Happily all our cats and dogs are sensible enough to keep themselves out of the sun. Bobbins and Dumpling are two we have to watch, as their noses are short and therefore the air doesn’t get a chance to cool down as they breathe and they can overheat. But both of them are more than happy to lie down hugging the floor when it’s hot.
We watched a really nice video about parrots the other day. It was about pet parrots in America and the challenges that are faced all round. Because parrots can live until they are 80, people don’t realize the commitment they have to make. And also there’s still a trade in wild parrots. And, of course, there’s the issue of birds not really being domesticated and they haven’t evolved for life in a cage. The video was well done because it was very well balanced.
The video was really good and gave us an insight into Larry’s life. I am so glad we have the lovebirds as one of the biggest problems the video said ‘companion’ parrots face is loneliness. Before he came to us he was in an outdoor building so he must have been really lonely and bored. At least before we had the lovebirds he was in the middle of things – and now he has the lovebirds next door to him so he’s got a small flock. And they definitely communicate. When we move we’ll have them all in together.
I did wonder if we should try to find him a mate, as in the wild they mate for life. However, that could go wrong for so many reasons.
The reason why I was looking for a video was because I had seen Larry untying knots. I saw him do it once and thought it was a fluke. But I’ve seen him do it over and over again, so I was looking for ideas for toys and things we could make him which might include a knot or two because he’s obviously very clever.
Or so I thought…
That was when I found that untying knots was in fact pretty basic in the parrot world. In the video we watched there were some parrots who could tell colours apart. They would be asked to select the red toy or even put a blue toy into a certain shape, and they’d do it. I think that might be beyond Larry!