Exotic pets, Ollie flew the coop.

jackb

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Three years ago the neighbors behind us got a large Macaw and installed a huge cage in their backyard about fifty feet from our kitchen window. We have had to listen to this monster screech for three years and could do nothing about it. Our town has very strict laws prohibiting dogs from barking but the animal control officer, while sympathetic, said she could do nothing about the parrot.

The parrot's owner used to walk the streets with this monster sitting on his shoulder like a pirate and I thought he was definitely off the rails.

Last evening just before sunset he was in front of our house yelling: Ollie, come down here, he is up in the tree!

They left the outside lights on all night and I would hear them calling Ollie, Ollie, Ollie periodically.

Today has been the most peaceful day we have had in three years.

While I don't like to see someone lose a pet, I do not think people should be allowed exotic pets that can inflict such noise on their neighbors.

Bon voyage Ollie
Ollie.JPG


Intelligent and sociable, the Blue and Gold Macaw grows to be quite large, measuring nearly three feet from the beak to the tip of the tail. This is not a pet for a novice bird owner; it rivals a cat or a dog in its social needs. They're also very loud birds, and their vocalization includes flock calls that sound like screaming.
 
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ducks4you

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Too bad for Ollie. Agreed, if you live isolated from your neighbors in the country you can keep a loud animal. (You can also go outside in your skivvies, which we don't do bc our neighbors would see us.)
My chickens are far enough away from my neighbors across the street and across town that nobody really hears them but me. My horses hardly make a sound, as do the cats. Right now I just got a new puppy and she doesn't like her crate at night, but it has been SO GodAWFUL hot that nobody can hear Her either bc they have their AC on.
Macaws live a very long time and often change owners. IMHO they Shouldn't be ANYBODY's pets. Guess Ollie wanted a new owner.
 

Nyboy

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Sorry as a parrot owner I know how loud they can be. Mine are tiny compared to a macaw and their screams can almost push me to the edge. I don't know if I would consider a parrot a exotic. Someone might find and return. Have you ever talked to your neighbors about moving cage.
 

jackb

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Sorry as a parrot owner I know how loud they can be. Mine are tiny compared to a macaw and their screams can almost push me to the edge. I don't know if I would consider a parrot a exotic. Someone might find and return. Have you ever talked to your neighbors about moving cage.

You would have to move the cage about a mile the way this animal screamed. I had a small parrot for 23 years but had to give him to a bird sanctuary because he was jealous of Ava. If my bird started to scream I would snap my fingers against his beak and say STOP! He would say ESHSTOP and keep quiet. He had trouble with his S sound. The neighbors have a much smaller yard than we have and really had no option other than putting the cage on their front lawn. Obviously, they had no consideration of the other neighbors as long as they were doing what they wanted to do. You can not imagine the noise this creature makes.
I hope he is on his way back to South America where he belongs.

So you understand my position, would you like one of these fifty feet from your kitchen window?
 

flowerbug

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the pet store up north where i used to live had a free ranging macaw like that in there and it would fly around and scare the poo out of people and scream like that. it was not violent at least...

anways, i wonder if that bird is on it's way back to the south where it came from? a long haul...
 

thistlebloom

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I'm happy for you Jack. Hopefully he has rehomed himself out in the countryside far far away.

The kids had a cockatiel for a few years until I gave it back to the breeder. I couldn't take the shrieking, something 20x bigger and louder would put me out of my mind.

I'll bet you're not allowed to have a rooster in your neighborhood.
 

ducks4you

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My next door neighbor gave HIS Cockatoo to my Vet, who still owns him. I understand that they can live to be 70yo. HE was MUCH louder than the roosters that I have kept. Problem with roosters is that they will crow at any time of the day or night. So much for telling you it's dawning.
 
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