The other night Emelio was perched on my finger and Mark was standing in front of him with an empty paper towel roll. Emelio likes it when someone talks through the roll at him – I guess it amplifies the sound or something. Mark was doing just that and after a about ten seconds of listening Emelio must have become irritated with the game because he snatched the tube, flung himself backwards, threw the paper towel roll behind him and ended up hanging upside down from my finger.
Mark and I were dumbfounded for a second, and then we burst out laughing. Of course Emelio joined in too. Getting such a great response just encouraged him and he repeated this new trick every time Mark started to talk through the cardboard tube, chuckling each time he did it.
It just occurred to me that when we laugh like demented hyenas at his actions it’s just as much of a drama reward as freaking out when he pulls over a glass canister. Either way he tries to elicit the same response by doing it over and over again.
That reminds me of the time I didn’t latch his water bowl door securely. He discovered the error within minutes and pushed the ceramic crock right out of the cage. The resulting crash must have been enormously satisfying because he began flinging the bowls out of the holders on his cage top too. At first I replaced the ceramic crocks with plastic ones, but I got tired of it and finally removed them completely.
Oh, by the way, I also gave up on the canisters (see the post titled Mischief from 10/30). Emelio just would not leave them alone. I replaced them with heavier jars that have no lip on the lid for him to grab on to. Oh, he still tries, but just can’t get hold of them and ends up banging the top of the shortest one with his beak in frustration!
Cathy
P.S. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the new year!
