My "Babies"!

~These are my "babies", pets and loyal companions who, on more than one occasion, have helped me through a lonely day just by being "themselves" or making me laugh at something stupid!

The top left picture is "SPIKEY", our 10-year old Cockatiel who we got as a young, hand-raised baby from a petshop in the Mall. He is mainly Misty's bird even though I am the one to feed, water and clean his cage! He is so in love with her that he will go into a "daze" whenever she is close by or holds him, focusing all his attention on her! "Spikey" also makes a wonderful alarm system/doorbell as his cage hangs by the front window where he can see cars pull into the driveway, people walking by or any animal {cats!!} that happens to wander into the yard. He will scream his head off until they are gone or if it is Misty, comes inside where he begins to whistle and flirt with her until she pays him some attention! He also does some really amazing immitations of my squeeky kitchen cabinets, water dripping into the sink, and our favorite...the "zipping" sound he hears each morning as Denny and Misty put on their coats to head out the door!

The big, green bird to the right is "SAMMY", my 31-year old Amazon Parrot that I bought from a petshop in Parkersburg {WVA} around 1983. There is some speculation that he might have been a "wild caught" bird brought into the country illegally since he has no identification band on his leg and also the people who owned the shop were known to often bring birds back from their travels abroad in S. America. I am also unsure of his correct age as I was told at the time he was about 7-years old and had been bought by a fellow who did oil well rig work and could no longer care for him so he was sold back to the petshop.
After Misty was born in 1987, Sammy became quite jealous and would squawk and scream nonstop whenever she would cry or he would see me holding her. At that time we were living in a small appartment on Scammel Street in Marietta and with a colicy baby, it soon became too much for this "new mothers" already frazzled nerves, so Sam went to live with my parents who were more than happy to have him since we all share a love for birds...parrots especially!
Sammy lived with my parents for 15-years, traveling to Florida with them every Fall to spend the Winter months there and then coming home in the Spring to Marietta. He was truely a "snowbird" just like my parents!

I had always wanted to take him back but everytime I mentioned it, my Dad would get real defensive and upset at the thought of loosing his little buddy, Sam, so I would eventually give up but always with the hope of Sam returning to me someday.
In October of 2002, as my parents were getting ready to head to Florida for the Winter, it was decided that it was just too much for them to haul Sam back and forth with them anymore since they both were getting up in age and could no longer care for him as they had. I agreed to keep him for them but with the exception that IF we became good friends again, that Sam would stay with me permanently! After several months of coaxing, sweet talking, singing to him, giving him special treats and quite a few bloody fingers, Sammy and I bonded again and have been best friends every since!

He still is a bit jealous of poor Misty but has warmed up to Denny quite nicely! It is in the Amazon's nature to bond to one person and to become overly obsessive of them whenever they feel their space {or mate} is being invaded. They, like many of the larger parrots, also have the brain capacity of a 4-5 year old human child and are quite intelligent creatures!

My favorite time spent with Sammy is in the evenings when we cuddle up on the couch together to watch some TV and spend some quality preening time together! He really enjoys having his head scratched and leg feathers preened, then preening my eyebrows and eyelashes with the precision of a fine surgeon! That is what bonded parrots do to each other in the wild and it is a gesture of love and companionship!

The third and last picture is of our 7-year old English Springer Spaniel named "ABBY"....."Abigail Zoe Sacred Hart" to be exact!!! We have had her since she was a pup and she has been the most loyal and loving dog we have ever owned!
She is fearlessly protective of us {mainly me} but is also extremely gentle with strangers as long as she senses everything is OK. On several occasions she has literally almost busted down her dog gate in the kitchen upon hearing me scream at something stupid like a spider crawling up the wall in the next room!
I have always "talked" to her like she was another person during our days together when we are home alone so I think this is one reason why she seems to understand most anything you say to her. She really is a smart dog and such a special friend to us all!