[The Outlaw]

Shea:

If memory serves, I believe I tried to help you with your bird. You seemed grateful for that help at the time. If I'm incorrect, please let me know. Let me tell you a personal story about my very own Dreamie. If you've read it before I'm sorry.

I have a friend that has been selling birds for over 25 years. She handfeeds her babies and never sells them unweaned TO ANYONE.

She was contacted in the middle of the night by a mutual friend. Seems his young neighbors were on their honeymoon in Florida and purchased a very young baby macaw from a street vendor. He explained that it was "easy" to handfeed too. They finished their week in Florida and came home. They couldn't wait to show their neighbor their new pet. When John saw Dreamie his heart sank. The baby was barely feathered, with sunken cheeks, popping eyes and very, very weak. He demanded that the couple turn the bird over to him immediately or else he was going to call animal control. They complied. They didn't even realize how close to death this baby bird was.

When my girlfriend received the bird at almost midnight, she was doubtful that she could save him. However, with no vet available until the following day, she agreed to try. At that point the couple signed their rights away to her. Dreamie somehow managed to hang on that evening and was vetted the following day. He had just about everything wrong that a baby bird could have. It cost her over $800.00 to bring him back from the brink, and that's getting all of her supplies and meds wholesale.

Needless to say, he wasn't the most beautiful bird in her shop and their wasn't a demand for him. She liked him a lot, but had two personal pet birds and didn't want a third. At that time she started actively looking to place him.

Fate brought me into her store that very day. I came to look at a little Hahns. As I passed by Dreamie's cage, he stuck his little foot out to touch me. I asked the clerk if they knew his gender. They were certain he was a DNAd male. I was sad, because I already had a female and didn't want to have pairs. I walked back and took a look at the Hahns. He was cute.

I decided to go home and think about the Hahns. It was my birthday the following day and I figured this would be my last bird. Still I kept thinking about Dreamie. He was such a little character.

I decided to buy the Hahns. Again, I didn't want a pair of BGs. When I called the store, they had just sold him. My girlfriend came to the phone. She begged me to take Dreamie. She told me his story. I made no promise, but asked Will to come with me for a second visit. As soon as I entered the room, Dreamie got all excited and tried once again to reach me. He was in a cage that made it very difficult to get him out. I opened the door and he scrambled out and ran up my arm. I looked at Will and told him all about Dreamie's story. My friend asked me to please reconsider him. I told her I would not pay more than $1000. She was so happy. She threw in a cage and off we went.

Dreamie was lucky. The fates were very kind to him. His first owners weren't bad people. They were TYPICAL people. They didn't know what handfeeding entailed. And, unfortunately all over the south, this scenario plays out over and over again. Your statistic are unrealistic. They come from petshops and breeders. Most sick birds NEVER see a vet.

In the wild, nature controls how many birds survive. In abundant years, its very common for entire clutches to thrive. When resources are slim, parents are forced to chose which will live and die. In fact, sometimes entire clutches are abandoned.

We control the variables. To handfeed isn't the question. PREPARING beforehand to handfeed and to provide emergency aid is. THAT'S the difference. Many baby macaws today are alive and underweight with life long problems because no one told new parents that they required a special macaw formula, not just the normal formula. Its exactly those kinds of things that make the difference between success and failure.

Again, I commend you on your success, but I really feel that a lot of it was luck, plain and simple. JMHO.