Hi Joe, I'm posting!
My life revolves around my husband, my kids (mostly my son now that my daughter has left me to go to college) and my birds.
My husband is the love of my life. He's my best friend, and most importantly
he's tolerant of birds that are more destructive than he could have imagined.
My daughter is growing up into an amazing woman. She's making good choices, doing well in school... I'm so proud of her! Of course, she has her moments... but this is MY intro. When she ticks me off, I'll come here to rant!
My son is a 13 year old boy. Teen hormones raging, girls calling the house... He alternates between being the sweet charmer he can be and the devil reincarnate. He also suffers from Crohn's disease, so he requires much of my attention.
The Birds... Well... I'll introduce them more over time, but briefly (yeah, me brief!)
Billy is a GSC2 ~ I rescued him a few years ago. His story is a painful one, he's had a very tough life. He is a one bird home demolition crew. When he came to me he was nearly starved to death and had lived out doors under a moldy tarp for 8 years. His diet had been peanuts and sunflower seeds with the occasional dog kibble. To put it mildly ~ he has issues. We're working through them.
Luke is a CAG ~ I got him a year ago January. He was 7 months old and had already been purchased, exchanged, and then exchanged again. I was told he was mean and wouldn't talk. At least he ate pellets (ok, just pellets... but that's better than peanuts and sunflower seeds.) He'd had his beak pretty aggressively grabbed and shaken... I saw the previous owner do it when I went to look at him. Now he uses his beak to warn people off, but he's also a sweet love and a chatterbox.
Bart is a Tiel ~ He's been part of the flock since September. His owners before me loved him, they just didn't learn much about tiels so his diet was terrible (liver enzymes were off the charts) and didn't handle him. Bart also attacks with his beak... the story I got is that the owner before the last flicked his beak all of the time. Bart uses his beak to step up. You know, first the beak, then the bird? Not to bite, just to hold on. One toe isn't completely attached, his wings aren't formed right, so he can't fly... I imagine if that was my lot, I'd hold on with everything I had before going from one perch to another too! The 2nd to the last owner apparently found him left outside a Petco. He's here now and fitting in just fine.
Bruce and Stanley are both female Lovebirds. Bruce came to me from an animal shelter about 2 years ago. Stanley came soon after too keep Bruce company, when it became quite clear Bruce wanted nothing better than to bite the living daylights out of whatever flesh you were silly enough to offer up. Flying Pit Vipers... Gawd, I love them. I'm currently, with the help of my vet, building a 10 x 20 foot aviary for them to live in during the decent weather. In the winter I'll house them indoors. They'll probably hate it. They fly and land on me and chirp a welcome... today I was bit on my side! I didn't realize my shirt had ridden up and Stanley was on the waistband of my jeans.
To round off the menagerie, I have 2 English Mastiffs, Charlie (9 years old)and Macey (almost 10) and feed the neighborhood stray cats.
Did I forget anything?
I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.
Thanks for having me here.