Friday, April 27, 2012

Meet Chico!

I've always been an animal lover. Especially dogs and birds attract me. I'm not a cat lover, though, and I assume that's because of my neverending love for birds, especially parakeets and parrots. I got my first parakeet when I was about 12 years old, a present from my grandparents. Unfortunately, Prutske - stupid name, I know, but it's like a standard name for parakeets in Belgium - chose freedom instead of spending the rest of his life with me when I made an unforgivable mistake. He flew away when I was just about to show a trick I'd taught him to my brother-in-law. I went after him - Prutske, that is, not my brother-in-law - but he hid at the rooftops of neighbouring houses, and it became dark and... Well, I tried everything, but he chose his own fate. 

Let me tell you about my history with parakeets for I've had quite a few of them: Prutske II was an exact copy of Prutske I and shared 8 years of my life. Then there was Pikootje, who spent not even a year with me and died a sudden death, followed by Pimbootje, who was my loyal friend for over two years. Pimbootje died on a Saturday morning, and I was with her until that last moment. She died in my hands... 

And then there was Chico. I got a phone call from my aunt, the day after Pimbootje had died, that she had a new parakeet for me. I didn't know what to think of it. Wasn't it too soon to accept a new one in my life? But... when I saw this wonderful birdy, I immediately fell in love with him. It was love at first sight! Look at his big baby bird eyes and his pink baby bird nose:


Now we've been together for more than 6 years. This bird has changed my life. He's so loyal, he is truly the best friend you can imagine. He comforts me when I'm sad and shares my happy moments enthusiastically. He's just a mini human being. This is how he looks like nowadays:


Chico is not just my fifth parakeet, he's extremely special. He talks. He speaks Dutch AND Spanish. Of course, he also speaks parakeetish, which means that he talks and he talks, but you don't understand a word of it ;) You do hear that his intonation is Dutch, though. Unfortunately, it's not easy to tape him. He doesn't like it. I do have a few movies, and I want to share this one with you. You'll see that he just loves to play with anything. He's less exigent than small children, he never gets tired of his "toys" ;) Oh yes, he likes it when you imitate his sounds. He can go on until eternity, he never gets tired of that game. I, however... ;)


And if you really want to hear some parakeetish, here you go:


You might be asking yourself why I'm moving that bottle all the time. Well, it's that simple: the movement of the bottle is the trigger for Chico to start talking ;) I have no idea why he has that habit, but it works, and that's what counts, right?

Chico is very important in my life. I know I should be blogging about other things than pets, but he makes this tough life bearable every now and then. Maybe you don't believe me, but that's just the way it is. And I'm so happy with him and hope he'll spend many more years with me...

How important are your pets for you? Please let me know, I'm eager to know!






2 comments:

  1. Hehe It's nice to see him play his crazy card-game again! Especially when he looks down to see his great accomplishment :D I really love our cats, Ruby and Karel! Ruby is already a senior but he still gets his crazy hunting moods. He runs around making silly noises in his own world of madness! Normally you can almost juggle him around the room, but when he's mad, no one should dare to stand in his way! He still feels all powerful but the rest of us know he's an old geezer :) Karel is cute also. Although he's a bit mischievous, he's still very sweet.

    When it's a bit cold, I grab a fleece blanket and wrap myself in it. Sometimes Karel comes to see if he can get inside the "tent". When he actually gets under the blanket(on my lap) is doesn't take long before he's asleep!

    Kind regards,
    Arjen

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, we all know that Chico is a VERY precious bird! As you know, I'm not a cat lover myself, but I've seen pictures of Ruby and Karel on your Facebook, and they look great!

      How come, a crazy cat? Never seen that before, I must tell you. Normally, cats are just hanging around, being lazy, sleeping in the sun or asking, no, demanding attention ;)

      Enjoy your cats, they're very important. Don't forget to vote on my poll, although I think I already know the answer ;)

      Love, Debz

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