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Thread: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

  1. #1
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    Default Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    Don't ever think that it can't happen to your fid!

    http://www.news-journalonline.com/Ne...AD04080907.htm

    Family's pet parrot survives encounter with hawk
    By ANNE GEGGIS
    Staff Writer

    ORMOND BEACH -- African grey parrot Bogart can talk, but he hasn't yet said a word about an incident most of his kind never live to contemplate.

    What happened between the time a hawk ripped him from a screened-in porch and when his human -- the one he calls "Mom" -- Elise Ewaniuk found him lying under a tree in the thick woods probably went beyond words.

    On Bogart's seventh visit to the veterinarian in a row Wednesday, the prognosis for survival was good -- even if he might always carry the scars. His veterinarian, Dr. Mark Andersen, isn't sure whether Bogart's neck will ever straighten.

    And Ewaniuk hasn't quite recovered herself.

    "Four days have been like four months," she said.

    It all started in the early afternoon Aug. 2 when Bogart was sitting on a perch on the Ewaniuk family's screened pool deck of their home in north Ormond Beach. Then, Ewaniuk heard screaming -- but she didn't know it was her beloved "little man."

    "It sounded like something scared, something being attacked," Ewaniuk said of what brought her from her home office to investigate. "I came walking out because we have a bunch of baby (wild) turkeys back there."

    What she saw, though, was beyond her imagination -- and something she still sees when she closes her eyes: her pet in the talons of a hawk.

    "He was just heading from the screen into the sky," Ewaniuk said. "I thought, 'He's gone. He's got him.' "

    The hawk, it appears, had been able to burst through a small tear about the size of a softball in the screen and grabbed the bird known among the Ewaniuk family's friends for asking, "You talking to me?"

    Ewaniuk said she ran back in the house for her shoes, ready to run into the forest behind her house.

    "I guess I was going in there to see if I could find him eating him," she said.

    She ran 20 feet and saw her feathered child lying under a tree.

    "I couldn't believe it. I don't even know what made me run in that direction," she said, explaining that she had seen the bird fly in the opposite direction.

    Bogart was rushed to Ravenwood Veterinary Clinic in Port Orange. There, he received oxygen, antibiotics and painkillers. He spent a few nights in an incubator.

    "He certainly is lucky," said veterinarian Andersen. "Most attacks like that . . . I've seen birds with the wings torn off, their legs torn off.

    "The bird (hawk) was probably startled by screaming and yelling," Andersen said.

    He advised people not to leave their exotic birds on a porch or outside unattended.

    "If they see a bird in a cage, they will reach right into the cage," Andersen said.

    For now, when Bogart's not resting on her chest, Ewaniuk keeps the feathered patient in a makeshift structure formed of blankets and pillows on the sofa. She can't wait until he's back to his old tricks: chasing people out of the kitchen while laughing, attacking her husband even as he mimics Bogart's voice and insisting that Ewaniuk take a shower.

    Tuesday she knew he was back on the road to recovery when he took the first sip of his favorite liquid treat: hot coffee with cream and sugar. Hope that he would be back to his old self blossomed moments after Ewaniuk brought Bogart home.

    "I put him down and he said, "C'mere."
    Linda L.
    There are no bad birds, just misunderstood ones.



  2. #2
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    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    What a crazy story. Thanks for sharing that one....I think ......It's a great reminder and a story we can share when others don't believe us when we share the risks of taking a tiny lovebird outside. I think the best part is the vet's shared experiences with birds and hawks and how a bird in a cage outside unattended is not even safe.
    Laura O

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    Wow, thanks for sharing. I am glad it turned out all right for Bogart.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    Thanks for sharing! We don't have hawks around here, but there are many free roaming cats...so I am VERY careful whenever any of my lovies are outside, caged with me.

    What a little trooper. Was that tube feeding the vet made look so easy?
    SUSAN

  5. #5

    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    What a story! Not to break the mood but isn't coffee bad for birds? Anyway I'm sharing the story as I type.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    Was that tube feeding the vet made look so easy?
    Yes, that's tube feeding. However, while he made it look easy, it takes a lot of experience to be able to do it properly. It's more than just inserting a tube down the bird's throat. It's knowing where to aim it and knowing when you've gotten to the crop. If you don't go far enough, you can easily fill the lungs with food and that's instant aspiration. I can do it but prefer not to unless I have no other options.

    Tube feeding is really for short term use to ensure the bird gets nourishment so that it will survive. Some handfeeders use this method simply because it's faster. The downside is that you are feeding a bird but it never gets to taste what it's swallowing. Tube fed babies tend to have eating problems once they are weaned. Many have trouble weaning because they don't know what food tastes like and they are not used to swallowing!
    Linda L.
    There are no bad birds, just misunderstood ones.



  7. #7
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    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    Quote Originally Posted by eeyoresdad View Post
    What a story! Not to break the mood but isn't coffee bad for birds? Anyway I'm sharing the story as I type.
    Not worse than being attacked by a hawk! A sip of coffee once in a while isn't harmful. My vet actually told me of a bird they had at her clinic who would do absolutely anything for a tiny bite of chocolate. So when they really needed the bird to do something, a tiny piece of chocolate was offered.
    MJ

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    Holy cow... That is amazing... I wonder what kind of hawk it was? I don't think the hawk realised what he was getting himself into going after an african grey. I can just imagine the screaming that came out of that poor grey.

    I didn't have time to watch the whole video, mainly because I'm at work and we have no sound. But what happened to his neck? did it get broken?


    And as far as the coffee and chocolate thing, it doesnt beat when my boyfriend's sister tells me that a woman comes in once a week to buy chicken nuggets for her Parrot (A grey I think)

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    And as far as the coffee and chocolate thing, it doesnt beat when my boyfriend's sister tells me that a woman comes in once a week to buy chicken nuggets for her Parrot (A grey I think)
    I know I've read that it's OK to give lovebirds well-cooked chicken, but it seems too much like birdie cannibalism to me....

    Fenway will be sticking with her Avi-cakes, seeds, and pellets-thank you very much!

    ( and broccoli, carrots, peas, popcorn, and all that other good stuff )

    Carrie, Fenway, Wrigley & Gracie (Scottie Puppy)

    Chelsea Amazing Grace R.I.P. 01/24/92-01/18/08

  10. #10

    Default Re: Family's Pet Parrot Survives Encounter With Hawk

    Wow, we learn something everyday!

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