Pickles The Parrot Returns: My Continued Adventures with a Bird Brain

by Abbott, Georgi

  The coastal city was an amazing place to grow up, and I still love that city, but ever since I was a young girl, I was drawn to the country. I wanted more nature and I wanted animals – horses, cows and chickens. In my twenties, I finally got a horse but she had to be kept at a farm stable about an hour’s drive away. I went camping any chance I could and when Neil and I met, we bought an RV and went camping every weekend. We spent a lot of time camping in Logan Lake and eventually we decided to move here to be closer to nature and part of a small town.

  Logan Lake is a great little town (the population is about 2500) and full of friendly people. We’ve been here for fifteen years now and I’m not sure if we will retire here but we’re certainly content for now. Sometimes we think of moving to the beautiful Ottawa Valley, where Neil grew up, in southeastern Ontario. I miss the coastal rains and the greenery but these grasslands and forests can also be amazing.

  Neil and I have become a little antisocial the past few years and tend to spend our time together at home so we’ve put all our time and effort into producing our own little oasis in the yard. It hasn’t been easy because of our high altitude, semi arid climate and short growing season but it’s been fun. We like it as wild looking as possible, and as wild as the neighbors will tolerate, and bird habitat is our main goal.

  We’ve been slowly moving toward self-sustenance, trying to grow every edible thing possible in our yard, to reduce our impact on the environment. All around us, we see food prices skyrocketing from floods, droughts and other catastrophes. Climate change is definitely taking effect. Also, it difficult to find organic food in this area so growing our own ensures that Pickles isn’t being loaded with pesticides.

  We’ve thought about raising chickens for both the eggs and the meat but decided it’s too risky with the Avian Flu popping up now and then in BC. The authorities don’t care about pet birds, if any of the chickens were to contact the virus, Pickles would be put to death. We have the trout pond and this year a couple of them were ready to spawn so we had to build a spawning channel so that they could dig their redds and drop their eggs. I’m not sure if we’ll get any recruitment from their efforts but if we do, we will raise some fish for table fare.

  Our pond can only provide for a limited amount of fish so when it becomes over populated, some fish must die. It’s sad, because we tend to think of them as pets, but the original 10 will be allowed to live out their lives. If too many young fry survive, they’ll be too small to eat but they must be removed. Nothing will go to waste, their death will not be in vain, and their job will be to fertilize the yard and garden. We can’t stop the trout from spawning and producing off spring, they need to drop their eggs otherwise the eggs will be absorbed back into their system, making them weak and possibly causing death.

  We seldom water our yard, we’ve gone almost completely xeroscape, but the pond needs fresh water now and then. When we empty water from the pond, it is pumped through a hose and sprayed on foliage so most of our irrigation is provided in this way. The water from the pond is full of wonderful nutrients, which provide awesome fertilization.

  The pond tends to get a lot of algae but we don’t worry about it too much. The algae provide shade from the sun (protecting the fish) and keep the water temperature down. It gives the fish something to hide in and a place to forage for scuds and other aquatic insects that use the algae for their habitat. Now and then, I’ll take a long stick to dip in the water for wrapping algae, like Cotton Candy, and remove the heavy growth but it’s never seemed to affect the water quality or oxygen levels so most is left behind for that ‘natural’ look. Any algae I pull out, is dumped into the compost – again, providing nutrients for non-commercial fertilizer. Nothing in our yard is wasted, if we can help it.

  Late last summer, I placed Pickles in his travel cage and set him on a stump in the middle of grass and shrubbery to oversee my work as I wrapped algae. I actually enjoy doing this; it seems to relax me somehow. I don’t even mind picking through the algae afterwards to rescue scuds, and other bugs that may have been trapped, and tossing them back in the pond.

  A young couple happened by and stood at the fence to watch and talk to me while I was working. I stood on the bridge in the middle of the lake with my back turned to them while I worked on a particularly large chunk of algae floating amid the reeds. I must have disturbed a fish that had been hiding in there because he hit the surface with a splash and Pickles yelled out “Fishy eat a bug!” He says this when fish rise to the surface to feed on insects.

  “Oh! They eat bugs?” the girl asked. She obviously hadn’t noticed Pickles in the foliage just to the right of her. “That was my bird,” I said, over my shoulder.

  “The fish eat BIRDS?” she remarked.

  “No, no,” I said, “That’s my bird in the bushes. He said that, not me”.

  She quickly spotted him and said, “He talks? You mean, he talks and actually knows when a fish eats a bug??”

  I told her that I wasn’t sure if Pickles really understood but yes, if a fish splashes, we’ve taught him to say that.

  “Wow” she said and turned to start a conversation with Pickles but he was too intent on watching me. “Can you make him say that again?” she asked.

  I wasn’t sure if he would and the fish had all been scared to the bottom, away from my stick, so I went and got some fish pellets. I stood on the bridge facing them and tossed a handful into the water between them and me. The fish exploded from the surface like a school of piranha, soaking me and splashing Pickles and our two guests.

  Pickles went ballistic in his cage, furious that he was getting wet and started yelling, “What are you doing???” I ran over to calm him down and as he clung to the far bars, I told him there was no more water but he still eyed me suspiciously. “No fresh water” he spat and I told him it was all gone, and that it wasn’t exactly ‘fresh’.

  He climbed back down to his perch and sat nicely while I talked to these people over the fence. They were enthralled with Pickles and chuckling over his little fit and comments. A couple of minutes later, they took their leave and I bent over to pick up Pickles cage to take him to the aviary but just as I reached for it, I pulled my hand back in horror. Pickles had snatched a leaf off a shrub and was pulling it through the cage bars. A spider clung to the edge as he held it in his talons and began to chomp on the leaf. Pickles is scared of spiders and so am I. It was a wispy spider, not one of those big bodied ones and I watched as it spun a strand of webbing and dropped to the perch beside him. Pickles continue to chew on the leaf, oblivious to the little critter. I watched in horror as the spider crawled up his leg, on to his chest and scampered to his back and paused on the top of Pickles’ head. Crap. I wasn’t about to save him.

  I almost let out a scream as the spider carried on and moved down Pickles’ forehead and paused again, right between his eyes. Ever see a parrot go cross-eyed? Pickles dropped his leaf and nonchalantly snatched it off with his talon and shoved it in his mouth. I’m pretty sure he thought it was one of his downy, spidery feathers that were good to chew on, like gum. I stared in disbelief as he began to roll it around with his tongue while a couple of wispy legs dangled outside his beak. I guess Pickles got a taste of it and stopped dead with a stunned look on his face, eyes as big as saucers, then snatched it from his beak with his talon and attempted to toss it away. But it stuck. Then he seemed to realize what it was and stood shaking his talon in an attempt to flick it loose. A couple of shakes later, the spider fell to the bottom of the cage and Pickles began flapping around to get away from it. It’s a small cage, with nowhere to go, so he couldn’t escape the scary arachnid.

  I summoned all my courage to grab the cage handle and run the few feet to the aviary to release Pickles. I figured I might be safe as the spider just lay there, half dead, with a couple of legs waving in the air. The minute I entered the aviary, I snapped open the cage door and Pickles bolted. He flew to a perch above me as I dropped the cage to the ground, fearful that the spider
might revive and attack my hand. Pickles and I stared at the spider, hearts beating and bodies shaking. “Scary” Pickles said, “Wanna go home”.

  He wouldn’t let up; he didn’t want to stay there, not with a spider in his presence. But I couldn’t take him home without his cage. Once again, it was up to me to save the day so I stuck my foot inside the cage and mashed, and mashed, and mashed until there was nothing left. I tossed the ‘poop paper’ from the cage, picked it up and asked Pickles to step up so I could take him home. He stepped up, but refused to go in the cage. Oh, that’s just great, I thought. Pickles didn’t want to stay in the aviary but I couldn’t take him home so all I could do was place the cage as far away as possible and cover it with a small outdoor table that sits in the aviary.

  I ended up sitting on the ground and talking to Pickles to calm him down enough to forget about the spider and climb in the cage. It took several attempts and about 45 minutes but eventually he conceded and home we went. What a pair we are.

  But let’s get back to the yard. Our main food supply is the garden. We have fruit and berry trees growing but we like to leave most of the berries for the wild birds and some of the fruit trees (apple, cherry and apricot) have yet to mature for decent harvesting. We still manage to make pies, jams, grape juice, birdie breads and Pickles gets to eat as much of the fresh stuff as he likes.

  The garden can be difficult with the short growing season and often we lose things like tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, and peppers etc. from frosts that will occur early or late summer. Root veggies survive though, such as carrots, onions and potatoes and the peas and beans seem pretty hardy.

  Neil built a cold frame this year and situated it next to the house, so this spring we started much our vegetables indoors and put them in the cold frame to protect them. This year we’re growing tons of cucumbers to make my own pickles because I eat dills daily.

  We’re big on composting and it not only eliminates waste in landfills, but it’s black gold for the lawn, garden and other plants. Done properly, it does not attract rodents or bears. Proper layered, aerated etc., there is no smell – except when I throw algae in there. Even then, it’s only for a day, until it dries up.

  As for bears, the only thing that attracts bears to the neighborhood is garbage. I fume when we read all the literature on being Bear Aware and they say don’t leave birdfeeders out because it attracts them. Bull crap. Bears come into town looking for the garbage that the same damn people leave out time after time. The birdseed is just collateral, an extra little bonus while they’re wandering through.

  This spring, we had two bears in the neighborhood, every single night. They got into everything, including our bird feeder so we had to remove it so that he didn’t get it every night. Not only was garbage being left out, but we also found out that a woman down the street was actually feeding the bears! How ignorant and irresponsible can you be? Those two bears were shot and killed shortly afterwards, and she can thank herself for that. The CO’s rarely trap and relocate these days, they find that the bears end up coming right back, no matter how far they take them.

  We have very bird-friendly habitat in our yard but because we have a late spring, particularly this year, there is no vegetation and nothing natural for the birds yet, and now is when they are in the middle of nesting so they need those bird feeders for nourishment. Because of this woman, people took down their birdfeeders and an important source of bird food for about two weeks.

  All this talk about bears, reminds me of the times in the flyshop. We always warned fishermen about the bears, and to make sure they kept their food and garbage locked in their vehicles. At the end of one particular weekend, some guys came in and said they had locked everything away but complained that we hadn’t warned them about their beer cooler. Turns out, they were floating on the lake and happened to look back to see two bears sitting around their cooler, shotgunning their canned beer. They’d just pick one up, puncture it with their claws then dump it down their throats. I had to wonder if they’re mean drunks. Nobody likes a nasty drunk.

  We get moles in the yard but don’t mind them. They are good for aerating gardens and grass and the dirt mounds they leave behind make great sand baths for the birds.

  We let our grass grow long in most of the yard and the birds take advantage of that. Most of it ends up going to seed so that’s great for the birds too.

  Most of our trees are parrot safe and we don’t use pesticides so, now that the trees are starting to grow bigger, we have a nice supply of branch/perch material. We use the branches in Pickles’ cage, aviary and other areas. I think the only commercial branch we have is the cement perch, which is excellent for keeping his nails trimmed. We always leave the bark on the branch for Pickles to rip off and chew.

  The yard attracts so many varieties of birds, it’s amazing. All the different species seem to get along well and the only bickering we notice is with birds of the same species. We have friendly chickadees and some of the waxwings are friendly too. We had a waxwing fly into the window one time and he was stunned so Neil put him in a cardboard box and placed him in a cool, dark room in the house. When we heard him fluttering around, Neil took him outside to release him but he just sat in the box, staring up at him. Neil, kidding around, stuck his finger in the box and said, “Step up little waxwing” and he did! Neil withdrew his hand and the bird just sat on his finger for the longest time. Neil finally raised his hand and gave him a gentle jump-start, and off he flew.

  Now and then we get hawks diving down on the small birds and we see a lot of the Cooper’s Hawks. We don’t mind, they’re beautiful birds and if they don’t get a bird in our yard, they’re going to get one somewhere else. They have to eat, and they only kill the weak, or the stupid, to keep the species strong. It’s ugly, but it’s nature. That’s where the slash piles come in handy. We take all our prunings and place them in a couple of piles along the fence and keep building them up. The little birds spend a lot of time playing or foraging in there and it’s a great place to scatter when there’s a hawk around because the hawk can’t fit between all the branches.

  Sometimes the starlings come in flocks and they’ll wipe out the seeds in the feeders in no time flat but we don’t mind them either. Having Pickles has taught us to admire and respect all birds but starlings are especially clever birds and have been known to make good pets. It makes me think of African Greys in the wilds of Africa. From what I hear and read, people there consider Greys nuisance birds and wonder why people from around the world want to buy them for pets. Maybe one day, birds like starlings will be in demand in other parts of the world. Every bird has value and every type of bird deserves our respect.

  It always surprises me to hear about people who don’t like crows. I want to shove a book under their nose and make them read about them. I’d be surprised if they still considered them ‘just’ a nuisance bird. There’s nothing about crows that bothers me. Okay, maybe just one …

  Neil and I were out working in the yard the other day and suddenly, I heard Pickles’ ear grating squawk – coming from a tree across the street!! I stood there looking up at the tree with fear in my heart – Pickles had escaped the aviary! Then I heard the squawk coming from the opposite direction and glanced toward the aviary, and there he was – still safe and sound. The squawk came from the tree again, and Pickles answered it. I’m standing there listening to stereo squawking and then I noticed a crow part way up the tree. I don’t know if there’s a nest up there, or what, but that crow has squawked in that tree for the past few days. So, here’s Pickles who imitates crow caws, and here’s a crow that can imitate Pickles calls. Of all the things that that crow had to copy! Arg!

  So, that’s our life. We’re getting a little anti-social as we age and all we want to do is sit in out own beautiful yard. We still go out to the lakes for day trips or weekends but sometimes it’s hard to watch what goes on out there, the lack of respect that people have for nature and the environment. ATV’s and dirt bikes are not o
nly noise pollution but you see them off the designated trails and ripping up sensitive grasslands and driving through fish bearing streams (I won’t go into how detrimental this is for the fish) and then there’s the potential for forest fires from their exhaust. We live in an extremely high-risk area for forest fires with very little access to get out of town should a fire start nearby.

  I don’t mean to paint all ATV’ers with one brush because I know there are responsible riders out there and some of them are friends of ours. But, there’s nothing more annoying to us than having the beautiful sounds of nature interrupted by these noisy beasts.

  We try to be good people. Whether climate change (I prefer that term as term Global Warming can be deceiving) exists or not, we prefer to err on the side of caution and do what we can to minimize our impact. We recycle in a community that is behind the times, doesn’t seem to take it seriously and doesn’t make it easy for those of us that do care. We try to be as self sufficient as possible with our yard and garden, and the 100 Mile Diet isn’t an option in this area of BC because there’s not much that can be grown or raised around here. We developed our own little ecosystem and natural wildlife park in the middle of a town and provide in any way possible for the birds and other creatures, while helping the environment. And we believe in ‘doing what you can’. It’s not always easy, or even practical to do things to help the environment but you can pick your battles and you can do simple things like, don’t run the water while you’re brushing your teeth, turn one extra light bulb off in the house, water your lawns a little less (better yet, plant trees and shrubs that are indigenous to your area and that don’t need tender loving care), turn your computer or other appliances off while not using them, walk the two blocks to the store. There’s always something you can do, and do without.