The Pet that Owns Me
I’ve been talking a lot about animals here, but so far, I’ve barely mentioned the one that’s closest to my heart: my parrot, Took.
Took is a 25 year old Yellow-Naped Amazon parrot. My parents got her when I was just a kid, and she was the first female to steal my heart.
When I moved out of my parents place a few years ago, they told me that Took was going with me. That was fine with me, and probably Took, too, since when she was about 7 or 8 years old, and I was a teenager, she’d decided that I was the only human who could handle her. Parrots, and Amazon parrots in particular, will sometimes pair off with a person like that, when they reach maturity. It can be an issue if the bird gets aggressive about it, but Took is pretty laid back.
So what kind of bird is she? Well, she’s about the size of a large crow, green, but with blue and red bars on her wings, and a yellow patch on the nape of her neck. Yellow-napes come from the Pacific Coast of Central America, from Costa Rica, north to the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. They have a reputation as excellent talkers, so Took is probably normal there: she sings the theme song to Sesame Street, and says, “I love you,” and, “Wanna come out?” They are not usually cuddly birds, but Took is, at least with me. She’ll perch on my shoulder, tuck her head under my chin, and say, “Snuggle,” when she wants affection. She does get jealous though; she has to stay in the cage when my wife comes around.
I hope, when I have kids, that Took likes them. Amazon’s can live a long time, and if Took outlives me, which she might, she’ll need a home. Still, I think that 50 years is plenty of time to figure that out. Right now, though, she’s singing. I think I’ll give her some almonds.
