Pets: Don't tamper with our birds

My husband and I love birds, many would even say we are bird crazy. We have 17 parrots of varying size who are loud and messy and frequently bite — we have the scars to prove it. Most of these birds have been given to us by people who could no longer keep them, having a parrot is a huge commitment of time, money, and energy and they are very long lived, up to 80 years or more for the big guys.

In our pursuit to give them a good life we (mostly my husband) built an aviary outside our patio door so they could spend some time out in natural light which is healthy for them both physically and psychologically. Today we found someone had taken wire cutters and tried to cut out a square. I don’t know if the plan was to reach in and grab one or to let them go. Either way it was a dumb and ultimately cruel idea. First if they reached in they would risk a pretty serious bite and most likely injure the bird. If they purposely or inadvertently let them go, they can not survive on their own, both weather and predators would do them in, they are prey birds who need a flock with many eyes to protect them and they have been fed since they were chicks so have no survival skills.

We are proud of our birds and happy to show them to anyone who happens by and our neighbors have been very kind to tolerate the noise. We feel they enrich our lives and that of all who see them. If this person is under the impression that the birds are worth money, they couldn’t be more wrong, these are all adult birds many with behavior problems, they are instead money pits, like most hobbies. But they are greatly treasured by us and we couldn’t bear the idea that they would not be loved and properly cared for so please, ask if you want to see them close up, we would be glad to show you, but don’t endanger them.

Glenn and Pat Wallace

Oak Harbor

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