tka
Rollerblading along the road
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Sharing this with you because it's too funny not to...
I had to be away from home for a couple of nights so my friend, K, helped me out by parrot-sitting Leia. K and Leia have met and Leia is happy to sit on K's head, but this is the first time K has looked after her. Leia's normal bedtime routine is for me to hold a flaked almond by her sleeping perch (which is bolted to the cage door), Leia flies or climbs to her sleeping perch, gets the almond piece and I close the door as she's eating.
When K wanted to get Leia to bed, Leia was on top of the cage. K was a bit unsure whether Leia would go to her perch, so decided to offer an almond piece so Leia was at least on the same side as the perch, then offer an almond piece by the perch so Leia would hop onto it.
Leia had other ideas. She would move to the side of the cage where K was offering an almond piece, take the almond piece...then immediately go to the opposite side. K would offer another almond piece, Leia would take it and immediately go away.
It took K at least ten minutes to work out that the parrot was very carefully manipulating her out of as many almonds as K was willing to part with. Leia was rewarding K juuuuuust enough by going up to her that K would repeat her behaviour in the hope of another reward, which Leia would then reward...
I thought it was beautiful but K is a little freaked out at being played by a parrot.
I had to be away from home for a couple of nights so my friend, K, helped me out by parrot-sitting Leia. K and Leia have met and Leia is happy to sit on K's head, but this is the first time K has looked after her. Leia's normal bedtime routine is for me to hold a flaked almond by her sleeping perch (which is bolted to the cage door), Leia flies or climbs to her sleeping perch, gets the almond piece and I close the door as she's eating.
When K wanted to get Leia to bed, Leia was on top of the cage. K was a bit unsure whether Leia would go to her perch, so decided to offer an almond piece so Leia was at least on the same side as the perch, then offer an almond piece by the perch so Leia would hop onto it.
Leia had other ideas. She would move to the side of the cage where K was offering an almond piece, take the almond piece...then immediately go to the opposite side. K would offer another almond piece, Leia would take it and immediately go away.
It took K at least ten minutes to work out that the parrot was very carefully manipulating her out of as many almonds as K was willing to part with. Leia was rewarding K juuuuuust enough by going up to her that K would repeat her behaviour in the hope of another reward, which Leia would then reward...
I thought it was beautiful but K is a little freaked out at being played by a parrot.