Read Online Pickles The Parrot: A Humorous Look At Life With An African Grey by Georgi Abbott - Free Book Online
Authors: Georgi Abbott
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vocabulary from me. As it turned out, he'd been reading
the dictionary behind my back.
I think the most serious issue was about 2
years after we got him, when Pickles started to bite Neil. He was
biting hard and drawing blood any time Neil tried to get him to
step up. There were 2 reasons we believe were the cause. I had come
out from behind the counter at the shop one day to help someone
choose some flies and another customer ducked behind the counter
and got Pickles to step up. He moved fast for a large, imposing
looking man and I didn’t have time to react. By the time I got to
him, Pickles was running up his arm and the man was grabbing his
beak and teasingly shaking Pickles head. Pickles didn’t like this
and he bit, but this guy just thought it was funny and kept doing
it. I got Pickles off the guy’s arm as soon as I got there but the
harm had been done.
From that moment, Pickles would talk to men
but he didn’t like being too close and would not step up for them,
and this included Neil. Neil became quite fearful of Pickles and of
course, Pickles picked up on this. He would offer Neil his neck for
scratches but when Neil went to oblige, Pickles would whip his head
around and bite—hard.
Around the same time, Neil had taken a
6-month job out of town, which meant he was only home for the odd
weekend. During this time, Pickles bonded tight with me and Neil
had become almost a stranger to him. It was frustrating for me when
Neil came home to visit because, since he couldn’t get close to
Pickles there was little interaction between the two of them.
Pickles had grown use to our routine of going for walks around the
house or playing on the couch. He can be quite the card while
playing and I would try to get Neil to watch but Neil was beginning
to resent the time I spent with Pickles when he and I had so little
time together these days. I was afraid their relationship was
doomed for life, which wasn’t fair for all involved.
I hatched a plan. Once he finished the
out-of-town job, I made Neil Pickles’ primary caregiver. Neil did
all the feeding and all the cage cleaning. Pickles’ favourite
treats are pine nuts so Neil would drop them into Pickles’ bowl or
next to him throughout the day. Neil didn’t get too close the first
few days but made a point of standing next to Pickles just to chat.
I taught Neil how to read Pickles body language so he could
anticipate a bite and before long he was able to pick his moments
and get Pickles to step up. All interaction with Pickles was to be
fun, nothing negative and I handled any unpleasant situations that
arose. Pickles soon learned that all interaction with Neil was fun
and games and they bonded quickly. A few months later, Neil wrote
an article for Good Bird Magazine entitled The Myth of One Person
Birds. He wrote how to change it and how it’s selfish not to. If
something happens to a parrot’s primary caregiver what becomes of
that parrot? What kind of life will he have if he’s incapable of
bonding to anybody else?
A short time down the road, Neil had to go
out of town again for 2 months and this time Pickles was miserable.
If Pickles is miserable, I’m miserable. Not just because I feel
sorry for him but also because the little snot is convinced it’s
entirely my fault so he rags on me all day. If parrots had their
own swear words, his spiteful squawks would surely be unspeakable
and when he does use his words, it’s an insistent “Dadddeeeeeeeee.
Daddy be right back!! Dadddeeeeeee. Daddy’s home???
Dadddeeeeeee….”. I’d rather pluck nose hairs than listen to
that.
Two nights after Neil's departure, Pickles is
especially cranky. After an intense bout of the above behavior and
mad at me for ignoring him, he stomped around the top of his cage
attacking every single toy that had the nerve to cross his path
then promptly ran down the outside cage bars and plopped his head
into the outside pellet bowl. There he hung, clinging to the bars
upside down with
the dictionary behind my back.
I think the most serious issue was about 2
years after we got him, when Pickles started to bite Neil. He was
biting hard and drawing blood any time Neil tried to get him to
step up. There were 2 reasons we believe were the cause. I had come
out from behind the counter at the shop one day to help someone
choose some flies and another customer ducked behind the counter
and got Pickles to step up. He moved fast for a large, imposing
looking man and I didn’t have time to react. By the time I got to
him, Pickles was running up his arm and the man was grabbing his
beak and teasingly shaking Pickles head. Pickles didn’t like this
and he bit, but this guy just thought it was funny and kept doing
it. I got Pickles off the guy’s arm as soon as I got there but the
harm had been done.
From that moment, Pickles would talk to men
but he didn’t like being too close and would not step up for them,
and this included Neil. Neil became quite fearful of Pickles and of
course, Pickles picked up on this. He would offer Neil his neck for
scratches but when Neil went to oblige, Pickles would whip his head
around and bite—hard.
Around the same time, Neil had taken a
6-month job out of town, which meant he was only home for the odd
weekend. During this time, Pickles bonded tight with me and Neil
had become almost a stranger to him. It was frustrating for me when
Neil came home to visit because, since he couldn’t get close to
Pickles there was little interaction between the two of them.
Pickles had grown use to our routine of going for walks around the
house or playing on the couch. He can be quite the card while
playing and I would try to get Neil to watch but Neil was beginning
to resent the time I spent with Pickles when he and I had so little
time together these days. I was afraid their relationship was
doomed for life, which wasn’t fair for all involved.
I hatched a plan. Once he finished the
out-of-town job, I made Neil Pickles’ primary caregiver. Neil did
all the feeding and all the cage cleaning. Pickles’ favourite
treats are pine nuts so Neil would drop them into Pickles’ bowl or
next to him throughout the day. Neil didn’t get too close the first
few days but made a point of standing next to Pickles just to chat.
I taught Neil how to read Pickles body language so he could
anticipate a bite and before long he was able to pick his moments
and get Pickles to step up. All interaction with Pickles was to be
fun, nothing negative and I handled any unpleasant situations that
arose. Pickles soon learned that all interaction with Neil was fun
and games and they bonded quickly. A few months later, Neil wrote
an article for Good Bird Magazine entitled The Myth of One Person
Birds. He wrote how to change it and how it’s selfish not to. If
something happens to a parrot’s primary caregiver what becomes of
that parrot? What kind of life will he have if he’s incapable of
bonding to anybody else?
A short time down the road, Neil had to go
out of town again for 2 months and this time Pickles was miserable.
If Pickles is miserable, I’m miserable. Not just because I feel
sorry for him but also because the little snot is convinced it’s
entirely my fault so he rags on me all day. If parrots had their
own swear words, his spiteful squawks would surely be unspeakable
and when he does use his words, it’s an insistent “Dadddeeeeeeeee.
Daddy be right back!! Dadddeeeeeee. Daddy’s home???
Dadddeeeeeee….”. I’d rather pluck nose hairs than listen to
that.
Two nights after Neil's departure, Pickles is
especially cranky. After an intense bout of the above behavior and
mad at me for ignoring him, he stomped around the top of his cage
attacking every single toy that had the nerve to cross his path
then promptly ran down the outside cage bars and plopped his head
into the outside pellet bowl. There he hung, clinging to the bars
upside down with
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