No More Climbing Trees For Hannah! (long post)

[LoveMyBeak]

Alright folks I am at my wits end pondering clipping Hannahs wings. As you all heard about two weeks ago Hannah got loose and I was extremely lucky to get her back.

Well... just the other night at dusk I screwed up and had her on my shoulder and doing things around the house when I decided to bring the dog a treat, forgetting the fact that Hannah was on my shoulder I got complacent and when I leaned over to give my dog the treat just outside the back door Hannah took off again! This time she circled the house and kept going higher and higher and headed towards the woods and landed in a 50 foot oak tree about 35 feet up.

Once she landed I felt a sigh of relief because I knew that actually she was calm and not freaked out, in fact I am pretty sure that she was having a good time, and I knew that she wasn't going to fly anymore.

Now, this tree has a trunk thickness of about twelve inches and shoots straight up, I went and got my extension ladder which is about 16 feet fully extended, I climbed to the top of the ladder and stood on the top rung and looked up.......she was still about 16 to 20 feet above me.

I am no tree climber and I am totally out of shape, so this was going to be a huge challenge for me but I was willing to take that challenge for Hannah, it was close to total darkness, windy as heck, starting to rain, and other was tornado warnings out for this area to make things worse.

I ran and searched for my safety harness, but since I am a slob I had no clue as to its whereabouts, I located instead some slings, some rope, and a pet carrier, and then headed for the tree. I fashioned some step up chokers around the tree trunk and had one rope for around my waist for support, tied a rope to the carrier and had the other end to drag up the tree with me till I got to Hannah(was planning on pulling up the carrier once I got up there)
Folks- it took me about one hour to actually get to Hannah, all the while I was talking to her and trying to keep her calm every time the wind would blow, she was saying "Hi" and "Ha Ha Ha"back to me, My wife and daughter were at the bottom of the tree trying to help as much as they could.

I finally reached her but I got out of my foot slings and climbed using branches because they got larger at that elevation, I said "Hi" and put out my hand because Hannah was already in the 'step up' position with her foot held up for me to take her, and step up she did, once she was on my hand I grabbed her tightly by her feet and pulled her in to me, then the struggle was on.

Here I was stuck in the top of this tree hanging on to an uncomfortable Macaw and she was starting to bite me, remember the pet carrier that I supposedly had on the other end of a rope that I brought up with me?......well, I no longer had the other end of the rope! so I had nothing to put Hannah in! Had no more safety ropes, just the one around my waist!
so I sat there hugging Hannah and trying to calm her down, she was having nothing to do with it, justa biting and squawking away.

The wife said to just take my tee shirt off and wrap Hannah in it, good idea and so that is what I did, next she wanted me to just drop Hannah and she would catch her, well from 35 feet in the air that was out of the question, so I shimmied down the tree the best that I could with one arm free to do it with, and made it about ten feet down to what looked like a safer level to drop Hannah, I leaned down as far as I could and counted to three and released the package of 'beak, feet,feathers and squawk' My wife caught her ever so softly and when she did my wife paid the price with a good hard bite on one of the soft bumps on her upper chest(had to explain that 'PC' like so it don't get edited out) right at the time where I said to her"Hey hunny watch out, shes a little nippy"

I worked my way back out of the tree and down the ladder and got Hannah back into the house still wrapped in the shirt, five minutes later she was acting like it never happened, she didn't even break one feather during the whole ordeal.

So here is my dilemma, I love the bird so much that it just kills me about the very idea of taking away her gift of flight, but it is going to be a while before I get her flight built, I have installed a safety net all around the Back porch so now it is nearly impossible for her to get away again while I am taking her out to the aviary or if I forget that I have her when I go out there. The wife is screaming "Clip,Clip Clip!" and I am thinking the same, although if she was clipped then instead of her making it to the woods she would have made it to the dogs' dinner plate instead and that would have turned out worse, but at least now I have the netting around my porch to prevent that from happening..............LMB

[Lali]

I have to say if I was your wife I would not tell you to clip...
2X you got lucky don't push your luck..
Now if I was the wife I would wait till you were not looking and clip them wings wayyyyyyy back....
Remember 3 strikes your out.. Lots of people done get lucky once you have twice...

[LoveMyBeak]

Originally Posted by Lali

I have to say if I was your wife I would not tell you to clip...
2X you got lucky don't push your luck..
Now if I was the wife I would wait till you were not looking and clip them wings wayyyyyyy back....
Remember 3 strikes your out.. Lots of people done get lucky once you have twice...

Ya I hear ya, and we are making an appointment with the vet for the clipping, I dont like the" three strikes your out" law, I am glad that I still put netting around the deck for safety, and i would rather have a live clipped bird then a lost or dead flighted one.......LMB

[lovesbudgies]

I agree i would also have her clipped. This last 2 times you were very lucky. If there is a next time you may not be so lucky. Most people who have birds who fly away outside don't get their birds back. This should tell you that your Macaw needs her wings clipped. She will get used to it after a while and you would be doing whats best for her. Imagine if she does get outside again and you can't catch her. She has no clue how to survive on her own, she would not survive, then you would say why didn't i have her clipped. Why didn't i listen to my wife. I think not having her clipped is doing her more harm then good. giving her history and your history she needs to be clipped for her own good.

[becca623]

I completely understand your dilemma. I hate the idea of clipping my birds but I sometimes think it would make life less complicated. The one thing I remind myself is that a wing clip isn't permanent. You can always try it, see how it goes, then decide whether or not to clip the new feathers when she molts. Good luck! I'm very glad you got your baby back.

[silvercb67]

Wow! You are very lucky indeed. Glad Hannah is o.k.

[loyallyroyal]

My Dewey isnt clipped but we take extreme measures that he never gets out, including little signs for the door that say "Dewey Airlines in Flight!" Along with making an announcment that Dewey is coming out.

No doors and no windows open while Dewey is out. Period. We go through the garage if we need to get outside.

If you clip, (which you should if you cant take proper precautions to keep her inside) then make sure you do it gradually, about 2-3 flights at a time so she gets used to not being able to fly, and then keep going every week until she can no longer gain altitude but glide to the ground.

Remember, birds still get out clipped so you are still going to have to be careful. She will still need a harness or carrier to go outside. The biggest problem with clipping is that people get lax and when their bird flies off they are shocked, "But they were clipped"

Basically, clipping isnt a silver bullet that your bird will never get lost if you are not careful, most of the lost birds I see on craigslist are clipped.

[Lori~D]

Your also so very lucky a hawk wasnt waiting in the tree. Never mind the dog, the dangers of the wild for her are just as bad. You CAN train the dog. You cannot train the weather and the Hawks!
Thank God your all ok

[r2rusmc]

So do you want the sweet, supportive response or the real response?

[Abby]

I am amazed that you can just forget that you have a bird the size and weight of a macaw on your shoulder.

Having flighted birds entails being responsible. Twice now you haven't shown this responsibility and put your bird's life at risk. Just clip the birds wings. Unfortunately she's going to have to miss out on being a flighted bird because you seem incapable of maintaining basic safety measures.

Yes I am being harsh. As a person with flighted birds I take their safety very seriously as do my husband and children. No sweet supportive response here.