Kindness, Appreciation, Compassion - Pass It On

My friend, Patti Christie, with her dearly loved Amazon, "Higgins"
(Picture is from 2004.)

Many years ago, when I was just beginning my career as a public school teacher, I had the privilege to teach  first and second graders.  It was a privilege, because I was witness to children exploding into literacy; watching them become readers,  proud "authors," problem solvers.  It was, to use the over-used word, awesome.  And,  I had a wonderful principal, who allowed me the freedom in my classroom to do what some of my teammates I'm sure considered unnecessary and unorthodox.    I kept animals in my classroom.  

I knew that most kids had some exposure to dogs and probably cats. But the unknown to me was, if my students did have dogs and cats at home, did their parents model gentle care, kindness and love toward their pets?  And I didn't know if birds and rabbits were part of their life experiences up to that point. 

Since I couldn't answer that question (and we all know the horror stories of chained up dogs, animals without shelter during extreme weather, empty water bowls, physical abuse, death), I wanted my kids to have hands-on positive experiences that they might reflect on and take with them into their coming years.  I wanted them to be able to gently hold a rabbit, pet it, speak to it with compassion, and understand its worth.  We laughed together as Cisco (mini-lop) did leaps in the air, flipping 180° and leaving a trail of flying "raisinettes" in his wake!  They heard that lovely chirp of parakeets in the classroom.   The noisier the kids were, the louder the birds got.  It was wonderful.  My students loved it.  I modeled proper care, cleanliness, and feeding...and kindness and compassion.   I loved that rabbit.  I loved my little flock of parakeets. I hope some of that rubbed off on my young students.

And, when our senior citizen dogs were in their last days and couldn't be left alone, both my husband (a teacher as well) and I took them to school with us.  They slept under our desks. Our students watched us give them companionship, tenderness, and care in their final days.  They were not alone. They were loved.

And I hope that those children left my classroom (and my husband's as well) with  an appreciation of the value that all living creatures have; that the animals that we deem pets deserve  to be treated with respect, and cared for with kindness, compassion, and appreciation, no matter if their experience is with the short life of a mouse, a gerbil, or the decades that a macaw can share with us. We are responsible.

My point here is, if you have animals in your life, feathered or not, please take the time to share your love, your passion, your kindness, appreciation, compassion with others, especially young people. Tell them about your animals.   Let them touch (safely), explain the funny quirks and wonderful qualities that make your pets so special. If you have children, let them take on responsibilities within their age and capabilities, so that they feel they are their own, and they can feel the wonderful inner gifts that caring for an animal generates within us...even at a young age. 

Our birds, our animals bring us such great joy.  I know that all of my animals have played  profound roles in my life.  I bet the same goes for you as well.    And,  I realize I've used the words "kindness, compassion, appreciation and love" over and over again in this blog.   But...can you say them too much? Can you  model them/"live" them too much?    Please, just be cognizant and do pass them on.  They are invaluable, tremendous gifts to share.  

OHHHH, NUTS!!!

All of us know that our birds benefit from regularly having nuts in their diets, unsalted, raw nuts shelled or unshelled.  And my guess is that you, too, have noticed that nuts in the shell at the grocery stores and online before the holidays, (okay, all year 'round) are really expensive.  But, in December the grocery stores stock bin after bin of unshelled nuts, all headed to the mantle to be stocking stuffers and centerpieces.  Except, not all of those nuts make it out of the grocery store. And after the holidays, the stores start marking those nuts down.

I won't belabor the point: this year I was almost too late.   A friend of mine who works  at King Soopers (Krogers in other parts of the country) called two days ago to say that the produce department  had bagged up all of their bulk nuts from the holidays in  approximately one pound bags, and they were all marked $1.00.  Clearance. Yup, you read right: one dollar. Not a typo here. One dollar.    She asked me if I'd like her to pick some up for my birds. We all know what my answer was, "OF COURSE! I'll take 30 bags!"   And so, I happily exchanged cash for nutritious nuts, and started a frantic hunt around town to find more.  A friend of mine in the Denver metro area searched out other stores, and found about 36 pounds, bagged and priced the same.   I found another 14 pounds.    And then...the well went dry.   All gone. But, ohhhhh, between us we had, in less than 24 hours, stocked up over 70 pounds of fabulous nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds,  Brazil nuts, hazelnuts) for our birds, at a fraction of their normal cost,  to also share with the flocks of two other friends.  Money so well spent.   Unshelled nuts to last months.

Nothing beats watching a parrot rip methodically into a pecan, a walnut, an almond, a Brazil nut, in the shell.   It's inspirational to watch the problem solving as the shell goes by the wayside within seconds, and the nut has been discovered.   And...nothing is wasted.  Do your birds head down to the bottom of the cage to check out the shell pieces for left behind nut meats?  Mine do. So smart.

Nuts serve a number of purposes for our birds (all ending with nutrition). First, they are a part of their daily diet.  Second, we use them as reward for solving foraging puzzles, birdie brain games.  And third, they are invaluable as tiny, tiny bites of treats or rewards throughout the day as positive reinforcement.

You would think as old as I am, and as long as I've had birds, that I would be ahead of this "markdown" strategy at the local groceries.  But, sometimes life gets in the way and it takes a call from a friend to remind me that there are bargains to be had, for our birds, every year, in the produce departments...if we just watch.  So, the moral of this missive is, keep your eyes out right after the holidays next year and grab up a bundle of those "expensive" nuts at an incredible price....for your birds.   Oh, crack open a pecan or two for yourself. Your birds won't mind sharing.  

 

ZIP TIES - THE CONTINUING SAGA

My Feathered Fox, Malibu, ready to attack her evil nemesis:

her food bowl! (Note the stainless steel strap across and 

around the bowl holder.)

If you read my first blog entry regarding keeping acrylic bowls in their holders in my Blue and Gold's cage, you may have left the post thinking that it was "Mission accomplished!" and "All's well that ends well."  Silly you.   Actually, silly me. 

Over the last week or so since I wrote that article,  I really thought that I had resolved the issue of untwisted bowls that resulted in thrown water and food.  After my snippet-of-paper-towel fix, wedging the bowls in their acrylic holders, I watched my very determined macaw continue to work those bowls, as tightly and snuggly as they were held...and succeed in her misguided (well, in MY opinion) mission.  

Malibu has been tenacious.  The way she chooses what to use as her tools: her tongue, then her lower beak, then moving to a different side of the bowl, then both mandibles...fascinating.  She is such a problem solver that, if it weren't so frustrating to watch her twist the entire bowl and holder upside down and jet propel  the contents, I would feel a great sense of admiration (and pride!) for her determination and mental skills.    But no matter how smart she is, she still needs to be fed and have fresh water.

What has transpired over the past week has been a true lesson in observing parrot intelligence, and then outwitting that wit, for her own sake.  And, knock on wood...I think I have finally found the solution to my dilemma with this incredibly bright bird.    Oddly enough, it all goes back to my second blog about zip ties.  

I had reached a point of frustration with the use of the acrylic, twist in/out bowls.  I decided to revert back to the original bowl holders and metal bowls that came with her cage.  The problem, as I saw it, was that she had no qualms about lifting her bowls out and tossing them, and then removing the holder and giving it the ol' heave ho as well.   But, the problem was not the bowls, it was the holders.   

Now, let me say, I LOVE my Avian Adventure cages (a reason to write another blog, for sure) but there is a flaw in their system for holding bowls.   With a feisty bird, the bowl can easily be lifted up over the lip and out of the holder.   There is nothing to prevent that vertical motion.   (It could easily be resolved if Avian Adventures had welded one more bar across the top  of the holder...but they didn't!)   

And so, I dug through my zip tie stash and found two very heavy duty nylon zip ties, probably 3/8" wide and extremely strong, and wrapped them around the holders, securing the zip ties to the bottoms of the holders with smaller zip ties, snipped off.  They held the bowls in beautifully.  There was NO WAY she could wrangle the bowls out.  Did I say strong? Did I say no way?   Again, oh, silly me.   Malibu made short work of those ties: I watched the wheels start turning in her gifted bird brain.   Within 2-3 minutes of checking out the new, "indestructible" zip tie straps, she proceeded to reach down and snap the tie on her food bowl in two like it was a piece of raw spaghetti.    I thought I'd solved the problem.   I hadn't.   But it was definitely a good start.  I was not deterred from my mission.

Note the SS  zip tie beneath the bowl

attached to a bar on the side of the cage.

There are stainless steel zip ties.  And since they are metal, parrots cannot snip them in two.  I had some in my supplies - they were narrow, but worth experimenting with.  I proceeded to re-do my zip tie "fix" with metal ties, also securing the holders to  the sides of the cage below the bowl areas.  This was a step toward success.  she could not break the tie, she could NOT get the bowl out of the holder, but she DID figure out how to grab the edge of the bowl and "pop" it so that the food in the bowl took a vertical trip and then angled over the edge of the bowl...to the bottom of her cage.  I was not deterred from my mission.

I did have to resort to even stronger/wider SS zip ties, but that has stopped her from being able to "pop" the bowls in the holders.  These metal ties are expensive, (I paid $15 for a package of 5 at my local hardware store.) but I only needed 2 of the wider ones, so I have back-ups for future emergencies. For two days now, Malibu's food and water have remained in their respective bowls, unmoved, food and water available.  I do not believe, however, that the next "issue" needing resolution will  be resolving my macaw's creative food and water bowl problems.  That one, for the time being and much to Malibu's chagrin,  has been taken care of.  Case closed.

ZIP IT...ZIP IT GOOD! Part I

What would we do without zip ties?    They hold everything imaginable together for us, way beyond, I'm sure, their original intent.  (If you'd like to know 
where they came from, read some background here.  It's actually pretty interesting...dangerously interesting!)   You may already be aware of how indispensable zip ties are, and this may be redundant or elementary. But just in case you didn't know of the joys of zip ties, read on.

A number of years ago I found that zip ties were to become invaluable tools in my parrots' cages and outdoor flights. Add me to the list of avian zip tie devotees. There are at least five or six ways that I use zip ties on a daily basis.   Here are two of them:

1 There are times when I can't find an appropriately sized quick link to hang a toy in a cage. Zip ties are the perfect solution...or maybe not. You must know your bird: it may look at a nylon zip tie, reach up, open beak, and proceed to snap that nylon strip of toy holder in two. Down goes the toy.  Wrong solution for the problem - go get a new quick link!

Here's what you can do to avoid this predicament:  

•IF you know that your bird won't consider the zip tie to be just another  quick chew toy, then choose the best-sized zip tie for the job. Ties come in a multitude of sizes, extremely small up to very sturdy, thick and strong.   Consider the small zips for small bird toys, and the heavier ones for medium to large-sized birds' toys. Choose your tie in relationship to your birds' beaks!


•When you are attaching the tie, pull it as tightly as you can so there is no chance that your bird might catch a toe, a beak, anything! Lastly, cut the remaining unused portion off...as close to the joining juncture as you possibly can.   The edges of the nylon may feel sharp, so make sure that you cut very close with no jagged edges.(I use utility cutters, like these: here) 

•When hanging something awkward and heavy, try attaching your zip tie first in the cage (leaving a good-sized loop), slip the toy onto the z-tie, and then proceed to pull it tight, clip it off.  The tie will support the weight of the toy no matter what sized loop you first create.

2 Permanently shut a food/water door that you are no longing using (because  the bowls and the feeding/watering space is not bird-user friendly. See previous blog!)   I first kept the doors to those spaces secured with large spring clamps 'borrowed'  from my husband's workshop.   They worked well - the clamps were stronger than the vice grip of my Blue and Gold's beak.    But...the clamps scratched the metal cage.    My solution was, from the outside of the cage,  to wrap a heavy, strong  nylon zip tie around the unused doors, encompassing the bars nearest the doors, and pulling them extremely tight...flat with the door.  I then clipped the remaining ends very close, and voila...safely shut doors/gates.   And when there comes a time that those feeding and watering spaces are put to use again, it will be as easy as clipping the zip tie off.

Look for more uses for zip ties in my next blog.  I'll also post locations where you can easily find reasonably prices zip ties to use in your own bird room.   They are truly indispensable small solutions to big problems!    

       

OUTFOXING A FEATHERED FOX!

There are times  (that would be MOST of the time) when my birds seem to revel in undoing, unscrewing, chewing through, pitching, and shredding items I provide for their entertainment, their safety and for goodness’s sake, their nourishment!  I’m sure that many of you have experienced some of my frustrations.   Don’t get me wrong - I realize what role I play in my flock’s lives: I am the provider...they are the destroyers.   And for the most part, I can live with that.

The B&G Feathered Fox

Two examples:

1 I use 1” sisal rope in my birds’ cages as an alternative perch material.  I know that the life-span of a sisal perch is as limited as a wooden perch.  It’s just a matter of time before busy beaks have worked their way through the ropes and they are no longer perch-worthy, becoming a single strand, hanging off of the side of the cage...ignored.  Or...

2 I give my macaws a variety of very large, safe bells to shake and rattle, and they do! They love them, and I love it, too.  It gets pretty noisy in the bird room and outside in the flights when bells are grabbed and rattled to death.  I mean that pretty literally: my birds are masters of unscrewing the largest quick links and then flinging the attached bells to their impending deaths at the bottom of the cage or flight.  My job, of course, is to pick up the bell and link and re-attach, so that this can happen again and again.  Kind of like the movie, Groundhog’s Day.

But, when it comes to the nourishment component of this story, it’s a serious matter.  One of my Blue and Gold Macaws has never been happy just eating and drinking  out of the metal bowls that came with her cage.   Her mission in life, early on in this cage when it was new a few years back, was to undo the spring locks on the gates to the food/water dishes, and proceed to extract the bowls, food/water et all, and fling them into the bottom of her cage. And then give  them the evil eye.

I tried returning the bowls to their original places, new food, new water, giving no response to her behavior.   She   continued to dump everything.   I had to find another way to make sure she had fresh food and water.  (She is not a parrot that spends time on the bottom of her cage playing, scrounging around.  I couldn’t count on setting her bowls on the floor of her cage.) 

My solution to this dilemma was to buy two acrylic bowls that we use on converted animal crates and I attached them to the front door of her cage.   Perfect.   I turned the bowls in place, she ate, she drank, and the original gates for her food and water dishes were permanently shut. (Another blog.  Another solution.   Another time!) This set-up has worked for absolutely years!   And then, a week or so ago, she changed her behavior.

Little Miss Cage and Bowl Wrecker started squeezing the heavy bars of her cage, snapping them mightily.   The sound was enormous.  I can only imagine the amount of pressure it takes with her beak to do that!   After that, I noticed that she was grabbing the edge of her acrylic food bowl with her lower beak and the closest bar of the cage and squeezing the bejeebies out of both of them and then releasing.   What a cracking sound that was!   And THEN she proceeded to twist and turn the bowl free from its holder and hurl it to the bottom of the cage, food and all. After that, it was on to mutilating the acrylic holder until it was in pieces, the bolt and wing nut somewhere beneath her cage or across the room.   And then on to the water bowl, etc., etc.   

I had to become a detective.  What was causing this radical, destructive, out of the blue behavior?   I came up with three possible causes, but I don’t believe that I’ve truly gotten to the bottom of this mystery.   One thought was that it has become so cold in the past two weeks that my birds are not spending their days outdoors.  They have outside cage time indoors but it’s not the same.  Second, I realized that I had rolled her cage into a different position in the bird room. Third, was she just so bored that “springing” the cage bars and tearing up her food and water bowls were signals of  pure frustration or boredom?   Could these things be factors in her aggressive behavior toward her food and water bowls?  I don’t think that I’ve gotten to the bottom of this issue...but I have solved the problem of making sure food and water are in those bowls and secure from her bolt-cutting beak!  Insuring that she eats and drinks fresh food and water every day is imperative...bad behaviors or not.

Here is what I did:   I made sure that I had four acrylic twist-on bowls just for her; two to clean and refill every morning and night, and two as placeholders while I was getting breakfast and dinner ready for the birds.   My goal was to make sure that there was NO way that she could unscrew the bowl from its base.   I took  very small pieces of paper towel, folded  in half, and used them to wedge the bowls in place. She can’t get (or doesn’t seem to want to get) beneath the bowls to tear at the paper, and even if she did, she wouldn’t get to the place where the bowl is wedged into the holder with the paper.   It has worked.   

My big blue girl still occasionally tries to twist her food bowl, but she can’t get it to move.  The behaviors (bar springing and attempted bowl removal)  have greatly diminished over the past few days.  The bowls' edges feel like they’ve been in the garbage disposal by mistake, but the bowl and its components are intact, and I’ve insured that she gets the nourishment  she needs.

This was my, hopefully permanent resolution to this problem.  Have you experienced the same thing (food and water bowl throwing)?   How did  you  resolve the issue?  And to what do you attribute your bird’s behavior?    I will continue to observe and try to identity what triggers these behaviors if they reoccur, and provide alternative safe, positive solutions to keep Malibu happily fueled!   

Next blog:   battening down the hatches...literally...safely, inexpensively and permanently.   Yes...it can be done!