Fat & Magical Bird toys in A lean economy

Abstract

Probably the time I spent the most money on a toy for one of my parrots was approximately 10 years ago. It was the most fabulous "gorilla" toy one could imagine. It easily weighed 15 pounds and was multi-colored wood blocks and beads everywhere. It cost $58, and it lasted approximately the same number of minutes, most of which time Tommy, my Eleanora Cockatoo, spent chewing its rather large cardboard tag into little bits. Crunch, crunch, crunch; snap, snap, snap; crash! It was over in short order for that toy. The big bonus was that somewhere in all that crunching and snapping, Tommy must have gotten thirsty and stopped to take a drink. I further conclude that he dripped some water on his erstwhile snow white feathers and leaned into one of the bright green pieces of wood. Despite many baths, Tommy spent the better part of the ensuing several months wearing a hint of pastel green on his chest, a constant reminder of the frivolity of my spending.

We've all been there. But that was then and this is now. In an economy that is lackluster at best, few have $58 to plunk down for less than an hour of self-indulgence. So adjust we must. But, birds gotta play, and it is up to us to provide them with interesting, challenging and now perhaps "cheap" toys.

With a Rock the size of mine, even a $1,000 toy budget wouldn't go very far, so improvisation is the name of the game. Lucky for us, our birds don't care what we paid for a windowsill or even for a couch, let alone what we pay for their toys. And, if the major purpose of a toy is to destroy it ("a toy destroyed is a toy enjoyed"), then the color or style is not terribly important to them either. This leaves open an entire world of improvisation possibilities and myriad materials that meet the destructible criteria.

Ah, but our birds do seem to demand interesting, and they are often interested in everyday things that we ourselves use or discard. Many years ago-when I didn't have nearly as many of them-my birds were all housed in my home office. I began to notice that when I'd crumple up a piece of paper, I would get nearly everyone's attention. So, I crumpled up a clean sheet of paper and gave it to my Rose-breasted cockatoo, who seemed the most interested of all. That piece of paper kept Floyd busy for nearly an hour, and a ball of paper is still one of his favorites, albeit one of his messiest toys for all the confetti he is able to make of it. He also likes rolled magazines and just about anything made of cardboard, though I avoid...

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