"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy
like Norman Einstein."
- Joe Theismann, NFL quarterback and analyst
"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business."
- Henry Ford
"I'm not against blacks, and a lot of the good blacks will attest to
that."
- Evan Mecham, as governor of Arizona
T
he first
female parrot I ever adopted...
Was a handful.
We used to call her - and
still do - "CB", the 'C' stands for Crazy.
She would attack anything that
came near her cage, she wouldn't let anybody touch her, she would almost
never would leave her sleep spot - and she would rarely talk.
I never knew -
How
hard a parrot could bit until I met her.
One day I thought she broke my finger, Stephanie has had to get stitches
and Millie thought she was a missing a piece of ear (we called her
Tyson after that) and all because CB...
Was, contradictory to what we were told, raised without human positive
human contact; she was NOT handfed, she was NOT spoke to, but she
WAS shocked by an electric-cage apparatus if she didn't behave - in
short she
Didn't trust humans
And t
hat's
an understatement.
That
mistrust was so strong it led to pure hatred.
She didn't
just bite, attack and try to intimidate because she was defending,
she proactively hated us and wanted to cause pain.
I won't get into everything that we did to eventually win her trust, but
I will say that it took almost a full year for her to believe that I
wasn't going to hurt her when I tried to feed her from my hand...
a full year.
And this is also what prompted us to start our own Parrot Adoption
Agency and clean up that industry by putting the liars out of
business - including the group that worked with CB. Her real
names is Zazu by the way, you may remember the name from The Lion
King.
She also goes by Pretty Girl
But
she says "Pretty Pretty Girl" for some reason she says 'pretty'
twice.
Anyway - she is one of the most inspiring, Badass individuals I've
ever met.
I've been
so inspired and moved by her, I'm crazy about my babies - but she is
special and just watching her really touches me.
How Badass is she?
Whenever
wolves or coyotes howl (the house I'm referring to is actually "the
last house on the left" with a similar backyard) and the other
babies all freak out and fly away -
She will
fly at them, stand at the edge of the porch and start howling back.
She will
try an intimidate deer and raccoons that get to close, she showers
upside down (I have no idea why, but if that's not Badass then I
don't know what is) if the TV is too loud she will stand on it and
crack her beak through the screen -
She once
fractured her ankle and we were told she wouldn't walk on it or fly
for at least six weeks... the next she was resting solely on it
(parrots often sit on one foot and curl the other to rest) meaning
she was standing and putting all her weight on the "bad" one -
We got her
wings clipped which handicaps flight for at least two to three
months (it has with every other parrot we've had) but less than a
week a later she was back in action -
She never
plays with anything and when she sees her reflection in the mirror
she doesn't play or talk like every other parrot does - instead she
will sit there motionless staring at herself for hours... it'd kind
of crazy, like -
Michael Myers or something
It used to
concern me, but from what I'm being told she is learning to love.
And she
has learned volumes about that.
As of
right now, she is the most loving parrot we have. Whenever
somebody is sick or not feeling well, she will fly on their head and
start talking in a really sweet voice - or she won't say anything
and she'll just stare at you until you get up and start moving
around.
One time I
was under the weather and fell asleep on the couch. When I got
up about two hours later she was resting on my chest - where she
stayed - for the entire time, as soon as my eyes opened she asked
"Are you okay?"
I love
that girl, oh yeah...
She will eat anything
She will go through cupboards, open cabinets and even open car doors
(I told you she's a Badass) - she will do whatever it takes to get
more food.
Her
favorite thing to eat is... whatever you're eating.
So I have
to keep her out of the kitchen area, and to do that I use a -
Giant screen door
It rests
on the stairs and nearly blocks of all access to go up the stairs -
so even if you wanted to walk up or down them you would have to move
it or be really thin to squeeze yourself around it.
As soon as
the first screen got put up, she would sit in front of it and
strategize how to get around.
Here's why I'm telling you this
Not that I
need an excuse - I love talking about her - but if I have a point or
a "take away" about her today then this is it.
Every
screen blockade that we have used... has eventually failed.
It may
take her a few hours, a few days or even a few weeks - but she will
stand down, intimidate, peck and fly at every door we use. I
used to think she just wanted to get upstairs but -
That's not it!
I realized
this after she got upstairs and then came back down without even
hunting for anything.
She just
wants to know she can.
She just
wants me to know I won't stop her.
She just
wants to do it, to rise to - and beat - the challenge.
This isn't easy
To her,
these doors must weigh a ton - and four vets have told me that for
to move one is "impossible".
They
didn't know her very well.
She has
flown right through a door - and left a slit in it - she torn
through another door from the ground up, she flew into one seven
times before it got knocked over and then she flew upstairs -
She will NOT stop -
I just
slow her down - but I've never stopped her.
Right now
she is pacing back and forth, plotting her next move.
I love it.
She will
NOT tire
She will
NOT settle
She will
NOT give in
She will
NOT complain
She
absolutely will NOT stop -
And, eventually, she will get upstairs
If, for no
other reason, than to prove to me she can.
How can
you not love this girl?
