I read somewhere that a person who free-flighted their bird taught it to recite its address and phone number in case it flew off and was found later.
I cannot trust my birdie to recite address and phone number.
But I think this would do. Much better than implanting microchip in bird.
By the time a vet found that, that person might have gotten such strong bond that he/she will not want to give back the bird.
Extract from
Reflections on Riamfada at edge of the Empty Quarter and some rants
A glimmer of a partial solution came during that drive back.
I could not pray to be given precognitive powers. And if I have precognitive powers, I would not have wasted it on Riamfada.
I would be a billionaire 100 times over playing the stock market, racing horses and futures market. I would then wired Riamfada up with miniature sensors and GPS widgets with no regards to costs to know exactly where she is at any time. And engaged a backup army of humans on scrambler bikes to keep eyeball lookouts to get her back.
I have little concern for spook flights for reasons I touched on earlier.
Parroty joke flights done to me had been local and had to be accepted as parroty joke to be lived with and within walking distances.
That eventuality that I had to prepare for is that Riamfada during an exuberance flight got blown or chased until she could not come back and too far for me to get to her.
Falcon transponders I had enquired in Dubai who wanted to charge me 3 times the price I saw on Internet.
But what if Riamfada could tell those who found her my telephone? Or my telephone number be on her that I then could be contacted.
What if something could be clipped to her with my telephone?
What about those tiny aluminium thingie with paper scrolled inside designed for cat or dog collars that I seen in pet shops in Qurum? That I could tie with Dyneema to her harness?
That same evening saw me in petshop there. They have no tiny aluminum cylinder thingie. Perhaps I seen that in petshop in some other countries that got mentally displaced to here in Muscat, Oman.
But they have tiny plastic cylinder thingie for cats or dogs. I rather have the aluminium as I feared Riamfada would just chew the plastic apart. I bought 2 of those at about 2 US$ each. They snapped open to reveal a scroll of paper for name address and telephone number inside.
The next morning was Friday. But that day would be devoted to checking this possible solution.
I called Mr Jabri who enjoyed that desert report and was frightened by that only a bit less than me and much more frightened than any of you for reason obvious to all of you.
He agreed his name and phone be written in that paper together with my wife telephone number. That was in case if Riam was rescued by someone who might not be able to speak English, he would be called.
I was prepared for any ransom or reward money to get Riamfada back.
I fixed two harness with that tiny cylinder thingie. Riamfada was harnessed up for that acid test. If those cylinder bothered her. She could chew that within a second.
She was curious, and gave that a cursory chew and never bothered again with that cylinder.
That Friday was spend in neighbourhood walks , and flights inside the house with just the harness on. She never bothered with the cylinder.
That was tested all through the week in our daily neighbourhood walks and recall flights done. That tiny cylinder thingie never bothers Riam at all when she was flying or not flying and ignored by her all the time.
Nothing is fool proof. But the chances of Riamfada being found and reunited with me is now immensely better with those telephone numbers attached to her harness via that cylinder.
Any freeflights will be done with Riam in her harness which now weigh 4 grams with that cylinder thingy. The harness is less than 1 % of her body weight. That 1 % is less than your running shoes /shirt/shorts that you wear when you go for a run. Or do you need to be naked and running without shoes before you feel you are truly running? If you feel that way, and if you are a sweet young thing and live near me, do me a favour and come over and run in circles around me.
Riamfada in harness is likely to be less exuberant. Which is fine by me.
I said before the body leash of the harness is reduced to barely an inch. The only way the harness could be snagged on tree would be on a tiny thorn or twig. Riamfada enjoyed almonds and brazil nuts in their shells. Riamfada chewed a basket to pieces and in the process of chewing the hostess trolley in her room to pieces. She chewed the 2 inch diameter perch in her room.
I cannot imagine Riam would not chew any twig if she is ever snagged by a twig. Maybe if her harness caught in barb wire fence might be a problem. I promise all that I will never fly Riam anywhere near barb wire fence or outside a prison wall.
and extract from
more on mind & tofu // Dommie at Omer//kitties// Riamfada and 3 turns on dime
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Riamfada and 3 turns on dime
In addition to finding strange orange balls at municipal bin areas, my wife found also what we were looking for earlier.
She saw in Carrefour supermarket the aluminium thingy with address/phone inside.
Riamfada hardly bite the yellow thingy with our phone. Even so, bite marks were clearly seen on the plastic thingy.
Reflections on Riamfada at edge of the Empty Quarter and some rants
Reflections on Riamfada at edge of the Empty Quarter and some rants - Tinkerbell Legacy - Living with a flying parrot
The aluminium thingy was what I wanted.
That yellow thingy was removed and the aluminium thingy substitued
One day, on our usual late afternoon neighbourhood walks when it was cooler, I did what I thought was a very routine recall from a short 30 meters away down the road just outside our villa.
Riamfada took off at cue. She flew in a straight line at me without zigzagging about. I instantly felt she was going to give me a fright with another of her parroty joke. The only question was how much of a fright would it be.
She powered her way at my shoulder level in a bee line to my left shoulder. Then at about 2 feet from me, Riam changed direction turning on that dime to head to the right. Just at about my right shoulder, she flared and twisted her wings to do a 180 degree turn still at same level. It was just a wing flap and she twisted her body right in front of my face and hovered for a second. Almost as if laughing at me at how clever she was. She then flew to my left shoulder and touched down there with her head down for her congratutory head rubs.
In a space just about the size of my hands placed in front of me with finger tips touching, she did 3 turns on a dime turning.
To amuse herself.
I was shocked, my wife was shocked. All that can only be written down as needless to say, the camera was still slinged from my wife's neck.
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