Night Frights

[Charlie's Roost]

Because it's just my nature my husband says. Here it is, 5:15 or so in the morning on a day that I do NOT have to go to work. I should be able to sleep in. But, no. Not possible. About thirty minutes ago I heard the loudest ruckus I've ever heard in the bird room that I've ever heard. I jump out of bed. I'm not sure but I think that when I threw the covers off of myself I must have thrown them off of Jerry too because he actually woke up and asked what was wrong.

I got in the bird room and EVERYONE was acting like they had had a night fright (yes I have a night light -- a nice bright one at that), even the newly hatched were getting in on it. So, there I am going from cage to cage whispering "It's okay babies, Momma's here. Shhhh, it's okay." Over and over and over. 14 cages. Thats at least 14 times I repeated it. But, oh, wait, second time around, third time, fourth time, we are getting quieter, fifth time, quieter, sixth time, all but the tiels are manageable. Ahh ha! It's the tiels! They are all huffing and puffing! Okay, now which one of the four? Stare at them while they stare at me huffing and puffing. Suspect Sunny as she's the one prone to night frights. Nope, she doesn't look like she does when she has one. "All right!! Go Sunny!" I think. One down, three to go. Two are pacing the bottom -- suspect them. Hmmmm. Then, I notice Boomer hanging on the side of the cage in a death hold. Flash back to when I bought him. Hmmm, that's how he would hold on in the pet store when someone would try to take him out of the cage. Back when he would bite them. Which was why they were going to send him back to the breeder. Mmmmm, okay, REALLY suspect him now.

So, I reach in the cage (two on floor scurry to the back as they are nervous) and put my hand by him for him to step up. All I got was one foot. Ahh ha!! Right tiel! So, I have to grab him and pull him out.

Grab him, do my best not to yell out when he bites, get him outside the cage, try not to yell out again when he bites again, finally get him to my chest, and what does he do? No ladies, he doesn't bite THERE. He does however manage to get up my shirt to bare skin and bite hard enough to draw blood!!

Okay, out comes the towel. Finally! Take him up front in the darkend room lit only by the heater. We rock while I talk to him and ask him what his dream was about.

Then, what do I hear? Yet another night fright . Makes Boomie nervous all over again. So we go back into the bird room and sit down and talk to all the birds to calm them down again -- no cage to cage this time as I have Boomer and I don't think he'd like that.

Look in tiel cage. Sydney and Bloke are still on the bottom. Syd is at the door though. She's huffing and puffing. "Uh, huh", I think, "she's trying to get out to spend time with me like Boomie. She's jealous." So, I open the cage and la-di-da out she comes. Only thing is she is bug eyed and her neck is stretched out as far as it would go. Bloke's wasn't. Yup, she was the second one.

So, now I've got one in each hand. Head back up to the living room. Decide that they are calm enough for me to get on computer since I'm awake now. I'm talking to them the whole time in a calm soothing voice, letting them know what I'm doing. Once I sit down, I sense that Sydney is calm enough to stay on me and not fly off, but she's still to upset to go back to the cage. So I let her go and she promptly climbs up to the shoulder. Boomie sees this and starts making moves to do same. I am nervous but let him go. Up he goes to shoulder. Ow! Boomie! You are getting a nail trim tonight! So we sit and check e-mail then do a puzzle. While we are doing this, I'm still talking away and petting them and rubbing my cheek on them (also giving kisses).

Finally around 5:10 this morning, Boomie starts wolf whistling, whistling his name, and making kissy noises. Uh, oh. It's time for them to go back to bed as his volume control is stuck on LOUD! Don't want to wake everyone up. Take them back to cage, open door, put hand down, they climb up arm. Tell them, "uh, uh, you're going back to bed", so I have to pick them up off of arm and place them each on a perch. Tell them to have sweet dreams. Close door and came up here to tell ya'll.

Gotta love 'em! I don't think I'll let hubby put them to bed again. He doesn't think that telling them that you love them and to have sweet dreams does any good. Guess they showed him!

[Skyeking]

Thank you for sharing.

Never underestimate emotional as well as physical trauma in any bird that you acquire thru rehab or with a history.

I have found with my pigeons, (my two pets Skye & Sonic, abandoned at 4 days of age) that they have emotional scars from their past, they DO require extra love and attention & understanding. They are normal to a degree, but do not behave as other birds, because they were raised differently, either leaving them thinking they are part human, and/or having emotional trauma.

[feralpigeon]

Hi Debra,

I enjoyed your story and can't agree more w/you and Treesa that there is an emotional side to birds, and in fact to animals in general. It's hard if someone hasn't seen or felt it themselves at one point or another to talk them into understanding, it's just something that has to be realized for ones' self.

One of the feral flocks that I feed regularly had quite a scare when a hazmat truck and a crew of workers showed up. The work crew just ended up cleaning up the poop and feathers that had accumulated over time, but none the less the birds were very freaked out. Most of them moved a few blocks away and would circle in the air when they heard my vehicle a few blocks from their new location. There were some w/babies, however, that stayed behind to protect their young. I checked in on them several times during the day although there was nothing I could really do for them except vibe them to leave!

After the work crew left, when I went to feed them and hang w/them to reassure them, they were soooo relieved to see me. There was one bird in particular that flew over to me and grabbed on to my arm and wouldn't let go.
Poor baby was just plain freaked.

Yes, it does help to talk to them and reassure them, and I think they understand .

fp

[Charlie's Roost]

Oh, most definitely. I treat my birds as if they were my babies. When I was at a bird mart in October a man was walking by looking at my doves. He had never seen a tangerine frost dove before so he was extremely interested in them and really wanted to look at them. He couldn't by them as of yet, but he really wanted to just look at how pretty they were. Well, I reached in to get one and they all went wild. They were nervous because of all of the activity and noise going on around them. They were also wanting to explore. lol. As I was getting the bird out, I was talking to him/her plus I was talking to the others to calm them down. He looked at me and told me that he could tell that I was a good breeder because I apparently cared for my birds. I just looked at him and told him that they had feelings and emotions just like we do and they can hear the soothing tones in our voices and that I believed they can understand our words. After all, parrots can learn to speak our words and sometimes carry on conversations with us. If they can do that, isn't that proof they can understand us? We tell our birds to step up and they do, isn't that proof that they understand us? Even my doves do that. So, yup, I most definitely treat my birdies like they are my babies.

[Skyeking]

Originally Posted by Charlie's Roost

I just looked at him and told him that they had feelings and emotions just like we do and they can hear the soothing tones in our voices and that I believed they can understand our words. After all, parrots can learn to speak our words and sometimes carry on conversations with us. If they can do that, isn't that proof they can understand us? We tell our birds to step up and they do, isn't that proof that they understand us? Even my doves do that. So, yup, I most definitely treat my birdies like they are my babies.

Yes, birds understand us, especially when we speak calmly or loud, they relate. I believe firmly in talking to birds, especially if there is going to be a change in their lives, like a trip or a babysitter watching them a few days, they need to know. This became very clear to me when I saw Sonia talking to all the animals and birds, and her feedback on my Skye. They have feelings and they understand, to the degree of their capabilities.

[Charlie's Roost]

Heheheh, oh, I know. I have a cat that is so spoiled that she and I will actually argue! My husband laughs every time. Chelsea loves to be held like a baby: on the hip with her head on the shoulder and also cradled in the arms. She also loves to be rocked to sleep for her naps. She will come up to me and stand on her back legs and hold her front ones up to me like a baby does when it wants to be picked up. She is so funny. At night, when I get ready to go to bed, I'll ask her if she's ready for bed and she will say something (sounds like yea) and get up and walk to the bedroom with me. Just like a member of the family. Which is what she is.

[Skyeking]

Hi Debra,

God bless you for your great concern and care of your pets. It is always nice to find another real animal & bird lover .(among those already here)

Thank you for being sensitive to their actual needs, rather then the human version or viewpoint of it, where a lot of people THINK they know what is best for them.

Have you ever tried to put yourself in my your birds place and try to think like them?.... that is when you really relate, huh?

[pdpbison]

I raised nine one day old Baby Quail in here one time, their Momma had been done in by a Cat, so...anyway...

These were the wackiest little Birds...!

As they grew and developed, usually, once every couple days, in the middle of the night, something would set them off and they would explode in all directions and end up behind furnature or in all sorts of odd places in the appartment here.

No one ever got hurt, but it would wake me and my girlfriend up with a start, you may be shure.

I never could figure out what would set them off so, but reliably, every few days, something would.

Of Animals 'talking'...last Autumn, in a 'Safe Trap', I had caught a Mouse in here, and seeing I was about to go to the Store anyway, I brought the trap with to open it and release the Mouse by the Rail Road Tracks where there are lots of grasses and Bugs and water sources and so on.

Well, I open the trap, and kind of lightly shake it, and a pregnant looking Field Mouse walks out to the end of it, turns and looks at me, and with it's head turned to look at me straight on, it really gave me some kind of lecture or scolding.

I have never seen anything like this, but I swear, this Mouse told me off but good.

"Squeakkkkweeek, squawk-squeak' and so on for a full twenty seconds...and she LOOKed right at me, at my eyes, and was very non-plussed too you may be sure.

So, she told me off, then, turned her head to the front again, and lept to the ground and trotted off.

I felt that I actually knew what she was saying, and it was about how she was soon to have her Babys, had built her nice nest, was accustomed to the availability of Birdseeds and other tidbits around here, and now, with her delivery very close at hand, I was giving her the Bum's-rush to some out door area where she knew no one, into who knows whose 'Territory', and that she was going to be inconvenienced a good deal.

I think they ( all Creatures ) often understand a lot more than we may realize...whether we talk to them or not...only it is rare they happen to have much to say about it...


Phil
Las Vegas

[Charlie's Roost]

Phil, you are so right. My cat Chelsea knows when I'm sick. It's so funny because she becomes the mommy! She comes up to me and will do her best to take care of me. LOL. She loves her momma.

[dnrslucky1]

Birds are smart for sure. I can not figure out how Squidget knows when I am near. I put him in his baby bed, cover it and turn the light off! Later I will try to quietly sneak in and he immeditatly knows i'm there. I'm had and must hold him again for a while! Lol!

Denise

[Camrron]

Hi there,

I just have to add to Phil's comments about mice. All creatures are beautiful, large and small. I saw a program on Discovery Channel about the the human genome project where all the DNA coding was broken down to it's small bits and in that program they said something along the lines that mice and rats (YES, RATS!) were virtually identical to humans in their DNA strings. Like 95.5% identical! So what does that tell us about their emotions and personality and character etc. If only 4.5% of their DNA differs from ours, (EG. the information that says we are large and they are small, that we are walking on two legs but they are on four and that we have a large brain but theirs is small), what does that tell us except that we have a great deal in common with the animals on this planet and that they should be respected as much as any person. Animals are people too. And now it has been proven with DNA research.

Cam

[Skyeking]

Originally Posted by pdpbison

Of Animals 'talking'...last Autumn, in a 'Safe Trap', I had caught a Mouse in here, and seeing I was about to go to the Store anyway, I brought the trap with to open it and release the Mouse by the Rail Road Tracks where there are lots of grasses and Bugs and water sources and so on.

Well, I open the trap, and kind of lightly shake it, and a pregnant looking Field Mouse walks out to the end of it, turns and looks at me, and with it's head turned to look at me straight on, it really gave me some kind of lecture or scolding.

"Squeakkkkweeek, squawk-squeak' and so on for a full twenty seconds...and she LOOKed right at me, at my eyes, and was very non-plussed too you may be sure.
So, she told me off, then, turned her head to the front again, and lept to the ground and trotted off.
I felt that I actually knew what she was saying, and it was about how she was soon to have her Babys, had built her nice nest, was accustomed to the availability of Birdseeds and other tidbits around here, and now, with her delivery very close at hand, I was giving her the Bum's-rush to some out door area where she knew no one, into who knows whose 'Territory', and that she was going to be inconvenienced a good deal
Phil
Las Vegas

Oh, Phil...that is the cutest thing I have ever heard...I can just picture little mama-to-be with her arms at her side, letting you have it.....you ruined her plans. Boy, she was already making a nice warm nest for her kids and food was available, and how dare you? LOL

I see her looking like the little mouse in Cinderella. too cute!

Yes animals can express their feelings and emotions and communicate. Have you ever heard the story of St. Francis and the field mice? They were going to be destroyed by the people of the town because they were a nuisance, he had a talk with them and they followed him all out to a new home. I think God gives people special gifts to communicate with animal, and I think in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve could actually talk to the animals and they talked back....just a perfect world.

[Charlie's Roost]

Originally Posted by Trees Gray

Have you ever heard the story of St. Francis and the field mice? They were going to be destroyed by the people of the town because they were a nuisance, he had a talk with them and they followed him all out to a new home. I think God gives people special gifts to communicate with animal, and I think in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve could actually talk to the animals and they talked back....just a perfect world.

Thank you for saying all of that. When I was reading Cameron's post, the Garden of Eden immediately came to my mind. I just wasn't sure how I was going to bring it up. You are most certainly correct in your post. I had forgotten about the story of St. Francis and the field mice. And I love that story.

[Maggie-NC]

This is such a great thread. I ditto everything. You get back ten-fold the love and care that you give any little creature. We had a dear little dove named Mr. D for many years. He was the only bird we've ever had that suffered night frights. Sometimes he would wake us thrashing around and we would literally run into the room and talk gently until he calmed down. During these frights, they just get so frightened they go bonkers.

One of the nicest compliments ever given me was by a neighbor. We were talking "over the fence" and she said that whenever she thinks of us it is as the "bird whisperers". They worm their way into your hearts and you don't want anything to ever harm them.

Thanks for all the great stories.

[Charlie's Roost]

The more I think of the other night when we had the double night frights, the more I think of when my daughter was a baby. I have to laugh at myself now because when she was a baby (well after the newborn phase that is), I would just wake up and lie in bed and wait to see if she would go back to sleep. Even in the newborn phase I never went running to her. I mean never. I always went stumbling half asleep. She was just across the hall and I could hear her very well. My birds are all the way across the house and I leave the door closed with just about 3 inches open. When I hear them, I am instantly awake, fully, and go running full speed (cats really run out of my way -- I think I've even tossed one off of me when I tossed the covers off once) to get to them. Now, isn't that hilarious? What we do for our birds. LOL