2008

In October I was approached about speaking at the Midwest Bird Expo in April. I was in New Jersey and said that I was pretty sure that I could but I needed to check my schedule

Since people found out that I was speaking at this event, I have had several write to tell me that they were looking forward to meeting and hearing me. This communication is for people who will wonder why I am not scheduled to speak anymore.

However, I have been asked to speak at the Northern Illinois Parrot Society (NIPS) event on September 27, 2008 - so the people who were anxious to hear me speak in the Chicago area, will get to hear me there.

In regards to being canceled as a speaker ...

I meant to answer you much sooner but have been swamped and forgot. I had a really good time in NJ too and Kathy asked me back for next year.

I would enjoy coming to Chicago. I would need my expenses paid plus a booth for my artwork, etc. I would also ask for ----- speaking. I don’t mind staying in a club member’s guestroom instead or a hotel as long as they do not smoke. Let me know if this will work out.
Sally

Sally,
I had a TASC meeting tonight and the answer is YES!! I'm so excited!! They need to know your airport so they can make arrangements. In the mean time go to www.tasc-chicago.org and fill out the vendor information. Your table will be close to me and Irene. When you go in to talk - I can have someone watch your table or sell your things if you want. We can talk about that later. We have time but I'll be looking into either putting you in a hotel with Irene or having you stay with someone. … I think if Arlene comes she'll stay in the same hotel as Irene. I may put you there - depending on how many of them will be there to keep you company. We'll set up our tables on Friday night. They'll fly you in Friday morning or Thursday evening and send you home Sunday afternoon.

REPLY
I fly out of Denver and always prefer an aisle seat. I can’t leave too early in the morning (before 9) as I have to take an hour shuttle from where I live. This adds $60 to the travel costs. I don’t care which airline I fly but I am not very fond of Southwest but would fly it if is much cheaper for your organization.
Sally

On February 1^st I received the following email:
Sally,
I am the Director of the Midwest Bird Expo coming up in April. Due to our time constraints, we will need to cancel your appearance at our event. We have not heard from you and since we have people pre-registering, we had to be sure we secure all speakers and vendors by February 1st. ______________________________________________________________

My reaction to the cancellation is that it is absurd. I wonder if the man who canceled me for the event even knows what I have been doing in regards to parrots for the last 30 years. I also wonder if their might not be some other "political agenda." I will add the statement that although I hadn’t filled out the vendor form, from the e-mail it seemed to me that this was a formality and I believed that I had fully committed to coming to the event and gave them the flight information I was asked for. I also was told by e-mail that I had a booth and where it would be.

If the man had gotten in touch with me earlier in the week, I probably wouldn't have answered right away since I have had a horrible sinus infection with an accompanying headache. I am way less than perfect in my communication with people. I get over 150 e-mails a day (and 25-50 phone calls). While some of them are spam that my filter doesn’t catch, most of them are about parrots. People want advice, they want to order, they are asking me to speak, they are complaining about something I did or didn't do, and sending me all sorts of stuff that I would probably enjoy if I had the time. At this time, I don’t have an employee and I never seem to catch up on anything – from writing, to packing and shipping orders, from doing ordered art work, taking care of my animals, running the Laughing Parrot Gallery, and so on. I rarely give advice by email anymore because 95% of the people I help with a question never even write back to thank me. I am often neglectful in doing some of the things I need to do. I virtually can't help it right now. It frustrates me and it frustrates the people who are trying to get in touch with me. To tell me the deadline has passed on the day that it passed without notifying me of an actual deadline is something I simply don’t understand.

I have only reneged on a speaking commitment twice in the over twenty years I have been traveling to give programs and seminars. Until my elderly mother came to live me, I gave 6 to 12 programs a year. One time I developed a serious and painful knee injury about a week before I was supposed to speak in Canada and was unable to walk comfortably until I had surgery. The other time I got the flu and had to cancel a few days before the event. Other than that I have traveled and spoken a few times when I should have stayed home. For example, there are people that will still remember when I spoke less than a week after major surgery to have a large suspicious tumor removed from my thyroid and ended up having my entire thyroid removed. I still had the bandage on my neck. I also flew to England a week or so after 9/11 despite the fact that no one I knew (particularly my mother) wanted me to go. I figured it would be the safest time to fly.

I will certainly miss visiting with Dr. Pepperberg in April but I will see her in October when I speak in New Jersey again.

TUESDAY February 12, 2008

I have not had much time to write anything on the blog lately. In November I realized something very important to my success and the success of the CPQ. Before my mother became ill and I had to spend so much of my time caring for her, I was doing OK financially. The CPQ has rarely paid for itself and in California it was costing me about $20,000.00 to print and mail each issue.
I will write more about this later.

I went through my records and realized that the time I was most comfortable financially and able to support the CPQ was when I put out books. So I sat down at my computer and started writing books and it seems that I didn’t take any break at all except for from mid-January to the first part of February when I had some nasty bug that turned into a killer sinus headache. My computer was no doubt feeling lonely as it is quite rare for me not to have it on at least 18 hours a day.

I have now finished writing two books: Companion Cockatoos 116 pages and finally Companion Amazons 156 pages. I am also in the middle of Companion Caiques and Companion African Greys. None of them have been printed yet as I am waiting for the final proofreading to print the cockatoo book. I am also looking for funding to print these books, but luckily the cost won’t be as exorbitant here as in California. Companion Cockatoos will be first – probably available in mid-March because of the delay in getting the proof reading back. Then I will print Companion Amazons and hopefully it will be out by May. I also plan a Companion Macaws but I am not sure when the Caique, Grey, and Macaw books will come out.

I believe that once these books are out it will be much easier to start getting the CPQ out in a timely manner. There will be several changes in the CPQ mostly because it has been so difficult to get advertising. With a lot less advertising the magazine will become thinner but the content will be about what it has been. Most likely, each issue will have a topic that will be covered. I will write the main article and will have articles by a few other people on the same topic. If anyone reading this has any ideas for a topic, please let me know.

Although it has been a long time since the issue of the CPQ came out, I am dedicated to continuing the publication. The last two years have been very difficult for many reasons.

SUNDAY November 18, 2007
Friday and Saturday I had a booth at the National Cage Bird Show. It was interesting to see all the birds being judged. It is a very different world than having companion birds although I am sure that there is some overlap. I saw the largest Caique and Alexandrine parrot I have ever seen. Obviously the birds have to be well-cared for or they wouldn't be in the condition they need to be in for a bird show.

Since I was at my booth most of the time, I didn't really get to spend too much time learning about the bird show and the reasons one bird wins over another. It seems that size really does matter with some of the categories. With the singer canaries, the song was what mattered. If a bird didn't sing for the judge ... that was it. I wasn't sure what all the ribbons were for ... there were so many different colors. Some cages were surrounded by ribbons of many different colors. Some asked me if the birds knew they had won all the rewards. I don't know for sure but I wouldn't doubt it.

In the mid 1970's I went to a few cage bird shows. In fact I helped co-chair a show that my bird club where birds were judged. I was planning on entering my Red Lory, Gypsy. She was a gorgeous bird in excellent feather. On the way to the hotel, she jumped off the perch and ended up rolling around in her droppings. That seemed to be the end of my bird show hopes. As I walked into the show area, a friend noticed my dirty little Lory. She said she had a better cage if I could get Gypsy cleaned up in time. The bird show was on one side of the hotel exhibition area and a large wedding reception took place on the other side. I rushed Gypsy into the women's room which was full of wedding guests. Gypsy was very tame so I held her in my hand and held her under the faucet. I was careful about the water temperature and I made sure she didn't get her head wet. The women from the wedding were quite concerned about what I was doing to the poor little bird but Gypsy was just fine with what was happening. Then I put her under the hand drier moving her back and forth until she was dry. I rushed her into the show room and placed her in the cage moments before the judging was to start. I don't remember for sure but I don't believe that there were any other lories so it was a given that Gypsy would win best Lory. When she made the final four (or whatever it was called), she was competing against 2 larger birds and a Caique for best of show. The caique came in second and Gypsy won the best bird in show. The next year my Yellow-collared Macaw Bojo won the best Macaw in show. That was my limited experience with bird shows with judges.

Last month was a bad one for my animals. I wrote in early October about my almost 20 year old Silky Terrier dying. The last day of October, Buffy, one of my cats passed away. When my grandmother went into a nursing home in the early 90s I adopted her cat. Louie was with me for several years and the evening of one of the PBIC Conventions in Oakland, he had a stroke and died. That left Nimbus as the only cat and he and Louie used to play together a lot. I decided to go to Alameda

Animal Control and adopt an older cat. I fell in love with the poofy Cheshire cat cheeks of a somewhat fat cat and he came home with me. His name was Socks but I renamed him Toc, which stood for the other cat. However before I left the shelter, I was informed that he had come in with another cat. She was a skinny little shy cat. After a few days, I decided to go back for her… after all they had been together for over 8 years and probably missed each other. When I got her home, I immediately discovered that they couldn’t stand each other, but Nimbus and Louie became great pals. Over the years Buffy evolved from being the proverbial scaredy cat to being my mother’s most devoted companion. Even when my mother was comatose, she still was petting Buffy. When my mother died, Buffy went back to being a very shy cat. She had always been skinny but had received a clean bill of health from the vets she had seen. From the shelter records, I know that she was at least 16. Nimbus who died last spring was almost 23 so 16 seemed young to me but the vet told me that was a pretty good age for a cat to live. I can’t say I know very much about cats even though I have almost always had one in my live. I have always had a laissez-faire relationship with my cats. There are two basic rules for them: 1. Leave the birds alone, and 2. Use the litter box. My older cats rarely show any interest in the parrots. I think this was passed on from Nimbus who got too close to my Amazons one day and the large male, Rascal jumped on his back. He was quite young then and he never showed any interest in the parrots again; neither has any of the other cats who came to live with me. I have always adopted older cats who have already had their front claws removed. I hate the idea but I provide them with a good life as an indoor cat. I just can’t see having cats with full claws around parrots. It certainly is possible to have cats with parrots but it requires some management skills. It has been my experience that it is the small flighty birds like finches, budgies and cockatiels that attract a cat's attention. Cats usually ignore larger more sedate birds. I never allow my birds out without knowing where the cats are. TOC was really obese when he came to live with me and although he is thinner, he still lacks the curiosity and athleticism to be a problem for the parrots.

I am now bird sitting Bianca and she has quickly won my heart. I first fell for her when I did a consultation with her caregivers. She is a very loving and enthusiastic hen Umbrella.

Note: There is a sandwich shop across the street called Carl's Canteen that makes delicious loose meat sandwiches - or Made Rites. These are an Iowa tradition and my family was from Iowa. In fact I was born in Cedar Rapids. Throughout the years as I was growing up and moving all over the place, my mother talked about three Iowa food favorites and how much she wished she could get them: 1. Made Rites, 2. Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, and 3. Pan-fried Catfish. With a Made Rite sandwich shop across the street, I was able to meet at least one of those requests after we moved here. My mother had quite a few loose meat sandwiches after we moved here. I am still looking for a good Pork Tenderloin sandwich - maybe I can talk the folks across the street into making them too??

OK I have obviously gone off on a tangent again. So why was I talking about was I talking about food and how does that relate to Bianca? There are two young ladies who are related to people at the sandwich shop and they have come over a few times to meet the parrots. Yesterday they spent quite a lot of time catering to Bianca's every wish. This

scenario reminded me of a cartoon I did for the Companion Parrot Handbook of one of my many imaginary "inventions" called the Perpetual Petting Machine. The question was, "how long could Bianca enjoy this much petting? The answer ... How many hours are in a day? The actual answer ... until one of the girl's fathers told them they had to come back to the sandwich shop.

TUESDAY November 6, 2007

Janice G sent me an email with a link to a story that appeared today in the Asheville Citizen-Times. The article presented generalized misinformation about several "easy-care pets." The concept of the article was that there were many pets that were far simpler and inexpensive to keep when compared to dogs and cats. The following is the section about birds:

Parakeets are the most popular pet birds, perhaps because they are smaller and less expensive than some of their more talkative cousins. Parakeets can be as little as $15, and live happily in a cage costing $15-$35. Cockatiels, cockatoos, macaws and parrots, on the other hand, can run all the way up to $2,000. Their cages run $50-$150.

Laura Paintiff, who owns and runs WNC Aquarium and Imports with her husband, said African gray parrots are great talkers, and cost about $1,100.

Quaker parrots, on the other hand, are also great talkers with a warm personality, and only cost about $165.

Pet birds can live as long as 25 years, so it’s a good thing they are easy to care for.

They rarely need a visit to the vet, but owners should insure they aren’t faced with severe temperature fluctuations or fumes from paint or burning Teflon cookware."

I have published a parrot related magazine (The Companion Parrot Quarterly) for 16 years and have worked with hundreds of people and their parrots over the last 30 years. Jim Marks has written one of the most ignorant pet industry slanted articles I have ever read about "cheap, easy-care pets." The last time I read an article this bad about "easy-care" pets was in the early 1990s and it was rubbish then. Parrot family birds are neither cheap nor easy to care for. The only easy care parrot that I am familiar with is a toy parrot. The statement, "Pet birds can live as long as 25 years, so it’s a good thing they are easy to care for." Parrot family birds (including parakeets - accurately called Budgies) require daily cage cleaning, daily food preparation, accessories such as toys that can be costly, and at least daily (if not more frequent) social and focused interaction with the people in their lives for them to anything that could be called a "warm personality." Not all African greys talk and those that do receive a tremendous amount of interaction from their caregivers. The prices of cages in this article are absurd. Proper caging is much more expensive. Proper medical care by qualified avian veterinarians is generally much more expensive than with dogs and cats because they are far more complex. If anyone wants a parrot to live 25 years or more, they will need to spend a great deal of money. I am familiar enough with the other animals listed as easy-care pets to know that the writer's statements are inaccurate generalizations at best. Next time you decide to have someone write an article about something they know absolutely nothing about; please make sure that they do quality research instead of a "quicky" article full of inaccurate generalizations.

The result of anyone believing information that comes from such a poorly researched article is far too often a lot of animals that receive poor care and die long before their time.

Please read this article and send your own comments about this article. The website address is:

I'm baaack.
My trip to New Jersey was quite an adventure and I will write more later.

For now I want to show readers a series of photos that I took at Bird Paradise.

I really don't know how long the juvenile delinquent Black-headed Caique had been making a play thing out of the handsome Hawkhead but I did get a good series of photos that clearly show a pattern of harassment. In the first photo, the clinging Caique grabs the Hawkhead's tail. In the second photo, the Hawkhead is clearly trying to escape but the persistent Caique holds on and is dragged across the play area. In the third photo, the Hawkhead tries to get away by climbing up to a perch but the persistent Caique continues to try to drag him down. Finally (in the fourth photo), the Hawkhead has made it on to the perch and looks underneath himself to get a good look at his stalker. Even though the Hawkhead is on the perch with his buddies, the stubbornly unyielding Caique continues to harass him and try to pull him off of the perch.

Clearly the Hawkhead needs a restraining order to keep this Caique away. If there is a lawyer willing to do pro bono work on his behalf, the larger bird may finally be free of his stalker. Please contact harassedhawkhead@companionparrot.com and I will forward your messages to him..

Tomorrow I travel to New Jersey and tonight I am running around crazy trying to get stuff ready that I should have gotten done last week. I am speaking with Dr. Irene Pepperberg at Bird Paradise. I will write about this adventure when I return but I still have too much to do!

I am actually up quite late because I have made a decision tonight that is keeping me awake. As many of you know I have a very elderly Silky Terrier named KT. She was the love of my mother's life and, of course, she has a very special place in my heart. I had wondered for some time who would leave my life first - my mother or KT and I knew they both would be somewhat lost without each other. It has really surprised me that KT has lived a good year and a half since my mother's death. She was totally blind when we moved here to Colorado but once she got used to the living area she did fine as long as no one moved the furniture. She did learn to navigate with her nose and bumped it into a lot of stuff.

When she had lived with me for a year or so, a woman told me that Silky Terriers were prone to collapsed tracheas and rarely lived more that five years or so. I think this was a gross exaggeration but I adored this little dog so I was somewhat worried about her, especially when she would have a coughing spell. I didn't need to worry. I can't remember when KT actually came to live with me but it was either 1990 or 1991 and she was 3 years old when I got her. That makes her somewhere between 19 and 20. Even though she is blind and somewhat demented, I wasn't going to put her down until she stopped wagging her tail and/or seemed uncomfortable and/or in pain. Today was that day and I know it is time. So tonight I am grieving her loss as she sleeps at my feet and tomorrow I will take her to the vet. Twenty years is a very long time for a dog to live and thinking about her really takes me down memory lane. I have had her longer than I have done the Pet Bird Report/Companion Parrot Quarterly (That started in 1991). I remember a time when I drove down to visit my mother in southern California (she didn't move in with me until 1999). I always took KT with me because my mother loved her so much. I got out of the car at a rest stop to stretch my legs and when I walked back towards the car, KT jumped up at the window to greet me and locked me out of the car. A young woman walking a pair of Dobermans saw what happened and found a wire in her car and helped me unlock the door. KT barked at the big dogs the whole time and when I opened the door she jumped out and chased after them ... the little dog complex (somewhat similar to the Caique complex mentioned in the next entry.) I will certainly miss this wonderful little dog.

Nimbus, my cat who died in March, was almost 23. It didn't seem as unusual for a cat to live that long but I never expected to have a dog who lived close to 20 years. Part of it may be because for many years, I fed my dogs a recipe that consisted of fresh ground turkey and cooked oatmeal with high vitamin A vegetables and added nutrients including EFAs, calcium, and vitamin E. I need to start doing that again. Dewey, my Havowart, is a 9 and he is starting to have as much problem moving around as I do. Two of my cats (Toc and Buffy) are 14 or 15. Only Diablito, my 2 1/2 year old Tuxedo Manx, has enough youthful exuberance to keep me on my toes. And even the birds are getting on in age - 9 (Twiggy), 11 (Whodee), 17 (Pascal), 19 (Spike), 24 (Roxi-anne), and 32 (Paco).

Yesterday I drove down to visit my friend Andrea and her birds. I took my camera but I forgot to change it from close up to automatic so all of the photos of her birds came out blurred. Andrea has a male Eclectus named Skyler, a Caique named Beaker, an Alexandrine named Harper, and a Ringneck hen named Piper. Beaker and I may someday become friends but as it is now, he pretty much does that Caique stalking thing with me. I play with him carefully with a towel and we are not too sure whether Beaker is still stalking me or actually playing. I think with some birds there is a fine line. He sauntered towards me and sways back and forth snorting like a miniature bull. I used a kitchen towel as a barrier and we played for some time. I did get one semi-in-focus photo of Beaker about to leap at me when I was sitting on the couch - you may notice that both of his feet are off of the top of the couch. Luckily I was saved by a couch cushion just after I snapped this ominous picture.

I really enjoyed listening to Harper talk. He is a quite a talker and says all sorts of fun things. One of his favorite expressions is "Kiss your foot." He also has a way of saying "ex-cell-ent" that is hysterical. None of his photos came out so I will include a photo of one of my Tongue-in-Beak Clay works that I just finished of an Alexandrine. Just about every Alexandrine I have ever met has been an incredibly delightful companion. I have to rate them as one of the most under rated parrot family birds. They are stunningly beautiful with all of their colors - several shades of green, lavender-gray, chestnut, and turquoise. Their eyes are yellow with a delicate ring of red and, of course, they have their large orange-red beak. I made the tail as long as I could without it becoming really fragile but it could have been a few inches longer to be really accurate. I think Harrper is going to join my list of the top 25 most enjoyable parrots I have ever met!

If you don't want to read my mini tirade about the bar next door go down to the day before this one ...

I often work late at night at my desk in the Laughing Parrot Gallery. One thing that I will never get used to is the number of people who stop and stare into the door or window to see what is in here. There are several good restaurants and a few bars in downtown Loveland so their are often people walking by. From time to time someone will come in who saw something in the window that they wanted to know more about. Right now I have a display of Exotic Birds From Around the World in the window. This display includes a few parrot family birds but is mostly softbills such as Toucans, Bee eaters, Rollers, Hornbills, Trogons, etc.

There are also usually some people from the bar next door that just hang out in front of my window and smoke because they are no longer allowed to smoke in the bar ... Colorado state law. I am sure that public urination is also against the law but I have watched drunks urinate in my front door alcove twice. Of course, by the time the police would get here, the drunk would be long gone. When I talked to the police about it I was told that their would be no way to prove that the person came out of the bar next door so there essentially was nothing that they could do about it. It is sad because this is really a delightful historic little downtown with good restaurants, gift shops, and art galleries. On the other side of my store is a Natural foods store and and a very cute store across the street sells baby stuff. I am also across the street from a theater that has been redone and is now a Loveland landmark. I have seen several live performances there.

It is also against the law for anyone to smoke within 10 or 15 feet of the front of any business but I have never seen anyone try to enforce that part of the law. I wish they would because the smoke filters into my display window and into the front of the store. I quit smoking over 20 years ago ... mostly because I realized how bad the smoke was for my birds. I guess you could call me a reformed smoker and I know that we can be extreme from time to time. I am adamant that I don't want to breathe in other people's cigarette smoke but I also believe that if people want to smoke it is their own business as long as they are in a smoker's environment or their own home (as long as their parrots don't have to breathe their cigarette smoke. I once watched the necropsy of a Timneh grey that spent half of his life on his owner's shoulder. The man was a heavy smoker and the bird's respiratory system looked black enough to be that of a coal miner.)

On July 1, 2006 my life changed dramatically. That was when the Colorado smoking ban went into effect. This meant that the people who go to the bar next door could no longer smoke in the bar. So the bar set up a patio at their back door for their smoking patrons and put a tent up with a TV. The problem is that this extension of the bar next to my carport and right below the side of my wonderful deck and my master bedroom windows. I can't use the deck at all because of the smoke and it certainly put an end to my putting any of my parrots outdoor for their daily sunshine. From about 11am to 2am almost every day and night, it sounds and smells like the bar patrons are in my home and they are often loud and obnoxious. My response has been to spend most of my life in my store and my office down here. I moved into a smaller bedroom in the front of my dwelling so I could sleep without hearing the shouts and laughter of people who have had too much to drink.

I also have some speakers outdoors and was playing classical music to drown them out in the evenings. One time I was really upset and it was quite loud so the police came to my front door because of a noise complaint. This was certainly a case of the pot calling the kettle black. In my conversations with the police, it is clear that I have no rights whatsoever in this situation. I knew there was a bar next door and I really never had any trouble with it before the smoking patio was added. The irony to me is the number of people I have watched stumble out to their cars and drive away. It really makes me wonder if the "crack down" on drunk driving is hypocrisy.

I had a delightful visitor today. For some reason that I am not always clear about, I have a thing for hen Umbrella Cockatoos. Especially if they are well loved. Notice I did not say well-behaved. They don't necessarily have to be completely well-behaved as long as their behavior is based on happiness. I have never believed that exuberant, happy-to-be-alive behavior is negative. When I meet a hen cockatoo that is full of herself, I really enjoy spending time with the bird. I have to admit that today was pretty much a yucky day. I am not sure whether I am recovering from something or getting something different but I felt lousy. Ginger's visit cheered me up tremendously! I spent a an hour or so visiting with Ginger and her caregiver Judy.t

About a month ago I did a consultation with another Umbrella hen and her family. She was also full of herself in a quite delightful way, but she had become aggressive to her male caregiver. My basic diagnosis was that they needed to find more creative ways to channel her energy into play and to learn to interpret her body language better. Some times with cockatoos, the line between exuberance and overload is not always easy to see.

I love meeting these well-loved cockatoos. It is then that I clearly see that cockatoos can be wonderful, if not demanding, human companions. Through the years I have met many people who do an excellent job with their cockatoos and rewarded with a positive relationship. A few years back I met a hen Umbrella who did the hokey pokey with her caregiver. It was so much fun to watch! Then several bird people started playing with her and she became very exuberant ... she was picking up our energy and we were all having fun. Her posturing and vocalizations were not those of a misbehaving cockatoo.

Unfortunately I have also met dozens of problem cockatoos in rescue situations and I have worked with dozens who scream incessantly or show aggression at the slightest provocation. What is the difference? With the handfeds, I think it is the people that they have encountered throughout their lives from the time they hatched. Not every cockatoo that hatches in aviculture has been blessed with nurturing from a caring breeder and not everyone has gone into a home that really understands their special needs for human interaction ... especially for instructional interaction. They all need a "job" whether that job is enthusiastically swinging from their playgyms or taking toys apart. They also need a supervisor who cares enough to teach them positive interactions and doesn't demand that they become their love sponges.

I have received some interesting comments about my previous rant about Dr. Pepperberg and Alex ... mostly positive. I found a quote from Carl Sagan that I think is appropriate for a discussion about animal intelligence.
“Philosophers and scientists confidently offer up traits said to be uniquely human, and the monkey and apes casually knock them down - toppling the pretension that humans constitute some sort of biological aristocracy among the beings on earth.” Alex has shown us that the word parrot could be substituted or added to monkey and apes in this quote.

On Sept 13, I included a graphic of a painting my father did of me when I was in the 4th grade. I found it when I was going through a mislabeled box. Another item that I found was a watercolor painting I did when I was 7 or 8 years old. This shows a very different type of childhood than the idyllic painting my father did of me as a young bird lover. I think it is quite amazing that I painted this type of subject at such a young age ... I guess it also shows that I had a "dark side" as a child. My father was an Air Force Colonel and he framed the painting and hung it in his office in downtown Philadelphia. When he asked me what the painting was called, I told him it was "Peter and the Atom Bomb." Obviously I was a child of the "Cold War." I think I called my little boy Peter because I was so fond of the musical story "Peter and the Wolf" as a child. As a past high school art teacher, I am quite amazed that I could create such an abstract yet identifiable painting of a young boy in a nuclear conflagration ... especially when I was that young. I am really happy that this childhood example of my artistic ability survived my many many moves.

The following message is not intended to insult my readers. It is also not intended to make anyone feel bad if they have been misinformed or have asked questions about Alex's welfare. It is a message intended only for the malicious people who are described below and probably won't recognize themselves in my words. Of course, the majority of these know-it-all people would never take the time to read anything on this blog.

To those mean-spirited, petty little miscreants who are using the Internet to bash Irene Pepperberg and proclaim that Alex was nothing but a lab rat ...
GET A LIFE AND GROW UP!
What gives you the right to try making yourself seem significant by mouthing off (again and again) about something you know NOTHING about.
Have you ever met Alex?
Have you ever been to the lab?
I have and you are all full of it..
As someone who has worked really hard to make life better for parrots, I am really sick of people like you who have to be the first one to tell everyone all of the bad things you hear when you don't even have the facts. Does your nasty behavior really make you feel more important? Sad, isn't it!

Occasionally I buy a copy of People Magazine. Sometimes I like the articles about real people and I certainly don't want to lose track of my knowledge of pop culture trivia. (Please note a slight edge of sarcasm) However I can certainly state that for a long time I thought that Paris Hilton was the Hilton Hotel in Paris. In fact, I actually wish that was the truth because I doubt that People would waste so much print space on a hotel.

That said, I really have a serious intent of bringing up People Magazine. I noticed in the section on Passages that they had a photo of Alex and a notification of his death. If there is anyone who doubts the influence that Alex has had in acquainting the world (parrot lovers and people who don't know diddlysquat about parrots) with the truth about parrot intelligence, just consider this blurb in one of the most read magazines in the U.S.

I heard about Dr. Pepperberg's work with Alex at least 20 years ago and have visited with her on several occasions. I only had the pleasure of meeting Alex once when I was visiting Tucson. He took a little time to warm up to me but when he did I spent an unforgettable 10 minutes interacting with him. My time was up when one of his

favorite students walked into the lab. I was no longer of any significance to him. (But that was OK - it is not that often that a mere mortal gets to spend that much time with a legend.) One of the points that Dr. Pepperberg has made on several occasions is that there was no evidence that Alex was an exceptionally intelligent African grey. She believed that most any normal grey could have been used for her work. This idea verifies one of the most important aspects of my work with parrots and that is that a great deal of their behavior is learned. It is difficult to believe that some people are still adamant that parrot behavior is all hard-wired. Some is; some isn't. I know that my late great African grey, Bongo Marie was every bit as smart as Alex and so are most of the greys that I have met. The difference is in the teaching and learning. I taught Bongo Marie an incredible amount of stuff and she learned very quickly, but it was not in the name of science. On the other hand Alex learned in a highly structured manner that qualified him as a scientific experiment. This is not to say that he was not loved; to know him was to love him or at least to develop a devoted affinity towards him. Alex developed a strong personality during his years with Dr. Pepperberg and he certainly was more than just an experiment. He did not always do what he was supposed to do and he made it quite clear that he was up to the task; he just was not in the mood to do it. He made up his own words that his caregivers had to learn so that they could do his bidding properly. He had a delightful talent for manipulation, which is just more evidence of his intelligence. If an animal attempts to deceive or manipulate another animal it is evidence that they are aware that they can change that animal's behavior. I think that this criteria indicates intelligence in the vast majority of companion parrots.

I think that Dr. Pepperberg's work with Alex profoundly changed the world of parrots and I will always be grateful to this wonderful bird for making my life much easier. I started giving programs about wild birds over thirty five ago. When I first got into parrots, I was lucky to have a great deal of knowledge about birds and this helped me figure out more about parrots. At that time, so many people treated parrots like caged birds rather than companions. The parrot sat in a cage on a wooden dowel. He might have had a lava rock hanging from a chain. Sometimes he talked and if he was really lucky and tame enough, his owner might bring him out of the cage from time to time and he would get to climb up to the top of his cage. Sunflower seed was the diet of most birds because many people thought that all birds ate nothing but seed.

I think that so many people who have gotten into birds in the last few years or so think that bird keeping has just about always been like it is now ... that one could always find decent information about parrots ... NOT SO! The changes in the last 15-20 years in regards to parrot information have been beyond phenomenal. When I started writing articles about parrots, the word socialization had rarely if ever been applied to raising baby parrots. Socialization of young parrot chicks became my crusade. An arrogant breeder once said to me, "You can't prove this socialization crap is true and until you can I am not going to waste my time with it." This statement was not only ignorant but it proved her total lack of common sense and knowledge about parrots. Back then there was hardly any in-depth information about the biology and ethology of wild parrots. Of course intelligence goes hand in hand with early socialization and all animals with a modicum of intelligence need to learn their social and survival skills. An extension of this aspect about parrots that I also had to fight for was to get people to understand the intelligence of their birds. I would explain how intelligent parrots are and use observations, experience, and anecdotes to back up my claim. Some people enthusiastically nodded their heads in agreement but others shook their heads in disbelief. I still hear people say that parrots are just mimicking us when they speak and have no idea of what they are saying. It was even a struggle to try to convince people that parrots were intelligent enough to deserve compassion and concern for their welfare. This was especially true when I spoke to groups that either did not have parrots or to groups that included production type breeders (or "animal users" as aviculturist Laurella Desborough once referred to her colleagues with a financial interests in parrots.) I spent a lot of time swimming upstream to educate people about parrots and in some ways I still do. Of course, making enemies of some people is actually a measure of success.

Along came Alex! He was featured on television shows about animal intelligence (As I recall this list includes NOVA, National Geographic, Discovery, PBS, various children's chows and many more.) In addition to a number of books, any magazine that had to do with animals, birds, parrots, animal intelligence, animal behavior, etc. eventually made mention of Alex. People who never had even thought about parrots, started to know haw smart they are. I have had a good number of people come into the Laughing Parrot Gallery who have never owned or even thought of owning one, yet they know that parrots are really smart because they have heard about Alex. It became easier and easier to get people to understand the physical, emotional, and intellectual needs of parrots because they had learned about Alex. There were and are still nay sayers ... I once heard bird trainer Steve Martin mock Dr. Pepperberg as someone practicing bad science. And of course people who had more concern for the buck than the bird didn't like the changes Alex was influencing in the world of companion parrots.

I have always believed that it is more difficult to accept mistreatment of any animal when people realize that the animal shares what are considered to be human traits. If we have a basic comprehension of history, we can see how easily the human race embraces the dehumanization of people to justify bigotry, racism, and genocide. Add to that the fact that the human race tends to have an arrogance of superiority when it comes to other species on the planet ... I call this "speciesism." The accusation of anthropomorphism is often flung at anyone who tries to make a favorable comparison between an animal and humans. There is a vast difference between acknowledging an animal's innate characteristics and turning a parrot into a delightful little human like Disney's Jose Carioca. The truth is that quality science has shown that many of the traits that we have smugly thought to be human are shared on many levels by animals. It is not anthropomorphism to assign an animal a certain "human-like" trait if that animal innately shares that trait. This, of course, brings me back to Alex, and and the vast difference he has made in the way so many of us now look at animal (and particularly parrot) intelligence. How can anyone with any intelligence and compassion, mistreat an animal who shows as much intelligence and understanding as Alex? This is what Alex's legacy is to me.

Sometimes it just seems that there is way to much to get done. I have been working on CPQ #72 that will feature play. I just finished doing a whole bunch of drawings for the toys articles. I have 4 Tongue-in-Beak Clayworks upstairs that I am trying to finish but I just finished several new ones that are birds I have not done before ... a Jardine's, Green-cheeked Conure, Bare-eyed Cockatoo, a Great-bill and two wild birds - a Black-billed Magpie and a cute little Western Tanager. To see them all, go to the TIB page. I also just finished an Umbrella Cockatoo that I think is delightful. I have always loved the way that they throw their head down with a fully extended crest.

A lot has happened in the last month or so that I should have been writing about. I'll try to remember some of it. In August, Susanne Cochran sponsored a Toy making Workshop. I spoke about why birds need toys and their different styles of playing. Andrea Frederick and Cindy Dietrich talked about toy safety and techniques for making toys. Then we all got to make our own toys. Most of my parrots really love their bells and the more racket they make the happier they are. So I decided to go with the bell theme and I ended up making a toy that was quickly dubbed "Hell's Bells." It is 2 feet long, has a total of 9 bells, with all sorts of other stuff. I hung it up last week on the

play gym area in the store, but so far no one has touched it ... maybe it is still too awe inspiring?!? Now if my male Double-yellow head, Rascal, still lived with me, he would have demolished it by now. He is the real bell aficionado. As many of you know, he now lives with Troy Beaudoin (Terry and Shari's son) in Minnesota and they are very happy together. Maybe if I ever get upset with Shari or Terry for even the most petty little reason, I will send the Hells Bells to Rascal. The combination of Rascal and the Hell's Bells toy would be an assault to any one's eardrums. To be honest, I don't think that Hell's Bells could be a marketable toy. It would be cost prohibitive and would drive most people crazy if their parrots really loved it.

A few weeks ago, I drove down to Andrea's to meet her parrots and go out for dinner. The drive was about an hour and I had NPR on my radio. A Dr. Stuart Brown, who is the founder of the National Institute for Play was being interviewed. Talk about synchronicity! Ever since the Toy Workshop, I have been working on a special CPQ that would deal mostly with play. I rarely listen to anything but music on the radio and the fact that my radio was turned to NPR was amazing. The interview started when I backed out of my carport and lasted until I drove into Andrea's parking area. Look for my in-depth article about parrots and play in the next issue.

I went to storage today to bring several boxes of the CPH and back issues to the store so that I could fill orders. I brought one box home that was marked issue #49. It turned out to be all of my photos and some memorabilia from the time I was a kid to before I moved to Colorado. I was sure that all of this stuff was lost and recently I had actually been looking for something that I found in the box. I loved birds as far back as I can remember. My father was a hobby painter and when I was in the 4th grade he painted a picture of me with our Budgie, Miki. I was sitting next the window and there was a wild sparrow outside the window. The painting was in the box. The condition is not that great and I don't think that Miki was actually that yellow or quite that body shape. As I remember him, he was a normal green Budgie. I adored him! I have told his story in this article on the web site Budgerigars: The Most Popular Pet in America. I have been traveling down Memory Lane tonight looking back at my life from when I was a baby (I was a very cute baby!). I am beginning to understand why my mother always said that she just couldn't understand how she got so old.

I am watching an African Grey named Topper and an Orange-fronted Conure named Tikko. Tikko reminds me of my Cockatiel, Rosie, from many years ago. Rosie used to sit with his head in his bell and this is one of Tikko's favorite things to do. Rosie was a very special bird and I guess he considered himself a quite a "ladies man." At about 8 pm I would ask him "Do you want to go to bed?" and then whistled his lullaby for him. You know how parrot family birds love to mix things up. A friend of mine was bird sitting Rosie and her neighbor came over. She walked over to Rosie and told him he was a very pretty boy. To this he replied, "I love you, you're pretty! Do you want to go to bed?"

Topper, the Grey that's here, occasionally talks in a man's deep voice. When I am her working late at night it really throws me3 until I remember he is here. I put him to bed at about 8 or 9 but as long as I am down here, he keeps me company with all sorts of conversation, whistles, and alarm noised. He whistles the "tune" from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He is very talented. He is quite tame but I have been going really slow in working with him because he doesn't seem very comfortable with me yet. He is very tame with his people, but has not warmed up to me yet. When I make eye contact with him, he fluffs up and postures aggressively. He also says "Scary Stuff" when he feels threatened. Since I don't want to force him to come out, I have been doing what I call "the chair exercise" with him. I have been sitting in front of his cage reading a book. Occasionally I look over at him but then I lower my head in a submissive posture. Today he came very close to me and took an almond from my hand for the first time. Hopefully he will come out to visit with me in the next day or so.

One of the reasons I decided I would not work with him right away is because my energy has been pretty bad the last two weeks. The most important aspect of this can be summed up in 3 words, I HATE QUEST. When I moved here I used them for my DSL and phone service. I made the mistake of thinking they were the only phone company here - they aren't. I have to admit that I paid my bill late - sometimes I can barely keep track of what day it is. I received no shut off notices and they shut off my phone and DSL. I called in a payment immediately but it took 7 days to get reconnected. It didn't matter who I talked with or what I said. The last 2 weeks, both my phone line and my Internet access has been down. Since I do most of my business using the Internet, this crippled me. I could not check my email, use Paypal, run charges, access Ebay, upload information to the CPQ web site. So after the first 7 days without phone or computer, I switched to FRII - another DSL company. Unfortunately Quest had to take part in the change so it took me several more days to get up and running. I talked to the service man and he informed me that it would cost $110.00 got him to come out to change the line over. He informed me that Quest was a revenue based company and his job was to create revenue. I watched a Quest ad tonight and they were touting their great service. Finally I got service again yesterday when FRII was nice enough to send someone out to move the wires from one post to another.

Without my phone or Internet, I have been doing a lot of artwork. I particularly enjoy doing the clay sculptures and have been doing some birds that I have