bird-brain
08-16-2012, 01:24 PM
Many of you have read the OMG Skye got out thread. I'm still in shock that it happened at all but wanted to catch you all up on the how and what I did to get her out of the really tall tree.
First, I want to update you guys on my bird situation. In June, we lost our home to foreclosure. I have not been able to find employment (other than temporary work) for 3 years. The modification we were offered was insulting after one year of blowing up my fax machine, email, fedex etc, we just couldn't take it anymore.
We found a place to rent that would allow me to bring the zoo. The only thing they were a little sketchy about were the birds. (go figure, 4 dogs, 3 cats, 5 horses, chickens, and they waiver on the birds.....:confused: we have no neighbors that would be bothered by noise) Anyway, I finally got them to agree to it and was very excited because the original owners of this house had run a hair salon out of a room connected to the garage. It is heated and cooled, has concrete floors, has a bank of windows over looking the rose garden with a door that opens to the driveway and one that opens into the garage. I was excited about how easy it was to clean the concrete and all the space. It was perfect!
Landlord came by one day to pick up something they had left here temporarily and the 3 blue crowns started their alarm calls followed by the two green cheeks and the 6 lovebirds and one very noisy keet. I know Jeremiah talks about his sun's noise but these blue crowns really take the cake. They can match the volume of a Macaw and because two of them lived 9 moths with Zon's and Macaws they mimic them perfectly. Long story short, he suddenly became very uncomfortable about the birds and said that we could keep ONE there but the rest had to go. I really don't know why, the room was immaculate. You would have had to crawl around to find one dropped seed but it's his house and that was his decision and we were given one weekend to get them out.
Then came the difficult decision of who stayed or did they all go or what to do. The green cheeks were actually my daughter's and her landlord has keets of her own and told her it would be fine to bring the green cheeks so that was taken care of. Because the lovies were all in pairs and I loathed the thought of splitting up a pair, it was down to the blue crowns. We knew full well we would never be able to get some one to take three so started making calls about a pair. Skye is so bonded to me and so hateful to people she doesn't know that we felt that keeping her was the best choice. A local pet store had an employee who had been saving to purchase a small parrot because she enjoyed working with them in the store so much. She and her daughter(11 years old) met Drake and Rio and there seemed to be an instant love connection. We allowed them to adopt Drake and Rio and provided them with a large cage. Both birds are doing well in their new home.
I found a breeder who runs a pet shop in a nearby town who was interested in my lovies. She assured me she would keep the pairs together in her breeding program so my hubby took them to her because I could not even walk to get in the car I was so upset. Y'all know Cabo was half of my heart.
She had her own cages and so didn't need mine. Cleaning those empty cages was the hardest thing I have ever done. This whole thing made me so ill. Then I went to her store to ask how they were adjusting and found my birds FOR SALE in her store. She had split them into the wrong groups and even had poor Sprite in a cage alone.>:>:> Why I am not typing this from jail I do not know.
Y'all I have a temper that is notorious. I tell people I'm not a b!*#ch all the time, I do go to sleep...but on this day I could not form words. I literally could not speak or think. I made it to the parking lot of my husband's office and had a seizure. My seizures have been well controlled for the past 2 years but I had them frequently for the next couple of weeks and had to go up on my medicines. My husband went and had words with the store owner and we are sort of not allowed back in there any more.
This has been so hard on my family. So on last Friday when Skye escaped I was absolutely crazed by grief. Haley had come to feed horses while I was in the bird room with Skye (and the parakeet I hide) and opened the garage door. I had no idea it was up. Skye was on my shoulder and we were headed through the garage into the house when the keet's cage bumped my leg and scared her. She flew and not knowing door was open I quietly set Perry's cage down and rounded the corner to see tail feathers disappear into the great outdoors. We searched for her until after dark that day. I crawled through blackberry bushes and poison ivy and took the hoe to two snakes that were in my way. I walked around in a thunderstorm and went inside for my gun when the coyotes started coming in for the evening. There was a small discussion with the sheriff's deputies who had gotten a call about a woman walking the roadside with a gun spotlighting trees. (YOU try to convince them you're hunting a parrot in a thunderstorm). They "suggested" I go home for evening.
Saturday morning I had flyers in mailboxes before sun up. And at day break she finally answered me. She flew out of the woods like she had been shot but instead of flying to me proceeded to fly a half mile up the road. Then proceeded to land in a tree about 60 feet off the ground. I KNOW that had Drake and Rio still been here she would have flown to them. But they aren't here so I called my daughter to bring over the green cheeks. Poor Perry tried but just isn't loud enough. The GCC's were terrified and would not make a sound. My husband climbed an extension ladder and was in the process of trying to thread a 40 foot "perch" that McGyver would have been proud of through branches when more sheriff's deputies showed up. Of course they couldn't see the bird in the tree. Thankfully at this point Skye decided to display her extensive vocabulary. The officers got very wide eyed and then called the fire department to see if they had anyway to get the bird down LOL! They actually stayed for nearly an hour.
We tried everything we could think of, everything we read and some really stupid ideas too. We brought her favorite foods and had a pic-nic, I loved on other birds in front of her (through their travel cage) I hugged on my husband in front of her. She would become agitated but never offered to fly down. Keep in mind her tree was on a pretty well traveled road and she was terrified. Her tree was up on a tall bank and I had to stand across the road to be able to see her. Finally, she started saying "step up, step up" and it dawned on me that my shoulder was a pretty small target for an inexperienced, CLIPPED, flyer so I held up a long branch and said "Skye, step up" She moved, started turning circles, she was thinking about how to do this. After about 10 minutes she flew across the road toward me and landed in a tree about 40 feet high right above my head.
After I let her rest up and got her talking again, I tried with the branch again, "Skye step up". I got the same reaction and she was close enough now to see how frustrated she was. She kept "indicating" a clearing that was up a shear bank 20 feet higher than where I stood but a 20 foot drop for her. Suddenly it made sense. Being clipped and not conditioned to flying, she could not plunge 60 or 40 feet almost straight down. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks and I found myself calling to her, "Skye I understand, I understand". I ran for the clearing and as soon as I broke the tree line she flew and landed in the exact spot she had pointed out to me. Of course she was still 20 feet above me and you guys have read the rest of the story about me turning into a cat and climbing a shear wall of mud and hearing the screech owls on the prowl etc.
The key I believe to finding her was reading a lot of good information and following it. She did respond to me at day break, as long as she could see me she stayed where she was (and chatted with everyone who came by, preened, played and laughed at me :roll:) AND, near dusk decided to join me. The only thing I did not see referenced was the need for a clear glide path. I doubt that many clipped birds make it that far or that high but there is no accounting for adrenalin. Skye can't get more than 8 ft of loft of fly further than about 10 feet inside. But being outside excited and frightened her so that she was able to fly a great distance.
Also, I want to tell you guys that I had a response from many who received flyers offering to let me put out feeders and search their property for her. One set of neighbors went looking themselves and came to meet her when they heard she had been recovered. One neighbor works for the phone company and offered the use of a bucket truck if she got down to 30 feet. One set of neighbors brought over food because they knew I was standing vigil under a tree. The response was overwhelming!
Since she has been home, she doesn't like me out of her sight. I moved her cage inside and she is on my shoulder most of the time. She has also decided to start trying to sing along with the meow mix commercial LOLOLOL :rotfl
We still miss our other birds. She talks about the "little birds" even now but when I finally had her on my shoulder, in the dark woods and she got very close and whispered in my ear, "it's okay, it's okay, lets have kiss, it's okay" I knew that I had made the right choice in which bird stayed.
I hope none of you are ever faced with that kind of choice The air around here seems somehow thinner and there is a sweetness that is absent. :very_sad: I am exploring measures to recover my birds from Cruella Deville and will just try to hide them if the landlord is coming. In case I am unsuccessful please send out a happy thought that they will receive a good home.:very_sad:
First, I want to update you guys on my bird situation. In June, we lost our home to foreclosure. I have not been able to find employment (other than temporary work) for 3 years. The modification we were offered was insulting after one year of blowing up my fax machine, email, fedex etc, we just couldn't take it anymore.
We found a place to rent that would allow me to bring the zoo. The only thing they were a little sketchy about were the birds. (go figure, 4 dogs, 3 cats, 5 horses, chickens, and they waiver on the birds.....:confused: we have no neighbors that would be bothered by noise) Anyway, I finally got them to agree to it and was very excited because the original owners of this house had run a hair salon out of a room connected to the garage. It is heated and cooled, has concrete floors, has a bank of windows over looking the rose garden with a door that opens to the driveway and one that opens into the garage. I was excited about how easy it was to clean the concrete and all the space. It was perfect!
Landlord came by one day to pick up something they had left here temporarily and the 3 blue crowns started their alarm calls followed by the two green cheeks and the 6 lovebirds and one very noisy keet. I know Jeremiah talks about his sun's noise but these blue crowns really take the cake. They can match the volume of a Macaw and because two of them lived 9 moths with Zon's and Macaws they mimic them perfectly. Long story short, he suddenly became very uncomfortable about the birds and said that we could keep ONE there but the rest had to go. I really don't know why, the room was immaculate. You would have had to crawl around to find one dropped seed but it's his house and that was his decision and we were given one weekend to get them out.
Then came the difficult decision of who stayed or did they all go or what to do. The green cheeks were actually my daughter's and her landlord has keets of her own and told her it would be fine to bring the green cheeks so that was taken care of. Because the lovies were all in pairs and I loathed the thought of splitting up a pair, it was down to the blue crowns. We knew full well we would never be able to get some one to take three so started making calls about a pair. Skye is so bonded to me and so hateful to people she doesn't know that we felt that keeping her was the best choice. A local pet store had an employee who had been saving to purchase a small parrot because she enjoyed working with them in the store so much. She and her daughter(11 years old) met Drake and Rio and there seemed to be an instant love connection. We allowed them to adopt Drake and Rio and provided them with a large cage. Both birds are doing well in their new home.
I found a breeder who runs a pet shop in a nearby town who was interested in my lovies. She assured me she would keep the pairs together in her breeding program so my hubby took them to her because I could not even walk to get in the car I was so upset. Y'all know Cabo was half of my heart.
She had her own cages and so didn't need mine. Cleaning those empty cages was the hardest thing I have ever done. This whole thing made me so ill. Then I went to her store to ask how they were adjusting and found my birds FOR SALE in her store. She had split them into the wrong groups and even had poor Sprite in a cage alone.>:>:> Why I am not typing this from jail I do not know.
Y'all I have a temper that is notorious. I tell people I'm not a b!*#ch all the time, I do go to sleep...but on this day I could not form words. I literally could not speak or think. I made it to the parking lot of my husband's office and had a seizure. My seizures have been well controlled for the past 2 years but I had them frequently for the next couple of weeks and had to go up on my medicines. My husband went and had words with the store owner and we are sort of not allowed back in there any more.
This has been so hard on my family. So on last Friday when Skye escaped I was absolutely crazed by grief. Haley had come to feed horses while I was in the bird room with Skye (and the parakeet I hide) and opened the garage door. I had no idea it was up. Skye was on my shoulder and we were headed through the garage into the house when the keet's cage bumped my leg and scared her. She flew and not knowing door was open I quietly set Perry's cage down and rounded the corner to see tail feathers disappear into the great outdoors. We searched for her until after dark that day. I crawled through blackberry bushes and poison ivy and took the hoe to two snakes that were in my way. I walked around in a thunderstorm and went inside for my gun when the coyotes started coming in for the evening. There was a small discussion with the sheriff's deputies who had gotten a call about a woman walking the roadside with a gun spotlighting trees. (YOU try to convince them you're hunting a parrot in a thunderstorm). They "suggested" I go home for evening.
Saturday morning I had flyers in mailboxes before sun up. And at day break she finally answered me. She flew out of the woods like she had been shot but instead of flying to me proceeded to fly a half mile up the road. Then proceeded to land in a tree about 60 feet off the ground. I KNOW that had Drake and Rio still been here she would have flown to them. But they aren't here so I called my daughter to bring over the green cheeks. Poor Perry tried but just isn't loud enough. The GCC's were terrified and would not make a sound. My husband climbed an extension ladder and was in the process of trying to thread a 40 foot "perch" that McGyver would have been proud of through branches when more sheriff's deputies showed up. Of course they couldn't see the bird in the tree. Thankfully at this point Skye decided to display her extensive vocabulary. The officers got very wide eyed and then called the fire department to see if they had anyway to get the bird down LOL! They actually stayed for nearly an hour.
We tried everything we could think of, everything we read and some really stupid ideas too. We brought her favorite foods and had a pic-nic, I loved on other birds in front of her (through their travel cage) I hugged on my husband in front of her. She would become agitated but never offered to fly down. Keep in mind her tree was on a pretty well traveled road and she was terrified. Her tree was up on a tall bank and I had to stand across the road to be able to see her. Finally, she started saying "step up, step up" and it dawned on me that my shoulder was a pretty small target for an inexperienced, CLIPPED, flyer so I held up a long branch and said "Skye, step up" She moved, started turning circles, she was thinking about how to do this. After about 10 minutes she flew across the road toward me and landed in a tree about 40 feet high right above my head.
After I let her rest up and got her talking again, I tried with the branch again, "Skye step up". I got the same reaction and she was close enough now to see how frustrated she was. She kept "indicating" a clearing that was up a shear bank 20 feet higher than where I stood but a 20 foot drop for her. Suddenly it made sense. Being clipped and not conditioned to flying, she could not plunge 60 or 40 feet almost straight down. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks and I found myself calling to her, "Skye I understand, I understand". I ran for the clearing and as soon as I broke the tree line she flew and landed in the exact spot she had pointed out to me. Of course she was still 20 feet above me and you guys have read the rest of the story about me turning into a cat and climbing a shear wall of mud and hearing the screech owls on the prowl etc.
The key I believe to finding her was reading a lot of good information and following it. She did respond to me at day break, as long as she could see me she stayed where she was (and chatted with everyone who came by, preened, played and laughed at me :roll:) AND, near dusk decided to join me. The only thing I did not see referenced was the need for a clear glide path. I doubt that many clipped birds make it that far or that high but there is no accounting for adrenalin. Skye can't get more than 8 ft of loft of fly further than about 10 feet inside. But being outside excited and frightened her so that she was able to fly a great distance.
Also, I want to tell you guys that I had a response from many who received flyers offering to let me put out feeders and search their property for her. One set of neighbors went looking themselves and came to meet her when they heard she had been recovered. One neighbor works for the phone company and offered the use of a bucket truck if she got down to 30 feet. One set of neighbors brought over food because they knew I was standing vigil under a tree. The response was overwhelming!
Since she has been home, she doesn't like me out of her sight. I moved her cage inside and she is on my shoulder most of the time. She has also decided to start trying to sing along with the meow mix commercial LOLOLOL :rotfl
We still miss our other birds. She talks about the "little birds" even now but when I finally had her on my shoulder, in the dark woods and she got very close and whispered in my ear, "it's okay, it's okay, lets have kiss, it's okay" I knew that I had made the right choice in which bird stayed.
I hope none of you are ever faced with that kind of choice The air around here seems somehow thinner and there is a sweetness that is absent. :very_sad: I am exploring measures to recover my birds from Cruella Deville and will just try to hide them if the landlord is coming. In case I am unsuccessful please send out a happy thought that they will receive a good home.:very_sad: