I thought this gizmo was a mirror at first. Parakeets, lizards, hamsters–I’ve learned to expect small animals to react–shall we say truculently?–to their images in a mirror. This thing is not a mirror, but it does show an image of a parakeet.
And the real parakeet doesn’t like it!
“Waddaya say we forget about trees for a while and try one of these ‘house’ things? Some of ’em are loaded with bugs and caterpillars! Jimmy the Sparrow told me that: he was in one, once…”
Eventually our hero gets around to pecking the doorbell. You have to admire his aplomb.
It’s sort of like The Corsican Brothers, only with feathers.
These, we are told, are Indian ringneck parakeets. They’re pretty articulate for parakeets. The most talkative parakeet I ever knew could only say “Bobby-bird!” (his name) and “Bobby is a jobby” (don’t ask). But they do have lots of personality.
If this postmaman ever ventures out of the truck, he’s history. The turkey will see to that.
The nature of the problem seems pretty obvious to me: the turkey needs his own mailbox. Then he wouldn’t have to keep running after the truck and checking all the other mailboxes to see if there’s anything for him.
Somehow this video also wound up including a tortoise making improper advances to an old boot. I had a turtle who went into a courtship display because, I guess, the glass turtle we put in his tank for decoration was a bit more realistic than it should’ve been.
The rest of the video is rated G.
Here’s a raven–at the Tower of London, no less–pulling garbage out of the can.
But the crow I watched today, next door, made this bird look like an amateur. Someone had left a full garbage can uncovered, and a crow very industriously emptied it out, looking for tasty tidbits left by careless humans. What a mess he made! And he looked like he enjoyed doing it, too.
I can’t tell the difference between the microwave and the cockatiel imitating the microwave. But what’s really cool about this video is the bird trying to figure it all out. It’s obvious that this is an alert, intelligent creature trying to make sense of his surroundings. Just how smart are they… really?
(I think I might’ve posted this once before, but my head’s like a sieve today.)
You don’t have to be a mammal to play cozy with a human baby. Look at the cockatiel: you’d think he took courses in it.
And don’t worry–there’s a cat on hand to supervise.
First she shares her laundry with them. Then she gives them toys and takes them for walks. That’s how you make friends with magpies. I don’t know if everybody can do this. At another time and place, this young woman would have become a figure in folklore.
It was only a matter of time before someone dared to go public with this information. That we had to wait for a cockatiel to do it only underscores the gravity of the situation.
But at least he’s eloquent! Nothing could be clearer than his exposition of the problem. Now it remains for us to decide what to do about it…