One of the problems of keeping parrots is that they are (generally) very clever. That’s “very clever” for pets, not humans. Depending on the species of parrot, they can have intelligence raging from baby human to 4-year-old human. Our big guys are around the 18 month human stage, but with wings. Can you imagine flying toddlers ? What about flying toddlers that never grow up ? That’s our guys. They spend their entire lives battling for territory, trying to have sex with whatever is nearby, and beaking and destroying things.
Pepper, the fiery redhead, is obsessed with nesting. This involves her trying to find a dark nook (or cranny) she can sit in for hours on end, ripping up whatever is rippable nearby.
Last night, I came home to discover that she had ripped up the back cover, and many of the preceding pages of my favourite edition of Alice in Wonderland. If any human had done this, I would have regarded it as the worst crime against all that is righteous and been forced to hunt and kill them. But with Pepper, all I could do was fume. She doesn’t understand what that book means to me. Looking at her, the worst I can detect is mischief…but no malice.
So, to quell my frustration, I’ve just ordered myself a copy of The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition.
One-click ordering is way too easy.
