Thunder in the Morning

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As I was about to get out of shower this morning I thought I heard thunder. That always makes me nervous; I’ve never heard of someone actually getting shocked but I still heed the old warnings from my childhood. My girlfriend’s mom worked at an insurance agency and would horrify us with stories of lightning incidents. Needless to say, I rushed to get out of the water.
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I quickly realized that what I thought was thunder was nothing of the sort – it was Rani playing with her kitty. The kitty is a hard rubber dog toy that we found while searching for a replacement to the soft rubber pig that she destroyed. (See pic posted March 20th)
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Playing is a relative term. What she’s actually doing is attacking and killing it. The toy is on the bottom grate of her cage. When the mood strikes her she will descend to the grate, stalk and pounce on this toy, then grab it in her beak and smash it to the grate, alternating from left to right. Then she flings it, spins around, runs and pounces on it again and repeats the entire process. This is what generates that thundering noise.

I read that it’s the female eclectus rather than the male that protects the nest. They actually kill snakes. No doubt about that – she is one tough bird.
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Here she's on top of her cage with "Shitty Kitty". It's named that because usually when she's done playing the toy ends up under her favorite perch and it needs washing almost every day!

(BTW - Rani doesn't usually look this bad! She is molting and plucking right now!)
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Cathy