Sunday morning was filled
with many preparations in the kitchen.� First there was apples to
be cleaned and cut, oranges, celery, carrots, cucumbers, sweet potatoes,
and green beans.��� Pancakes and eggs you ask?����
Don't be silly that's not good for birds and why else would I be cutting
up all of these veggies on a Sunday morning if not for birds?�
To appreciate this to the fullest,�
think back when your young infant took their first bite of solid food!!�
Tears came to your eyes, a crescendo of music filled the air, your heart
beat with pride as they moved the food slowly around accepting it with
a smile as they swallowed.� That's the feeling you get as your baby
parrot accepts their carrots without a rebellious flick of the head throwing
it to the outer limits of their cage.�
By the time I heard Charlie stirring
in her cage her breakfast was prepared.�� They told me corn on
the cob was her favorite so I had it placed neatly on top of her bowl.�
As I slowly removed the sheet from her cage I said� "Good Morning
".�� Thinking one day, if nothing more than habit,� she
would respond with "Good Morning" when the sheet was removed.�
There she was in all her glory watching
me remove the darkness from around her.� When I opened the door to bring
her out for her yummy brunch she� reluctantly climbed to the top
of her cage.� She ate the corn delicately relishing every bite as
she threw the apples and oranges aside looking for more corn.� I learned
several things during the first meal of my large parrot.
-
Never
pile food in a large bowl
-
Never put their
favorite food on
top
-
Always space the food so everything
is
visible (saves on mess haha)
-
Never serve food on top of the
cage
-
Never position cage
close to walls
or furniture (unless you enjoy washing them)
-
Always place a plastic sheet under
the cage (for easy cleanup)
-
Always
remove food when they are
finished (if it sits there chances are they are going to throw it or eat
spoiled food)
-
Finally
don't stop preparing foods
daily (some days they eat better than others)
Charlie's homecoming was a breeze.��
She experienced none of the problems we� had� read about.�
She ate, she played, she went into her cage, she repeated these steps thought
out the day.�� Except for a few expected sounds she was perfect.�
Several� authors warned that Amazon red loreds were noisy, demanding,�
fussy about surroundings, and not as playful as other species of amazons.�
With all these facts we considered ourselves extremely lucky.� Charlie
was a delight.
Sometime between Sunday evening and
Thursday morning someone took our Charlie and replaced her with a domineering,
screaming, cage bound, attack bird!�
Thursday morning� I uncovered
her, as usual,� reciting "Good Morning".� As my hand passed by
her with the sheet she lunged at the side of the cage attempting to bite
my fingers.� For a quick moment's glance I thought I saw fangs
protruding from her beak (remember� my horrendous fear of birds).�
I tried to comfort her, thinking maybe
my quick movement frightened her.� I stooped to her level watching
her beautiful black eyes dilate excessively between black and yellow.�
I wondered if she was as afraid of me as I was of� her.� Maybe
in my mind I would like to think so, but the message she was sending me
had a little more
bite
to it.� The postman didn't need to knock
twice with that message. I backed away giving her a little time and space
to regroup.� We
all have bad days, why� should I get so
upset.� She wasn't ready to meet the new day, she was having a bad�
dream, she didn't like my "Good Morning".� Who� knew????�
Surely
not me.
I literally ran to the phone to call
Jerry.� Wait until he heard that our beautiful green� baby turned
into a Big Green Mean Fighting Machine with the beak of a crocodile.��
What could he say?� He was at work and he knew my fear and how anxious
I was at that� moment.� We decided to leave Charlie in the cage
for the day until Jerry got home from� work.�� I hated leaving
her penned up, but I wasn't about to argue that point.
