Vic Smith wrote in
:

Don't know why, but I'm seeing Larry with a parrot on his shoulder,
wobbling down a pier - with a pegleg.
For some reason he's got white stuff staining his red shirt all down
the back.
Anyway, do you perch your guys up there?
Do they have "accidents" on you?
Curious. I never look up at pigeons a'perchin'.

--Vic



1) - Anyone who takes an uncaged expensive parrot anywhere near a dock
or the water is a complete idiot. They cannot swim and drown almost
instantly. Anyone who leaves them with flight feathers is also a fool
unless they live in equatorial SA where the escaped bird can survive on
his own when he leaves.

I'd never have a bird on a boat. That's simply crazy.

It took me nearly 4 years of hard work to "potty train" Roger-Roger, my
macaw. Unless you simply give him no options, he will not poop on you,
the finest trick any parrot can learn.

There is a parrot club here, but I don't do well in club politics so
don't join clubs. A friend who is a member, invited me to come to a
meeting, so I went. For the occasion, I put on my rarely-worn nice suit
and took Roger-Roger with me in the car. Entering the meeting hall,
there were lots of birds calling each other from their owners'
shoulders, mostly covered with a drop towel to protect their clothes.
Roger-Roger sat, rather calmly which was odd, on my suitcoat shoulder,
minding his own business.

The president of the club greeted me with his beautiful Eclectus parrot
and asked about protecting my suit. "That's no problem, he's potty
trained.", I said trying not to beam like a big searchlight. They
couldn't stand it and pshaw'd me something awful. "It's about time he
went.", I said looking at my watch. "Can I borrow that little trash can
with the plastic bag in it?" They brought the can over and I perched
Roger-Roger on my hand, saying, "Do you business." to him, just once.

Roger looked down at the "target", leaned back and dumped his load
shouting, "BOMBS AWAY!" in a VERY loud voice....right on cue. There was
a round of applause from those who saw it. About 30 minutes later, he
repeated the "performance" of his best trick. That became that night's
topic of conversation on how to get other birds to perform similarly....
(c;

I still give him a tiny chip of Hershey's chocolate for a job well done.
He'll nip me if I've dared to run out or simply have forgotten him.
There's two other things that really fascinate me about this large
macaw. That big beak can skin a green grape so thin it's nearly
transparent, making only one "incision", dropping the skin after sucking
the guts out of it. It's a very delicate operation I never cease to
love watching. Then, that same beak can simply slice through an offered
Brazil Nut you can't crack with a hammer as if it were made of butter.

We go through a lot of grapes...(c;