Let me introduce myself
23I am Mr. Squawkington. I am the new new resident bird in the Felton10 household. I am a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo by species.
I am in my mid 20s (about the same age as the dearly departed Walter). My handle is very appropriate as I squawk at everything-when I am left alone, when I am hungry, when I want to be petted, when I see a bird, dog or big truck in the back yard and when the door bell rings-so pretty much everything. That is why birds of my species are not recommended as apartment birds. More later.
- 8 comments, 31 replies
- Comment
Oh boi, HI MR SQUAWKINGTON!!!
My name is Charlie and I am this months Goat-Dog. Welcome to the group. Everyone is really nice and we are all friens. I hope you like it here!!!
Do you like peanut butter treats? I will share with you
@CharlieDoggo I don’t know what I like. Felton10 has been feeding me all sort of stuff and the only thing I gobble down is scrambled eggs. I also eat almonds taking them out of the shell and string beans. Still trying to decide if I like my new digs or not. I wish he would stop calling me Walter though.
@MrSquawkington it will take a while. My mom called me Sam every once in a while. I think he was her doggo fren before me.
I dont like string beans and mom said I cannot try nuts. Sometimes she is mean!!! Maybe try peanut butter it is SOOOO. GOOD! I would eat it all day if mom would let me
Maybe my new owners aren’t so bad after all. Look at all the wood toys they bought me. Maybe they really like me or maybe it was because I destroyed a $ 10 toy in less than 20 minutes. What do you think?
Hi Mr. Squawkington! You seem like a handsome fella although maybe a bit persnickety; personally I like those with high standards so keep it up! You’ll have that Felton10 household trained in no time!
I really need to have a talk with my own visitor, a very pretty and very loud owl whose favorite place and time to make noise is right outside my bedroom window, staring into my side of the bed. Just staring. At 2 in the morning. Rolled out of bed in surprise a couple of times. I would appreciate a couple of knocks to adjust me before the screaming begins, sir.
@sunshineparadox Wow! Well, it’s protecting you from rodents and snakes, so maybe it’s worth it?
@Kyeh oh I agree. I have a lot of critters on my lot many of which that live there. They all preceded me. It’s their home too and I let them alone. They have a right to be here. The snakes, lizards, birds, and deer are all welcome too. I give them space.
I’m apparently chill and safe enough that every spring when the geese have their babies, they bring them to meet me. They don’t hiss. The babies come right up. I talk gently and calmly. Then when they’re done they just leave and I let them be.
The only actual dicks are the turtles.
@sunshineparadox
Wow! That’s marvelous - you’re so lucky! I actually heard an owl outside the night before last and was really hoping it would stick around, but we had a big snow last night, so I don’t know if it has.
Why are the turtles bad?
@Kyeh @sunshineparadox The turtles?? I have questions!
@Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @sunshineparadox i agree, what did the turtles do?!?!?
@Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @tinamarie1974 There is a lake across the street. A small man made one. That’s where the ducks and herons and geese and turtles are.
The geese, herons, and ducks generally avoid people. Rather than being seen by people, when the turtles notice people they simply let go of their spot and prefer to just … fall. They don’t like us so much they just fall into the water.
Also if you get to close to one whether you’re aware of it or not, they bite you and it really hurts. They got a part of my grandma’s dog’s nose once. Just bit it off.
@PooltoyWolf @sunshineparadox @tinamarie1974 Oh, no!!! I never knew they could be that dangerous.
@Kyeh @sunshineparadox @tinamarie1974 Turtle bites can be very painful, but they really only bite if provoked, cornered, or think you’re food. Also, never poke your finger into their shell if their head is retracted! Our turtle Shelldon will take food out of your hand, but make sure your fingers are clear! LOL!
@Kyeh @sunshineparadox @tinamarie1974 At first, I read this as if your lake was made by a small man.
@PooltoyWolf @sunshineparadox @tinamarie1974
LOVE that name!
@Kyeh @sunshineparadox @tinamarie1974 It was the brainchild of one of my furry friends hahaha
@Kyeh @PooltoyWolf @tinamarie1974 Yeah, I don’t doubt the turtle felt cornered by the dog. She was a collie so not huge, but giant status to a turtle.
But the image of just letting go and choosing to fall instead of dropping down a little or anything else is hilarious to me. I’m never even close, but I know it when I hear the plop they make.
Just in case my bird’s post confused you-this is the one and only SNOWFLAKE-the rescue bird I adopted to replace Walter. I also call him Mr. Squawkington due to his squawking at almost everything.
I guess it’s better than barking? IDK…
@robson No it isn’t-not even close. LOL.
BAD BIRD-was petting snowflake (aka Mr. Squawkington) this afternoon and while petting him he turned and took a bite out of me. BAD BIRD.
@Felton10 oh no, bad @MrSquawkington! I hope you have your rabies shot! You cannot bite your hooman, it makes them very sad!!!
@Felton10 Owww. Maybe you need to pet him with a glove on! What a bummer!
@CharlieDoggo @Felton10 @MrSquawkington
Well birds can’t have rabies by definition. And transmission to humans of anything else is very low.
@Felton10 are you concerned? I don’t know much about birds. Considering what I assume he probably could have done with that beak if he wanted to… That looks like a miscalculated nip? I know I have worse from the cats lol
@Kyeh That actually is the worse thing you can do because gloves really scare them.
@CharlieDoggo @unksol It wasn’t miscalculating-he was trying to tell me something-like maybe he didn’t like the way I was petting him-just have to be more careful in reading his body language. Didn’t yell at him-just put him in the cage for the rest of the day so he knew he did something wrong.
@CharlieDoggo @Felton10 well that’s what I meant by “miscalculated”. He didn’t like something and was letting you know. Just maybe a little harder than necessary? Cause if he wanted to do actual damage it would be way worse?
Cats kind of learn how hard to bite when they are annoyed as kittens from playing. So they don’t “usually” break the skin. but they can fuck you up if they want. IDK how birds learn moderation
Either way obviously an large adjustment from Walter to a new family member. Hope it goes well
@CharlieDoggo @unksol Well with Walter I could stick my finger in his beak (mouth) sideways so the tip couldn’t (wouldn’t) break the skin and he would apply various amounts of pressure depending on how much he wanted to get my attention.
@CharlieDoggo @Felton10 @unksol @Kyeh Ouch! I say, next time he does that, put on some gloves AND a Bane mask & show him who’s boss!
@CharlieDoggo @Felton10 with the cats when they bite harder than I would like I just push my hand/finger further in so they can’t get leverage on their jaw/decide it’s a poor decision.
But I’d be concerned trying that with a small dinosaur
@CharlieDoggo @ircon96 @Kyeh @unksol He kept making heads bobs and saying “give me a kiss” like the wanted to be petted today so finally I called him over to his favorite petting perch and ask him if he wanted a kiss to which he repeated it and then I started to pet him. Alternated between the back of his crest and on his ear holes (which all birds love). Petted him for about 5 minutes. All went well.
@CharlieDoggo @Felton10 @ircon96 @unksol Well, that’s great! Maybe he’s like a cat - wants patting on his terms. So he speaks phrases?
@CharlieDoggo @Felton10 @ircon96 @Kyeh yay. Maybe it’s just. Initial beaking issues?
You know like teething issues…?
I get it. I’ll show myself out.
@Felton10 I was going to ask if you squawked.
I see above you did not but couldn’t resist. I am fascinated with birds but also a bit wary.
@CharlieDoggo @Felton10 @ircon96 @Kyeh @unksol
Do you know if he had biting issues with his last owner? I forget if you’ve been in contact with them to learn about his previous life, pre Felton!
Like Kyeh, I’m also curious about his talking. How many phases does he know?
@CharlieDoggo @ircon96 @Kyeh @Lynnerizer @unksol Actually most of the things on the list the previous owner gave to the rescue place (like food he likes and things he said) turned out to be fairly useless as well as the answers to the questions we sent him. If we didn’t know any better, we might have thought we were talking about 2 different birds.
We have been providing him with pics of snowflake so he will know he is happy and thriving in his new digs.
So far all we have heard him say is " give me a kiss" “hello” “goodbye” and “goodnight”.
@speediedelivery You are right to be wary of birds-they have not been domesticated for centuries like dogs and cats and therefore are in essence wild animals and therefore very unpredictable-probably part of their appeal.