Two kinds of interviews (one human one avian)

[SilverSage]

Today I applied at 2 pet stores. One of them had an online application that I filled out last night, but I went in and handed them a paper copy of my resume stating that the online form did not have a place for other animal experience besides work, so I wanted to leave a paper copy. Fortunately the manager on duty was the one that I had interacted with several times previously. I had noticed the problem with one of their canaries and notified her, and she had taken the bird to the vet and ultimately adopted her. She already knew me by name and knows about my birds, particularly my rescue budgies. She is also involved in rescue and currently has an CAG with no toes. That's right, none.

I also took a resume in to a local family owned store that I am not particularly fond of, and was actually given an interview on the spot. We will see if I am offered a job with either.

But after the human job interviews I was privileged to have an avian interview. A friend of mine called me and alerted me to a local man who does rescue work mainly with cockatoos. He is on a small fixed income and the property on which he has lived for decades was sold, and he has until the end of the week to move. He started out with 7 cockatoos, several conures and a Blue Headed Pionus, and all need fosters or homes RIGHT NOW. So I called him, and went out to check on it.

Imagine my surprise when I see a man in his 70s-80s living in a shed. His birds are in large but rough cages and eating extraordinary variety of fresh foods. He still thinks it is ok to tie leashes onto legs, but his birds all get outside time daily, and one goes with him on the bike to fly on the beach every night. Right now he just has the BHP, 2 Goffins and one bare-eyed cockatoo. The bare eyed he tamed himself over the years, but Louie still doesn't really like him. He likes me though We cuddled for quite a while, and the man cleaned his cage. He is basically in a wire box on stilts (a big one, he can fly across it) but the man has to lean all the way into the cage to scrub the wires on the bottom, which the bird does not appreciate.

Anyway, Mel, the BHP will be coming home with me this week as a foster, but if she fits in well to our home, she may become a permanent resident. We will see.

 

[MikeyTN]

Poor guy....He probably won't listen at his age but tying a string to the leg of a parrot is detrimental!!! It can cause permanent damage if they strain it, especially when the bird isn't used to the idea of being tie to the leg. They will freak and hurt themselves. That's what happened to my recent rescue Isis, her leg was caught on something and she hurt it while trying to free herself, I think her leg band was part of the problem so I cut it off, I hate leg bands.

 

[SilverSage]

Yeah there is no way he is going to listen, he lectured me on the use of harnesses and how much better and safer the leg leashes are, and then proceeded to demonstrate how to tie one. His heart is in the right place, but sadly he has a lot of outdated practices.

 

[MikeyTN]

Awhile back someone posted videos of tying strings to the legs.....I had to set him straight and letting him know the danger of doing so.

 

[SilverSage]

I don't think any amount of explanation would change his mind, he was quite stern with me on the matter. Fortunately he has never put one on Mel, the BHP I will most likely be bringing home tomorrow. Then he will just have the three toos, and I think he may be able to keep them. It is interesting to see the mixture of excellent care with dangerous practices. He clearly loves his birds though. He feared up discussing the recent death of one of them, saying "parents are not meant to outlive thier children."

 

[SilverSage]

It is just after 6AM here and I have been up for an hour. I should say I have basically been up all night because for some reason I am WAY too excited about Mel coming home with me. I think I woke up every hour feeling giddy. It is odd because technically she is just a foster and she may end up going back to this man, but somehow she feels like mine already. I have done enough rescue work that I do not automatically get this feeling, in fact sometimes it takes quite a while for a new bird to "feel" like my own, but Mel feels like mine already.

 

[Terry57]

First of all, good luck with the jobs! I bet you are for sure going to be hired, probably at both
How old is Mel? That sounds so promising that you are feeling this way about her BHP's are awesome! I hope it works out that you get to keep her Please share pics after she is home.

 

[SilverSage]

Thanks! I am not sure if I will get hired at either, as petsmart is not actively looking to hire right now, and the family owned store knows that I disagree with some of their policies, but I felt I needed to be honest. I was respectful about it though.

Mel is of unknown age and back story. The man told me her story, only to tell me an hour later that story belonged to a different bird, and he couldnt remember why Mel came to him. He seems to have forgotten a lot actually. He also loves cockatoos above all else. Pionus are not even close to cockatoos of course, and I honestly got the feeling he took her in out of pity, but wasn't really interested in her. He says he has had her about 6 months, but since he can't even remember why he has her I am not relying on that.

This may seem strange, but he seems to try to read her like a cockatoo. I am not sure this is what it was because I am really not very familiar with cockatoos, but there were several times when he told me what she was "thinking" or "saying" based on her body language when I completely disagreed. He also thought she really wanted to cuddle which she CLEARLY did not, and Pionus are not known as super cuddlers anyway, while cockatoos are. She seemed like a very nervous, uncomfortable bird, but she let me give her scritches. She resisted stepping up for him, but he is also a "toe holder" who told me even if the bird ends up upside down handing from your hand by one toe that is still fine because you still have them. If I were a bird I would not trust his hands to stand on either.

I don't want to make him sound all bad though, he seems to have simply overlooked some crucial things. Like I said he lives literally in a shed. He is very thin, but his birds eat all fresh food. There was a lack of toys, but lots of just plain things to chew on, and he spent a lot of his time with his 'toos. I believe he genuinely loves his birds and wants to do what is right for them, but he is so stuck on certain areas of their well-being he has not noticed others.

I really think Mel will do well in our house. We have other birds that are, shall we say, less intense than cockatoos? It is a fairly calm household as far as emotion and noise level, but lots of social activity with both people and animals, and we have a bird room where she will not have to face our visitors if she seems uncomfortable. That said, I was the first visitor she had seen since coming to Bill, and she allowed me to pet her almost immediately, though she seemed nervous about it. I honestly believe she wants to be interacted with very very badly, but some of his mannerisms made it impossible for her to trust him - like the toe hold.

And yes, there will be pics!

 

[Agapornis]

Oh my gosh, I love BHPs! They are so pretty. If I wasn't such a conure person, I would go with a pionus. I can't wait to see a pic of her! What about the other birds that the old man had? What will happen to them?

Good luck with the jobs! I'm sure you will be offered at least one, if not BOTH positions. Any pet store would be so lucky to have you as an employee!

 

[SilverSage]

The cockatoos he has already moved from the property are split between a cockatoo rescue and a home that already had cockatoo experience. I don't know what happened to the conures. He has 3 cockatoos left, and I think he is still looking for fosters for them. He had me hold Louie while he scrubbed out his cage and said "I need someone to accept him and take him to a safe place." He is very concerned with finding safe places for them, but he has such strong views about certain things and is not afraid to share them, that he has alienated most of the bird people on the island I am VERY tempted to take Louie, but I feel in my gut that it would be something I regretted, and would negatively change the balance in our house. Mel seems like a very good fit for our flock, but I just don't think a cockatoo, no matter how sweet, would be a good choice right now especially with me getting a job outside the home.

 

[Agapornis]

Sometimes older people get stuck on ideas from years ago, and if they don't have the internet to research, they never learn anything new. My 83 yr old mom fits into that category, still thinking it's ok to let dogs out at night to run around the neighborhood with no supervision.

At least the old guy is feeding his birds well! It sounds like Mel will fit in nicely at your house, keep us posted!

 

[SilverSage]

The weird thing is he is all over the internet - I think he simply disagrees with some of it, or perhaps hasnt run across it.

 

[EAI]

I hope everything works out with him and his birds. Just fostering a Cockatoo would be MY dream, not sure if anyone else would be okay with it lol. I'd be glad to help out with even some small things like toys or some supplies.

I can't wait to see pics of Mel, I think I'm getting second hand excitement!
And again, good luck on the applications!

 

[EAI]

I also forgot to say that I'm really jealous that you know all these Avian people and get to see all these parrots LOL!