September 16, 2012 Dear Mom;

I didn't get to the Refuge on Friday. Between a doctor's appointment and going to the lab for bloodwork and stuff, by the time I was finished it was too late. So, I decided to go today. But I didn't take any photos today. Last night our Missy (11 year old white and deaf cat) died of heart failure at the emergency vet hospital. It was after midnight when I got home and today I just felt drained. Today's photos represent Missy's place in our lives.

Okay, back to the Refuge. I've not been there on the weekend before. I met 4 or 5 more staff, all very nice and all grateful for any help at all. While I went to visit with Bertie and Chris, someone went out to buy nuts. My job today was to crack nuts. Chris and Bertie are now in the same compound each with their 'friends' and a few other birds. But now, to get to their compound I have to pass a major obstacle. Their compound is opposite Andy's stand, about 5' away. Now Andy is the other Hyacinth Macaw that I've met. He's older and more experienced with handling we humans. As soon as he sees someone headed his way, he nonchalantly slides down the leg of his stand, slowly waddles to the centre of the space you are focused on entering, spreads his feet, lowers his body close to the floor, fluffs up his feathers, spreads his wings a bit...then rocks back and forth slowly while looking you right in the eyes. Now anyone with parrot experience, and maybe anyone who hasn't, will not mistake the message here. I simply stopped and wondered what I was going to do, other than back quietly away. Well, Nick came to my rescue with a water bowl. He spashed a little water on the floor between me and Andy. And lo and behold, Andy went back to his stand. Now for those of you who don't know, the water in that situation, is an aversive. Andy went back to his stand to avoid the water, not because all of a sudden he knew I meant no harm. And while I know that I continue to use aversives sometimes myself, I'm not proud of that way of interacting with any animal now. But for the life of me, I don't know what to do in this particular environment. So, I took the water bowl with me into the girls' compound so that I'd be able to get out safely again. Something else to work on.

While I was standing wondering what to do about Andy, I had a little Goffins on my shoulder. She's very affectionate and just soaks up all the attention she can get out of you. Anyway, I was absentmindedly skritching her, when Bertie started up with a loud yell that I recognized as the one she always used if she knew I was headed her way and I was taking too long about it. Actually I was quite delighted to hear it. I've not heard it for over a year. I had a good visit with her and several others in her compound. Chris ignored me. It's obvious to me that I no longer occupy space in her life. And that's okay; she's happy.

By that time, the nuts had arrived, walnuts in the shell and peanuts in the shell. A 50 pound bag of each. For three hours I sat and cracked almost all of that bag of walnuts. The Macaws get their walnuts whole. The Cockatoos, Greys and Amazons get their walnuts cracked in half. I've seen one staff member put a dozen walnuts on the table and hit each one once with a hammer and most of them just fell into two halves. Fast! Who would guess how much experience it takes to be able to quickly hit a walnut in just the right place, just once, and hard enough to have it split into two halves instead of hitting it several times with the last time turning the nut into mush? The parrots that get the nuts from the first 20 pounds I did, will be thinking someone else ate them first. As with anything else though, I got, not proficient, but much better by the time I'd finished. And most of that 50 pounds went out to the compounds to feed the birds today. Mind boggling the food they go through. That was the perfect job for me today. I was able to sit while I worked and I didn't have to think about anything. 

Then I was off to see Babe. As usual she was up high. And even a nutriberry didn't get her down to me very quickly. Maybe she'd just eaten. Maybe her friend who started displaying when I started trying to coax her down, was laying down the law. It wasn't until she saw me handing out nutriberries to everybody else, both inside and outside her compound, that she came down to give me kisses and get hers too. After a short visit I headed home. No baths. No treats for everybody else. I was ready for home and hearth, or something like that. So, I'm sorry. There are no bird pictures today, just a few of our girl who made our lives better for having been part of it.

Love,
Pat