'Timmy ', the African Grey parrot is gone! A bad day indeed. Like losing a family member.
It was Friday afternoon, 11th May, 2007, with the three grandchildren at home, when their grandmother decided to take them downstairs for a romp. I was seated by the PC reading, when one of the children asked, "Where is Timmy?". When everyone started to search for Timmy, I became alarmed and went out to see, hoping they will find Timmy among the flower pots. They then took the lift down to continue the search.
I checked through all the flower pots and the lift landing and decided to walk all the way down five floors hoping I will find Timmy. Unsuccessful, I walked back and continued three floors up to check all the lift landings. Still no sign of Timmy!
Timmy, the African Grey parrot, cannot fly because I had clipped his flight feathers. Moreover, he was reared as a chick and was caged without the experience of free flying. Flapping his wings, he could only fly downwards and not upwards. So it would be easier for him to go down the stairs rather than up. Moments before his disappearance, I had heard the neighbour talking to Timmy, and Timmy responding with his loud whistling. Timmy had been talking and whistling loudly that afternoon. Periodically, I would check on him if he remained silent, just to make sure that he was alright.
A few days ago, I checked on Timmy and saw that his chain had snapped. Not seeing him around, I raised the alarm with the wife. I went down the lift to check the grounds. Not finding Timmy, I took the lift up and met my wife in the lift, who told me that Timmy was found near the flower pot. False alarm.
But this time is for real. I did not like the idea of leaving the bird outside at the lift landing for the whole day because he becomes vulnerable to harm and theft. Unfortunately, my wife did not agree and left everything to chance. I hate to say this, but I had predicted that something like this would happen to the bird, and sure enough it has happened.
Timmy was given to my wife by a Caucasian lady about two years ago, because her son had no time for the bird. Timmy was about five years old then. I was given custody of Timmy and had spent quite some money on him, buying a new cage and a parrot stand including the services of a parrot trainer, to learn how to cope with the bird. I even joined MOPA (pronounced 'mopair'), a local parrot lovers club, and had hopes of taking Timmy out for 'parrots fellowship'. Unfortunately, Timmy bites and gave me some very nasty bites. Due to my medications, I bleed easily and rather excessively. It was also very painful. Despite my patience and care, Timmy remained very hostile to me. Finally I gave up and told my wife to take over the stupid bird.
Timmy latched on to my wife, like a son. He did not bite her and the two got along very well. They even engaged in responding to each other by calling each other names. My wife would call 'Timmy!' and the bird would respond with 'Por Por!' like the grandchildren do. I used to tell my friends that I had two parrots at home. Timmy had a very wide vocabulary, inheritated from his previous Caucasian owner, who spoke good English. Since the time spent with us, Timmy had picked up more words from the grandchildren and the family including 'ka-koong'!
Years ago, I had a Mollucas Cockatoo who spoke Hokkien. A beautiful large white bird with safront crest. It was very noisy and aggressive. It bit my wife and I had to give it up. I had this ambition of owning a talking parrot ever since.
Alas, Timmy is now gone! Although we could not get along, I enjoyed his talking, whistling and clicking. He imitated every thing from the kitchen to the toilet and the surrounding noises. He even sounded like someone urinating and farting.
As I write this posting on a Satuday afternoon, all is quiet at home without the darn bird. I am missing him and I know my wife is too. We had another quiet search downstairs when we got back from church, but still no sign of Timmy. I had put up a notice of his loss but had no phone call from anyone so far. He could have been stolen or startled somewhere disorientating himself. He would have sqwarked very loudly but we did not hear him. The only way to keep him quiet, was to throw a cloth over him, and bundle him away keeping him covered completely. Whatever happened, I only hope that Timmy did not suffer for it. Good bye Timmy!
It was Friday afternoon, 11th May, 2007, with the three grandchildren at home, when their grandmother decided to take them downstairs for a romp. I was seated by the PC reading, when one of the children asked, "Where is Timmy?". When everyone started to search for Timmy, I became alarmed and went out to see, hoping they will find Timmy among the flower pots. They then took the lift down to continue the search.
I checked through all the flower pots and the lift landing and decided to walk all the way down five floors hoping I will find Timmy. Unsuccessful, I walked back and continued three floors up to check all the lift landings. Still no sign of Timmy!
Timmy, the African Grey parrot, cannot fly because I had clipped his flight feathers. Moreover, he was reared as a chick and was caged without the experience of free flying. Flapping his wings, he could only fly downwards and not upwards. So it would be easier for him to go down the stairs rather than up. Moments before his disappearance, I had heard the neighbour talking to Timmy, and Timmy responding with his loud whistling. Timmy had been talking and whistling loudly that afternoon. Periodically, I would check on him if he remained silent, just to make sure that he was alright.
A few days ago, I checked on Timmy and saw that his chain had snapped. Not seeing him around, I raised the alarm with the wife. I went down the lift to check the grounds. Not finding Timmy, I took the lift up and met my wife in the lift, who told me that Timmy was found near the flower pot. False alarm.
But this time is for real. I did not like the idea of leaving the bird outside at the lift landing for the whole day because he becomes vulnerable to harm and theft. Unfortunately, my wife did not agree and left everything to chance. I hate to say this, but I had predicted that something like this would happen to the bird, and sure enough it has happened.
Timmy was given to my wife by a Caucasian lady about two years ago, because her son had no time for the bird. Timmy was about five years old then. I was given custody of Timmy and had spent quite some money on him, buying a new cage and a parrot stand including the services of a parrot trainer, to learn how to cope with the bird. I even joined MOPA (pronounced 'mopair'), a local parrot lovers club, and had hopes of taking Timmy out for 'parrots fellowship'. Unfortunately, Timmy bites and gave me some very nasty bites. Due to my medications, I bleed easily and rather excessively. It was also very painful. Despite my patience and care, Timmy remained very hostile to me. Finally I gave up and told my wife to take over the stupid bird.
Timmy latched on to my wife, like a son. He did not bite her and the two got along very well. They even engaged in responding to each other by calling each other names. My wife would call 'Timmy!' and the bird would respond with 'Por Por!' like the grandchildren do. I used to tell my friends that I had two parrots at home. Timmy had a very wide vocabulary, inheritated from his previous Caucasian owner, who spoke good English. Since the time spent with us, Timmy had picked up more words from the grandchildren and the family including 'ka-koong'!
Years ago, I had a Mollucas Cockatoo who spoke Hokkien. A beautiful large white bird with safront crest. It was very noisy and aggressive. It bit my wife and I had to give it up. I had this ambition of owning a talking parrot ever since.
Alas, Timmy is now gone! Although we could not get along, I enjoyed his talking, whistling and clicking. He imitated every thing from the kitchen to the toilet and the surrounding noises. He even sounded like someone urinating and farting.
As I write this posting on a Satuday afternoon, all is quiet at home without the darn bird. I am missing him and I know my wife is too. We had another quiet search downstairs when we got back from church, but still no sign of Timmy. I had put up a notice of his loss but had no phone call from anyone so far. He could have been stolen or startled somewhere disorientating himself. He would have sqwarked very loudly but we did not hear him. The only way to keep him quiet, was to throw a cloth over him, and bundle him away keeping him covered completely. Whatever happened, I only hope that Timmy did not suffer for it. Good bye Timmy!
Till then....
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