Pushing It

Back when I was the proud owner of three parrots, my wonderful African grey Henry was the light of my life. My little conure Rio was so sweet, and big Amazon Louis adored her. He hated me. He was completely un-hand-tame, and could be quite vicious.

Rio died under the (specialist) vet's knife. Henry died of an infection same vet did not cure. (He retired soon afterwards, but sadly not soon enough to save my darlings.)

Which left me with Louis, who remained unfriendly, to say the least.


I still have all three parrot cages, and Louis can inhabit whichever he pleases. For some months, I have no longer been shutting him away at night, or when I'm out during the day. In other words he has complete freedom, within the confines of my living room.

Recently he has started coming to the back of the sofa. He's decided to preen my hair, which is very pleasant. Then he moves on to my ear, at which point I move it out of his reach. I don't trust him not to take a bite.

This morning he seemed determined to get hold of something sparkly. My glasses would have done, but he really wanted an earring. I took them out, then felt sorry for him, and gave him one. I thought, what harm can he do? He'll drop it as soon as he finds it isn't edible.

Wrong! He wanted to crack it like a nut. He managed to remove the hook and drop it. (Damn, I saw where it fell, but I can't find it!) He flew from cage to cage with his treasure. Finally he was tempted by some real food and dropped the stone. (Damn, I saw where it fell, but I can't find it!)

It was time to go to work. This evening, after a long search, I found the hook, but the stone still eludes me. Louis isn't telling.