Escape Artist

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We are lucky; none of our birds try to open their cages. This is not the case with many birds, they are talented escape artists. My niece Jorie owns one. Last year I got a call from a friend. Someone she knew was moving and said they didn’t have the space or the time for two birds. They also owned an African grey. I called the owners and got the details – it was a Severe macaw, also known as a mini macaw because the size is more that of a grey rather than a blue and gold. The bird was young, friendly and talking. The owner said she just didn’t have the time for it and wanted to find Jasper a good home.

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I called my sister and asked if they wanted another bird. She said Jorie wanted a bird of her own. Their bird was bonded to my sister and her daughter could not touch him. We went to visit Jasper and his owners. Jasper took to Jorie immediately, so she decided to adopt him. His family was very concerned that he transition easily, so they sent along all his toys and even his tree stand. They also casually mentioned that he sometimes let himself out of the cage.

Boy did he ever! The cage bowl doors had the round disc that’s attached at the top and you spin it clear of the door to open it. Our macaw has the same kind of cage. Jasper could open that door faster than I can, and he let himself out whenever he felt like it, which was all the time! His owners would tape the disc so he couldn’t move it. That only deterred him for a few minutes! On other types of cages you can usually put a quick link on the door to keep the bird in, but on this type of cage there was nothing to attach it to. Mark devised a bar with turn screws that slid across the doors so that even when he moved the disc he couldn’t push the door open. That stopped Jasper from escaping, but he still tries to open the doors.

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We’ve come home a couple of times and found a bird out of his cage, but it was usually because we didn’t secure the doors properly. Except for the time Peeper got out when she was still a baby. Her cage bar spacing was the proper size for a lovebird, but right under the door there was a larger space. She found it and squeezed through while we were out. The first indication that something was amiss was when we saw the throw rug in the kitchen; it was bunched up in front of the stove. We assumed the dog had been chasing the cat. Then we checked on the birds and couldn’t find Peeper. She’s always been hard to spot inside her cage (hence the original name of Waldo as in Where’s Waldo), but this time she just wasn’t there. Then I noticed the cat lying in the middle of the floor peering intently under a chair. I started calling Peeper and she ran out from under the chair. I picked her up. Her head was soaking wet – either the dog or cat had been licking it! We checked her over for bites and found nothing. She gave us quite a scare, though. Mark fashioned a piece out of clear plastic to insert into the space she got through and that was the end of her budding career as an escape artist.

Cathy