Love birds, too, but once you get hit on the head or in your eye with a plop of poop,

• sea gull opinions -- i really angered a woman today - XanaX
  • Other woman was 'WAY out of line. sm - IMO
  • I feed birds on the lake - Snazzie
  • Not a good idea - looftm
  • Love birds, too, but once you get hit on the head or in your eye with a plop of poop, - that pretty much ends the desire to feed 'em! ;
  • seagulls - rory
  • I don't feed sea gulls. It's generally a bad idea. - sm
    • Rules - Me
    • wildlife should be left wild - wsd
    • Guess that explains once when I was enjoying peel your own shrimp - sm
    • Little Miss Melanoma -- I know somebody like that... - MSMT

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I don't even like to visit cities, much less live in one.  I lived 20 minutes outside of Boston my whole life and NEVER visited it for funsies.  I only went there as a kid for field trips, and to Logan Airport a few times as an adult.  I have some sort of meltdown/panic disorder when it comes to traffic, tunnels, tall buildings, and angry people...which are plentiful in that neck of the woods.  Everyone all hopped up on their fancy-pants Starbucks shouting all angry-like on their cell phones...gives me the heebs just thinkin' about it!

Yep, whole other food chain those cities are. 

Your Goffin found a perfect home!  That's EXACTLY what they want and need!!

I had a pink Mollucan (like a Goffin but bigger) who was my "baby" and she too had to be held all the time with her head resting on my chest or she'd scream so loud you could hear her houses down the block from me.  Sometimes only the hard of hearing can find them to be acceptable pets because of this but they are SO affectionate!!!  They are said to have the intelligence and demanding nature of a toddler.  Your former Macaw comes in at around a 5- to 7-year-old.  Greys are rated at 9 years old intelligence-wise but I disagree and think Macaws and Greys rate higher based on owning many and seeing what they can do.  I've bred/owned many kinds of birds for many years.  If you want a small parrot who just pretty much sits and thinks and keeps quiet but is company, get an Eclectus.  They are affectionate but quiet and pretty much trouble free, not obsessed with curiosity like a Grey!  Pionus are good too. 

Just watch whatever you use around the house that has an odor or scent.  Birds can die in a matter of minutes before you realize what is happening.  Reptiles react too so be careful with them.  And never use Lysol around a rabbit, especially to clean the cage.   

Feel free to e-mail me if I can ever be of any help.  I'm posting this here in case others watching this thread have birds, use candles and self-cleaning ovens and Teflon, especially this time of the year. 

this is NOT normal......been in Florida 30 years and never heard birds in the middle of the night unless one is in the Everglades....and I'm not located there.

Been going on for almost a year.........it's very bizarre to me.

You have to be careful what is in the candles. I don't burn them with birds around.  Self-cleaning ovens will also immediately kill birds, as will a Teflon-coated pan that overheats.  Also be careful with home permanent solutions, room deodorizers, and DO NOT USE FEBREZE (yes, I am shouting because so many people use this and it is a KILLER for birds).  Just be careful with any of these types of things.  Birds are ultra sensative to inhalants.  Better not to use them at all. 

Regarding the eggs, if you remove them she will just lay more before she's had a proper rest and that will deplete her of calcium. While she's sitting on her eggs, her body is rebuiding for the next clutch.  Try to find things that resemble the eggs in size and color, like marbles, beads, etc.  Put them in place of the eggs.  Don't let her see you doing this.  Warm them in your hands first (NOT HOT) and sneak them in one at a time when she's not looking.  She should sit on them and you can pitch the eggs.  But let her sit until SHE abandons them so that she maintains proper calcium.

Also, if the eggs aren't fertile, there is no problem in letting her sit on them.  Take them out and hold them up to a light, like a light bulb or a flashlight, and look into the egg.  If you see red lines or a solid dark mass, you've got babies.  If you see just space and yolk, you've got a dud.  She can sit on duds and get her rest and you won't have to worry about babies.  Not all eggs are duds, though.  You have to look at each one.  Date them lightly in PENCIL and then you can tell when you last looked and keep checking until you're sure they are duds. 

Keep plenty of cuttlebone around for her calcium and sprinkle baby bird handfeeding formula on her food to give her extra supplements for the egg laying whether duds or not.  It's good for her.  Even if you don't want babies, her body needs to be replenished with this stuff to keep her healthy. This is a good treat anytime for a bird. 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with babies before.  Many times the youngest die in the next because the larger ones get on top of them and they don't get the food. Finches are tricky.  I'm crazy about them but they do need careful watching.  Parrots are SO much easier to raise!!!  Guess you don't want to suggest that to your kids, though LOL!!! 

Feel free to e-mail if you have questions!

Wow.  Plotzing right next to you.  jeez.

I put up a greenhouse last year, which I love.  It's still being tweaked so I haven't completely maximized its use yet, but all my plants made it through its first winter.  We even planned ahead and my handyman ran electric and water into it, so it's pretty self contained. 

I love growing things, but don't necessarily like to be outside for the growing of them.  Weird, I know.  Plus, the greenhouse lets me stay away from my creepy neighbor who makes passes at me while his ailing/dying wife is inside. 

The other thing that I've started doing to try to cut costs is hanging the clothes out on a line.  I've seen a lot of comments about that lately, too.   I'm really curious to see how much of a difference that makes on the old electric bill.

it's like if you spill the salt, it's bad luck....these are old *wives tales* perpetuated WAY_BACK_WHEN....a.k.a. superstitions for some of them...

don't walk under a ladder

don't let a black cat cross your path

swallow a watermelon pit and you grow a watermelon in tummy

swallow a piece of gum and it stays in your system for 7 years or clogs you up

(Most of them are ridiculous and a waste of time)....I have owned black cat(s), purposefully walked under ladders, spilled salt and think nothing of it, swallowed gum and/or small pits of fruits, and I'M STILL KICKIN.......and getting OLDER THAN DIRT *L*

He did not offer to pay for the car.  When you are in marching band in high school you don't always have the luxury of working. He taught music lessons.  That was enough for spending money not car payments.  He has a scholarship but other than that I pay for everything.

We had a good talk this afternoon.  I told him that there would come a time in the not too distant future when that trip would be allowed.  However, I want a phone call before he leaves and one when he gets there.  I want to know he made it safely.  Honestly, I told him I was not mad about this and I understood that he wanted to see her, but lying is wrong.  End of story.  When I asked him if he was there I wouldn't have been near as upset if he had told me the truth but he kept digging his hole deeper and deeper.

 I don't know what my husband is going to decide to do about the car.  I asked him to consider leaving it.  I told him I don't think my son will do it again.  I told him that it is important that the girlfriend's parents like him and pulling crap like this is not going to endear them to him. 

I put the idea in my husband's mind that maybe he could take a picture of the speedometer when he gets there tonight so that we know the milage.  He is going to talk to him tonight.  If he did that, he will still have local use of his car.  I don't know.  Everyone is pretty upset right now. Me, my husband, my son, his girlfriend, her parents.   

I actually think that maybe he understand where I am coming from.  I reminded him what if I got a phone call saying he was in an accident and severely hurt or worse and I think he is safe at school. 

and it honestly just encouraged me to lie to her.  My kids are younger, so God only knows what I'll do when they are teenagers, as I know that is a very hard time, but your son is in college now, and I think it is reasonable for him to want to drive to see his girlfriend on weekends.  I was always a pretty honest kid with my mom, but losing my car was a big deal, so I did lie to her from time to time, because even though I felt bad lying it didn't feel as bad as losing my car would have!

Is your son maintaining good grades?  If so, I wouldn't worry about his texting or how much he is talking to his girlfriend, because I honestly think that is his business and he will have to learn some hard lessons by messing up - not by having his mom tell him how life is all the time.  Sometimes you have to learn that you can fall and pick yourself back up.  If he is getting really bad grades, however, then of course you should step in because you don't want him messing up that scholarship!  I'm already afraid for when my boys go off to college because I know how much many college kids drink and party and am afraid they will drink too much or something and get hurt, but if your son is just wanting to see his girlfriend then that might actually keep him from partying as much as other college kids.  Are you just worried that he will get hurt on the drive to see her or something?  Does he have a safe car?

I would say just be careful.  If this girlfriend is really nice and he feels like you "messed up" his relationship with her in any way he might try to get back at you by dating a "lesser quality" girl or something.  Good luck to you.  I'm sure this is a difficult situation, but it's great he got a scholarship and is a good kid overall.