KevinC
Strolling the yard
- Joined
- 1/18/21
- Messages
- 125
- Real Name
- Kevin N. Carpenter
Had a pleasant visit there today (URL). Visits are by appointment only, after filling out an application, which makes total sense. No application fee required, unlike Gabriel Foundation in Colorado.
Mike had 54 birds at the time of our visit, a number of which are permanent residents for various legitimate reasons (like a bonded Hyacinth/Greenwing pair full of old-age related medical issues that had been together for over 50 years!).
He showed us, and talked about, everything in his keep, with an initial focus on the Macaws. That included the good, the bad, and the ugly (calling one of his birds something like a killer daemon spawn - guaranteed anyone who put a hand in its cage would be viscously attacked).
While preparing for this post, I went back to his website and found this quote: " WE DON'T PAY FOR BIRDS, AND WE DON'T HELP PEOPLE SELL BIRDS OR CAGES. IF WE'RE INVOLVED, NO MONEY IS....EVER. " And he means it. He does not charge an adoption fee, or rehoming fee, or anything of the sort. He does screen his potential adopters (his online application is pretty complete), and ABSOLUTELY comes and does a home visit prior to providing a bird - even if your 3 hours away like I am. He does sell a few things (we picked up a T-Shirt for $25) to help offset cost, and he accepts donations, which unsurprisingly often come from adopters. But there is no fixed fees involved. On an interesting side, since there is no money tied to the adoption process, his out-of-state clients are free to home otherwise restricted CITIES birds. That said, in the past he use to receive a lot of Military Macaws, but hasn't seen them nearly as frequently as he once did. (Some of you may recall I'm looking for a Military or ideally, a Blue Throated Macaw.) He has NEVER seen a BTM, at least one that was alive...
We went there with potential interest in Big Boy, a 10 year old Miligold. Did nothing for me. But that is why visits are important.
I had a passing interest in Seymore, a 28 year old Ruby male. He has possibilities... he is in perfect health and seems to be a gentlemen - easily stepping onto my arm, but not going to my shoulder even though he likes Mike's. Even got a kiss out of him. Only two concerns: 1) My expanded habitat cages I ordered back in January are still having source material issues (thank you Covid) and 2) Since arriving at IPR he lives on a rather complex hanging perch system (think dozens of intertwined 1-2" branches hanging from the ceiling). He hasn't been in a cage there since arriving! I have a few too many destructible items in my office (like computer keyboards) for me to trust him alone at night uncaged. Likewise our log home could take serious damage. Yeah, we know Macaws chew wood - but most of our birds that try are quickly trained out of doing so with a few stern words repeated over a couple of incidents. Macaws can just do damage SO much faster than say a Sun Conure... (our Sun has left its marked on wooden doors and frames, but that seemed to be a passing fancy with the feedback we have given him). I wasn't looking for a hybrid, but maybe... just maybe...
Speaking of training, he showed us a number of Amazons. As we prepared to leave we walked around and he re-caged everything he had let out during our visit. For one of the amazons, that consisted of telling it "Time to go home!", and I'll be danged if that bird didn't immediately work his way back into its cage. That was awesome!
The facility itself is all in one moderate size building, with a few rooms set aside. Essentially he has one misc. smaller bird room - one room just for African Greys, which have recently been appearing in growing numbers - and then sorts the birds in groups in the remaining space. e.g. The amazons are towards the front, and the macaws are in the back. Again, he was VERY upfront on each bird: "This bird has serious foot and related balance issues" "This bird doesn't like women" "These birds are on medical hold, we think it might have a fungus in its lungs which might take awhile to clear up" "This bird has never been handled in 35 years until it came to us - making progress, but its slow going..." etc.
Overall, VERY impressed.
He does plan on coming for a home visit sometimes in the next few weeks (scheduling complicated a bit by it being a 3 hour drive each way). Man is dedicated! We will go from there. If not Seymore, we would be pre-approved should a Military or, however unlikely, a BTM come to him - once the birds where cleared medically.
Mike had 54 birds at the time of our visit, a number of which are permanent residents for various legitimate reasons (like a bonded Hyacinth/Greenwing pair full of old-age related medical issues that had been together for over 50 years!).
He showed us, and talked about, everything in his keep, with an initial focus on the Macaws. That included the good, the bad, and the ugly (calling one of his birds something like a killer daemon spawn - guaranteed anyone who put a hand in its cage would be viscously attacked).
While preparing for this post, I went back to his website and found this quote: " WE DON'T PAY FOR BIRDS, AND WE DON'T HELP PEOPLE SELL BIRDS OR CAGES. IF WE'RE INVOLVED, NO MONEY IS....EVER. " And he means it. He does not charge an adoption fee, or rehoming fee, or anything of the sort. He does screen his potential adopters (his online application is pretty complete), and ABSOLUTELY comes and does a home visit prior to providing a bird - even if your 3 hours away like I am. He does sell a few things (we picked up a T-Shirt for $25) to help offset cost, and he accepts donations, which unsurprisingly often come from adopters. But there is no fixed fees involved. On an interesting side, since there is no money tied to the adoption process, his out-of-state clients are free to home otherwise restricted CITIES birds. That said, in the past he use to receive a lot of Military Macaws, but hasn't seen them nearly as frequently as he once did. (Some of you may recall I'm looking for a Military or ideally, a Blue Throated Macaw.) He has NEVER seen a BTM, at least one that was alive...
We went there with potential interest in Big Boy, a 10 year old Miligold. Did nothing for me. But that is why visits are important.
I had a passing interest in Seymore, a 28 year old Ruby male. He has possibilities... he is in perfect health and seems to be a gentlemen - easily stepping onto my arm, but not going to my shoulder even though he likes Mike's. Even got a kiss out of him. Only two concerns: 1) My expanded habitat cages I ordered back in January are still having source material issues (thank you Covid) and 2) Since arriving at IPR he lives on a rather complex hanging perch system (think dozens of intertwined 1-2" branches hanging from the ceiling). He hasn't been in a cage there since arriving! I have a few too many destructible items in my office (like computer keyboards) for me to trust him alone at night uncaged. Likewise our log home could take serious damage. Yeah, we know Macaws chew wood - but most of our birds that try are quickly trained out of doing so with a few stern words repeated over a couple of incidents. Macaws can just do damage SO much faster than say a Sun Conure... (our Sun has left its marked on wooden doors and frames, but that seemed to be a passing fancy with the feedback we have given him). I wasn't looking for a hybrid, but maybe... just maybe...
Speaking of training, he showed us a number of Amazons. As we prepared to leave we walked around and he re-caged everything he had let out during our visit. For one of the amazons, that consisted of telling it "Time to go home!", and I'll be danged if that bird didn't immediately work his way back into its cage. That was awesome!
The facility itself is all in one moderate size building, with a few rooms set aside. Essentially he has one misc. smaller bird room - one room just for African Greys, which have recently been appearing in growing numbers - and then sorts the birds in groups in the remaining space. e.g. The amazons are towards the front, and the macaws are in the back. Again, he was VERY upfront on each bird: "This bird has serious foot and related balance issues" "This bird doesn't like women" "These birds are on medical hold, we think it might have a fungus in its lungs which might take awhile to clear up" "This bird has never been handled in 35 years until it came to us - making progress, but its slow going..." etc.
Overall, VERY impressed.
He does plan on coming for a home visit sometimes in the next few weeks (scheduling complicated a bit by it being a 3 hour drive each way). Man is dedicated! We will go from there. If not Seymore, we would be pre-approved should a Military or, however unlikely, a BTM come to him - once the birds where cleared medically.
