Henry loves Simon and vise versa.

Henry loves Simon and vise versa.
Henry is good-natured, always happy and cheerful.
Simon can be a real grouch sometimes (but sweet, lovable and affectionate).

After a day outside in the snow, Simon warms his feet.

He wanted out, walked to the patio door, I opened the door, he saw the snow, headed for the fireplace.

Simon, 10 year old Modena Pigeon... sometimes lives outside. Has a heated nest but often sleeps outside his nest even at minus 20F.
   He seems to have become a House Pigeon now... rather spoiled, prefers to live in here with us. Simon and Tuna cat always sleep on my chest while we watch TV together.

Where ever I go, Simon does NOT want to be left behind.

The Mother of all Mothers (True story) This is so sweet... get some Kleenex ready

This beautiful PBS video story is a must-see, for everyone, and kids will love it too.

I also have a white Silkie (Shmoo) who is the best mother in the world (All Silkies are). For months she faithfully sat on eggs (which I collected). She sat for an entire summer desperate to be a mommy. I brought home two tiny black baby Silkies and Silkie Shmoo got SOOOOOoooooo excited she scooped them up under her wings (Pic) and was the most proud mommy in the world. She thought they were hers, finally hatched.  Their tiny little black heads popping up thru her white feathers from her wing pits.
PBS VIDEO

The pic is Shmoo Silkie and her chick Shadow under her wing (now grown up). Shadow follows me around, like a shadow.

Bert’s helpful hints - When having Chicken for dinner, It’s a good idea to serve red wine because Chickens really like red wine with their dinner.

Rating:
Category:	Other

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Picture Perfect - Three - Birds

Practicing to be Nursing home therapy birds (soon).
This is Mary at a seniors apartment where my Mother lives. She was delighted with the birds and still talks about them. I gave Mary a copy of this and she has it framed and proudly displays it on her wall.
I took my German Shepherd therapy dog, Diesel, to nursing homes to cheer up the residents until he himself became too old..... now it's the birds turn. Seems they are off to a good start.  It's a good feeling to see the residents smile and that makes me smile too.
(A Silky Chicken and two Ringneck Doves)

And she doesn't need batteries.

Just look at that smile...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Looks like a kids battery operated toy...?             Tuna actually likes her.

She prefers to sit on my hand...all the time. She goes everywhere with me. We go for walks, shopping, events, ... People stare (They think she's a puppet, "Is that real?").  Her name is "Shmoo" (the Al Capp cartoon) = Al Capp- Shmoo  

"The Shmoo believed that the only way to happiness was to bring happiness to others." 

Are you talking to ME ? ?

 

She's a "Silky" or "Silkie", about 2 months old, just 1.5 pounds but will not get much bigger. She has black skin (dark dark blue) and black bones, (but tastes like Chicken?) and very bright blue ear lobes.  Marco Polo wrote of this furry chicken during his travels in Asia in 13th century.

Ridiculously tame, cuddly, and lovable.

I love her gentle contented chortling.  Her sisters won first place and ribbons at the County Fair.

Picture Perfect - Inseparably entwined - Velcro and 2.5

I have never seen two creatures (including humans) more in LOVE than these two...Inseparably entwined.  My friends and companions are 2.5 and Velcro (2.5 is a Homer, Velcro is a Voorburg Shield Cropper, and "sticks" to me).

If separated, they are desperate to get back together again. They "cry", pace, flit about... etc... and are not content until reunited.  It's a joy to see the extreme love they have for each other.  

                            

 

Velcro has had several near-death experiences and during that time, 2.5 was a basket case... extremely depressed and despondent, even lost weight. 

2.5 even saved Velcro's life a few times.  Bird rescues another bird.

And when Velcro was MISSING,

For a more touching stories on this love relationship - - - > Velcro

(Warning, Some could make you cry)

She was hanging upside down by her leg for more than 2 hours.

6/6/2010 - See Update at the bottom of this post, and more recent updates in the comments.
I was sure she was dead.... eyes closed, she looked so very dead.  

It was a bit later than usual when I went out to close up the Chickens, in the thunder, lightning, and pouring rain. Everyone was there except for my sweet Velcro Pigeon. She would never stay out on purpose so I feared the worst. This is my prize pigeon, my friend, my companion, my treasure…we’ve been thru a lot together... she has nine lives it seems (she's used up 4).  With flashlight I looked everywhere, several times, no sign of her. I was about to give up and hoped she might return the next morning. Then, for no good reason, I shined the light at the top vent in back of the aviary and to my amazement, there she was, hanging upside down by her leg, looking so very very dead, I was sure she was dead.
I grabbed a ladder and with the light in one hand and rain pouring down… then I saw her blink so I knew she had a chance to live but a short time longer and she would have died. I lifted her body and was attempting to free her foot when the ladder started to sink and tip over in the wet soil. I was afraid if I dropped her, her leg would twist and break. The hole was small and I could not reach past her to free her leg. The ladder kept tilting further so I quickly pushed her back into the vent without freeing her leg and hoped for the best. Success, when she fell inside (just a 4" drop to the nest roof) her leg was freed.
I ran inside and she was laying on the nest roof, exhausted and not moving. Her leg did not appear to be broken but she was nearly unconscious. I held her in my arms on the couch and she promptly fell sound asleep. I held her for hours, hoping she’d survive.

WHY? Did she go out the vent ? It seemed strange, she never had before and the door was wide open anyway. But the next night, our Tuna cat desperately wanted to go outside, so we let him. It was because there was a neighborhood cat returned to the scene of the crime. Tuna promptly chased him away. Tuna pays no attention to the pigeons, chickens, or Doves, ignores them, but doesn’t like stray cats.
The next morning Velcro’s leg was swollen and getting worse so I took her to the vet. The Vet said she would likely lose her leg, it was limp and no sensation. But she gave Velcro an exam and an x-ray. There were no fractures so then the vet said there was a 75% chance of losing her leg. By then I was so upset, the vet hugged me to comfort me. 

The next day Velcro showed signs of being able to control her leg a bit, but not her toes (dangling) so there was a bit of hope. When she walked she’d fall on her face. By that evening she was able to use her leg just a little bit for support and could limp with difficulty. By the third day her leg had much improved and she seemed to be able to control her front toes just a bit. By evening, she could sorta walk but with a very severe limp, no pressure on her toes and foot. While recovering, she spent many hours sleeping in my arms.

Her life partner, 2.5 the Homer pigeon, was so very upset, frantic, and desperate to see Velcro… didn’t know what to do, cooing loudly and pacing. She seemed to know that Velcro was in trouble. When I put Velcro’s cage on the deck, 2.5 immediately flew up from the aviary to be with Velcro. Later I put Velcro in the house and before I could close the door, 2.5 had flown in to be near Velcro. The bond between those 2 birds is so amazing, so complete…. They truly love each other so very much.

The forth day Velcro was doing so much better I decided she could be free inside the aviary to be with her lover 2.5. For the entire day, they hugged and kissed and coo’ed and coo’ed.   

The 5^th day she still limped badly, but it seemed she would be able to be free and lead a mostly normal life so I let them both outside. It was a pleasure to see their happiness. They were jubilant to be together again, much hugging and kissing. They flew around the neighborhood so happy to be reunited and free to fly. Velcro was still limping but otherwise seemed in pretty good shape.
This is such a sweet video.
 
BUT THEN late in the day, I noticed the large pool of blood. Velcro was laying on the aviary platform instead of up high by the nest. She seemed to be bleeding to death and hadn’t the strength to get up to the nest. She was covered in blood and I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I finally discovered that she had NO control of her back toe and had been walking with her toe folded under her foot all day and the knuckle was bleeding badly. I cleaned her up some and got the bleeding to stop. . We taped a cotton ball on her foot to restrict movement and protect the wound. Afraid it may start bleeding again, I held her in my arms for many hours again and she slept. I was hoping she hadn’t lost too much blood, and that it wasn’t too late.
The next morning we made a splint… a cast… of styrofoam and gauze patches, to keep all her toes in place.



Still covered in dried blood.

I’m hoping that when we remove it tomorrow (Fri) that her back toe stays in the right position… then maybe… a day in the aviary and if that’s successful, then Saturday she and 2.5 can be free to fly together again. I’m hoping.
 
 = = = = = = =    UPDATE 6/4/10 9:30pm. The day started out great. Removed the splint and Velcro was in good spirits and walking pretty good with all her toes where they should be. I let her loose in the aviary and watched her close for many hours and it looked very promising. Her back toe was always straight behind her... all day long. She doesn't have perfect control of her leg yet so stumbles occasionally but overall, doing quite nicely.
BUT by evening, she was walking with her back toe under her foot again so we immediately put the splint back on and confined her to a cage. Will check again in a few days, but I fear it means she cannot control it at all? ? ? then her back toe may have to be amputated ???
...Another potential problem. Her leg is still quite swollen and feels hot to the touch, she gets daily medication for it.  I was hoping it would be normal by now. Also her digestive system is not right. Pigeon droppings should contain no liquid, but hers does, quite a lot. That means all is not well, but maybe that's to be expected under the circumstances... lots of stress. Otherwise, she seems healthy, alert and happy.
UPDATE 6/11/2010 12 noon, Doing well except that she still has almost no control of her toes. The problem is that her rear toe folds under her foot then she walks on it and it bleeds. The splint prevents that but if she's to get control back, her toes need exercise. I'm taking her back to the vet this afternoon for some advice and more pain medication. I'm still keeping her confined in my office. She just now managed to land on my arm.
GOOD NEWS update 7/9/2010 - Success, looks like she'll be ok. 
More Good news update 5/1/2012 - She's fully functional, back to normal.
Terrible news 5/20/2014. Today a hawk killed her as she was flying to the deck to visit me. http://bertthemensachicken.blogspot.com/2014/09/this-is-not-sunset-picture.html

She picked out all the red Lucky-Charms hearts and handed them to me.

So I sit at my computer munching on various (dry) breakfast cereals one piece at a time from a hand full. Spot, the 100% pure white Dove always lands on my hand to see what I’m eating, if she likes it she steals some (WHOooo HOooOoo she says). 

Today, Valentines Day, I was eating "Lucky Charms" and she came and picked out ALL the little red marshmallow hearts and held them up for me to take (they were too big for her to eat)..until all the red hearts were gone. Isn’t she sweet? (Repost from 2 yrs ago)

She helps me type... and is not a very good speller.

For more about sweet gentle Doves, Click here

Spot always has to check out what I'm eating or drinking.

NOW I have good proof. Bird rescues another bird.

Proof that animals think, love, worry, fear, plan, etc and behave like humans.
Link= Animal have emotions too
This just amazed me. One bird knowing what to do and going thru exceptional effort to rescue another bird.

Velcro (right) has never left the yard in her life until 3 days ago (10 months old) (except when nearly killed once (LINK=MISSING). Now that it’s warmer, Velcro and 2.5 (left) have started to take short flights around the area.
>Velcro's lover partner (both female) 2.5 is a homer pigeon, Velcro is not.
>2.5 is a fast and powerful long distance flyer (60mph), Velcro is not.
>2.5 can always find home, Velcro’s breed gets lost.
>These two are madly in love, a lot of hugging and kissing (French kissing) and they can also get a little kinky. Here's a Flying Video.

SATURDAY - - - - When we came home from out of town at dusk, 2.5 was in the aviary but Velcro was not…Velcro was missing and lost. Her chances of survival outside overnight are not that good. She is SO tame and trusting, so white, and lots of owls, hawks, cats, fox and coyote…and she was lost.
….....We think she and 2.5 went flying and Velcro just couldn’t keep up and wasn’t able to return….totally lost, at risk, with no chance of finding home by herself. I really didn’t expect to ever see her again… so sad. Her only chance would be if 2.5 searched for her.
SUNDAY - - - - At 6:30am, Velcro had not returned, still lost or dead. 2.5 saw me and very clearly told me she wanted to get out and search for Velcro. Normally she wouldn’t leave the nest until 10: or 11:am but she was very anxious and worried. I knew that was the only chance for Velcro, SO I opened the door and 2.5 immediately zoomed off (normally wouldn’t happen) and vanished over the rooftops to the west.
…..But… 1 hour passed, no birds. 2 hours, no birds, 3 hours passed, no birds, but then amazingly 2.5 found Velcro and they finally came back home together. It was very clear they were overjoyed at seeing each other (endless hugs and kisses).
Amazing - - - 2.5 actually went out, scouted the entire area for miles around for 3 hours and miraculously found Velcro and guided her back home. Not bad, eh?
- - - - - - - -
MONDAY - - - Again they went for a short flight and quickly returned. Then late in the day, another longer flight. It’s dusk and 2.5 has returned but again Velcro has not.  2.5 was breathing heavily, apparently a long fast flight home? Hopefully, 2.5 can go search and find her again tomorrow?? Another night of Velcro risking her life to predators. So worried again.
TODAY (Tuesday) - - Again at 6:30am I let 2.5 out and again she zoomed off to search for Velcro.
.......A little over an hour later they returned together.  For now they are both back safe, and the reunion was bliss for them. These are such very happy birds.
Hmmm, I’m trying to decide if I should close them in? or continue risking their lives. They are both quite vulnerable when flying around… so white, like a target to predators. There are many hawks and owls in the area and have been in our yard. (Hawk troubles.) I am hoping they learn to stay closer to home, like they always used to. ???
Should I restrain them or let them fly free?
UPDATE - now 2 months later. Velcro and 2.5 will rarely take very very short flights together (within sight of home) but occasionally 2.5 will still take long several hour flights by herself then returns while Velcro stays home with me. Velcro has not left the yard area ever since.  I hope they have figured out that Velcro cannot fly as fast and gets lost, and Velcro will always stay here at home.
UPDATE UPDATE - 7 months later... all is well. Velcro stays near home but 2.5 will occasionally take a short trip then returns home. These two birds are so madly in love with each other, they are inseparable. Sometimes I open the patio door and both will fly or walk inside and spend the day with me in my office.  
Yet another update 1-1/2 years later.  They still take neighborhood flights together but always return. Often, 2.5 will go on a longer flight by herself then she returns. Velcro never leaves the neighborhood, seems they have learned their lesson.
Update - Now they never leave the yard... still madly in love an happy birds.

Looks like Velcro is going to stick around

If you missed part 1, Velcro nearly died -
Part 1 - Missing or dead, My best friend gravely injured. But It was a happy day with Champagne in the water bowl with the reunion of Velcro and 2.5 after 9 days apart (short video). 2.5 was so sad the whole time but was overwhelmed with Joy when Velcro returned. They love each other so very much.
2.5 didn't know what to do.. jumped from perch to perch for a half hour, then they went into the nest where 2.5 moaned and moaned for hours and hours (Orgasm?) .... Interesting, because they're both female (Lesbian Pigeons?).
Velcro is doing very well, her limp is getting better and her feathers are already starting to grow back and part of her stitches have fallen off. She slept on my arm all day yesterday, she's happy and content.
Today Velcro and Spot-Dove went to visit the family and twin 8 yr old girls who rescued Velcro the night she almost died. We gave them Beanie Baby birds, like Velcro.

MISSING – worse odds than the lottery, but…

I just can’t believe it…I just can’t believe it.. I just can’t believe it. I had already said "Goodbye" to her. I was sure she was gone forever, gone 5 days, 2 days in a very nasty blizzard, -25 wind chill…I was sure I’d never see her again. She had died. 

Pretty tough bird. Now I know what happened to her. Now I believe in miracles.
At night, 3/7/09 around 8:00pm, she was attacked IN the aviary by an animal (Cat I presume). She managed to escape and flew two blocks in the dark and spotted an open garage door with the lights on inside…she flew inside and landed up on a shelf. The Husband came out to close the door for the night and spotted her.
He chased her out but she flew right back in and back on the shelf again. His wife and twin 8 yr old girls came out and again they chased her out and she flew back in again. Then they realized she was bleeding and badly injured. The Husband simply reached up and put his hands around her and she didn’t resist. They took her in and cared for her then took her to an all-night Animal Emergency Hospital about 10pm (about 2 miles away).
The animal hospital stitched up a half inch puncture wound in her chest and shaved all the feathers off her back and under her wings and on her chest, then stitched up two long gashes in her back. She was x-rayed and limping but had no broken bones. Today 3/12/09 she is still limping badly, but in time I’m sure she’ll be fine.

Three days later the animal hospital brought her to the Humane Society where, to my amazement,  I found her Yesterday.
The entire staff of 6 and a few customers huddled around and we were all misty eyed and sniffling as I thanked them and took her home.
All her life she had never flown out of the back yard. She and 2.5 are the best of friends and they always stay in the yard.
This video is one of the reasons I love her. 

For years I didn’t close the aviary door at night but then a year ago I started to have some trouble. Over a few weeks, 4 pigeons killed or missing. Then I saw a cat lurking around and tried to trap it..no luck. So that’s when I began to close the aviary door every night. Now, for nearly a year, that cat has not been around. Since no cats were around and it was still cold, I decided to leave the door open like I always used to. The next day, Velcro was missing. I was hoping she had just gotten lost and would return but for days, she didn’t, I waited and waited. I tried to find her body in the yard. I began to put up posters. The Humane Society is many many miles from us so I didn’t check there until yesterday… and I was still hoping she’d return.
But she is now home and I’m typing this with one hand because she is sleeping on my arm. It’s nice to have the family back together again.
And now (a few days later) I have more good news. I have the sweetest video of Velcro... and related events... will post soon.
Update - Part 2, the reunion
= = = = = =
Doctors (Vet) report below:
Emergency clinic report (excerpts).
Pigeon with ID on Left foot MFRG 2008 785
Physical exam
Stable, alert, tame and interested in eating. Ambulatory with pain on left leg, not fully weight bearing. Physical Exam does not reveal source of pain, but could be related to the two large sores on her body: Dorsal gaping 2cm wound with necrotic tissue, and latero-ventral left side – scar. Suspect animal bite injury, Radiograph did not reveal shot in body. Affected leg can grip finger, She can perch and walk around cage, is flighted but not flying around room area. VERY GENTLE.
Q/A – Stray pigeon with skin injuries and left leg grade 1-2/4 lamb.
P – Clean wounds, provide warmth, food and analgesia/abx.
Enrogloxacin 3.24 mg BID IM – 22.7mg/ml" 3.24mg (0.14cc)Imkx
Meloxicam .0.0325 mg PO QID
Isofluane mask – Primary wound on left body wall and secondary V shaped flap right body – makes bite wound suspect. Debrided skin edges and removed contaminated/discolored tissue. Flushed well. Closed skin with a 4-0 vicryl in interrupted fashion and cut tags short as they will fall out with time.
Pigeon doing well, Will bring to Humane Society.
= = = = =

Birds are people too, just smaller. 2008

I have learned that all animals have deep feelings and emotions, the exact same feelings as humans. I have seen them get upset, they love, they have joy, sadness, anxiety, fear, jealousy, frustration , anger, rejection, lust, urges, maternal instincts, fairness, manners, depression, compassion, etc, all the emotions that we have. They are just little people.

                           Lizard (dark) and 2.5 (white)

When Lizard (2.5’s husband) got killed by a hawk a few weeks ago(Video link Lizard and 2.5 in love), 2.5 became very despondent, lethargic, and was in deep depression. She just sat around grieving with no expression, no movement, just staring straight ahead not noticing anything around her… so sad, you could almost see the tears in her eyes. She lost weight. So Ace felt sorry for her and went out and bought two more pigeons, a male Arch Angel (Archie),

 
and a female Arabian Trumpeter (Edith).

Archie has iridescent feathers that have all the colors of the rainbow when in the sun. Edith also has iridescent feathers. They are beautiful birds.

Then 2.5 came back to life again, but she was not happy with the "intruders", Archie and Edith.  She wanted Lizard back again, she was bitter. 2.5 did not get along very well with Archie and Edith. So 2.5 tolerated the intruders for a week or so, but then one day I watched 2.5 fly away as usual, but her flight was UNusual in that she stayed very low, weaving thru the trees as she left as if she was hiding her exit.
I knew it was a bad sign. Her life had been shattered. I knew I’d never see her again, she was leaving forever and would not return. Tame pigeons are not very good at surviving in the wild so I knew it was the end for her.  I waited for days, but she did not return.

But then, a miracle, on the 4th day and never expecting to see her again, 2.5 finally came back home. When I saw her this morning I ran out on the deck. She saw me and instantly flew to me and landed on the railing next to me.

She walked right up to me expecting breakfast, which I happened to have in my hand. She seemed so happy to be back, she was excited… I think she was smiling? We sat and talked to each other for a while until I froze in my bathrobe and went inside. She finished eating and taking a bath, then flew to the coop where she is now resting…. back home again. It’s so nice to see her back, I missed her. I hope the three will now become a family, even though each is from a different ethnic background.

UPDATE: Archie and Edith were both killed by a neighborhood cat several weeks later. 2.5 managed to survive by hiding in the rafters. Again 2.5 became depressed and motionless.  So I got her yet another partner, then she was very active and happy once again.
But then... more tragedy in her life.  With her new partner, Ringo the Dove (Spot Dove's ex-husband)... 2.5 was again madly in love now with her tiny husband Ringo.  See link below for the rest of the story.
(Link disabled ) = I heard a loud thud as a bird hit hard on the window.
BUT, ... (update)
that's not the end of the story... there was more intense love, another new partner for 2.5 and again she fell madly in love with her new female partner, Velcro. For 8 years they were inseparable, hugging and kissing constantly ... SOooo madly in love.

Then, tragedy again. While flying to the deck to visit me, Velcro got killed by a hawk. 2.5 went into withdrawal.. for a whole year she just stood in her aviary window gazing out hoping Velcro would return.  2.5 would come in the house and call to Velcro over and over, hoping Velcro was in the house, where they had spent many days together. It was painful to watch...
 
(update)  . . . Eventually yet another partner, Newbie. It took many many months but eventually 2.5 accepted Newbie, but.... It's just not the same. They are partners, but none of the intense emotional love, hugging and kissing. It's not hard to see that 2.5 still wants Velcro back ~:<( ... ... (me too).    

Spot has a spot in my lucky-charms heart.

So I sit at my computer munching on various (dry) breakfast cereals one piece at a time from my hand. Spot, the 100% pure white Dove always lands on my hand to see what I’m eating, if she likes it she steals some (WHOooo HOooOoo she says).
Today, Valentines day, I was eating "Lucky Charms" and she came and picked out all the little red marshmallow hearts and held them out to me (they were too big for her to eat)..until all the red hearts were gone. Isn’t she sweet?

060220 NASA apologizes to Bert for mistake.

Dramatic NASA Hubbell telescope pictures of Albireo (means "The Chicken's Head" in Arabic) show newborn stars emerging from "eggs" of cold gas and dust — not the barnyard variety — but rather, dense, compact pockets of interstellar gas called Evaporating Gaseous Globules (EGGs) protruding from the wall of a vast cloud of molecular hydrogen. Hubble found the "EGGs," appropriately enough, in the CHICKEN nebula (also called M16.5), a nearby star-forming region 7,000 light-years from Earth in the Coopers constellation. It was previously thought to be in the “Eagle” nebula until Bert brought it to their attention. Still unanswered though is the Chicken-Egg debate.

Ace has a girlfriend on the side.

(Ace takes over Bert’s blog).
Who wouldn't love her?  She always wants my attention and she’s so beautiful and sweet and kind and gentle and she loves me and keeps me smiling and entertained, nibbles on my ear, and she’s inexpensive to keep and doesn’t ever argue or disagree.
I was reclining in my 1974 Mustang chair with my feet up on the desk, knees slightly elevated, reading some City documents. I was perusing thru a stapled packet of papers when all of a sudden in a flash, a very dramatically "POP", over the top of the papers comes a Dove head from behind the papers with her beak hanging over the top of the papers. While she’s standing on my knees and on her toes, stretching, she stares at me. It was as if she was saying "Boooo" and waiting for my reaction. So I pretended I was scared and continued reading.
A minute later I had unfolded a blueprint and was holding it in the air in front of me looking at it when out of nowhere this Dove lands at the top and skillfully slides all the way down holding her wings up over her back as if she was downhill skiing saying "Wooooooo HooOOOooooo" as she lands in my lap. Then she looks up at me, smiling "DID you SEE what I just DID". She does this on purpose as I’ve seen her slide down slippery magazine covers too.









Out of a loose stack of 8.5x11 papers, she pulls one out and flings it on the floor "Wooooooo HooOOOoooo".
It’s not just what she does that’s so entertaining, it’s how she "talks" while doing it, she talks a LOT. Whenever she lands on something "Woooo Hooo Hooo Hooo hooooooo". If it was an especially risky or -daring maneuver she says "WOOOOooo HooOOOoooooo". Sometimes she just talks to herself with tiny little short muffled cooing sounds. Every time she lands on Ace it’s "Wooo Hooo Hooo Hooo Hooo HOOOooooooooooooo".


Her flying skills are amazing. She can hover like a helicopter or hummingbird, rise up and down and land almost anywhere. Also she has landing skills, like on the small round slippery plastic dome of Ace’s computer microscope. Very talented. She lands on the sloped arm of a lamp and slides down to the bottom "Wooooo HooOOOOooooooo".
Whenever Ace leaves the room after about 5 minutes she "yells" rather loudly and mournfully "Woo……. Hoo Hoo Hoo..oo..oo..o…o…." and sits on Ace's chair until Ace returns.
Ace hugs her a lot. One time, Ace hadn’t shaved for a few days and hugged her. Apparently she got stabbed in the eye with whiskers and walked around looking like a one eyed pirate (one eye closed) for an hour. Then she was fine.
Karen takes Spot in the shower with her to bathe. She doesn’t seem to care if she is in a torrential rain storm, she just sits quietly on the shower floor until it’s over then I dry her (the Dove) with a hair dryer, she seems to like that. Link = Wet-Spot Dry-Spot
She likes to peck at a sound activated Disco lite on Aces desk. Every time she pecks it flashes. One time it was not turned on and she stared at it and pecked harder and harder. Ace finally turned it on again, then she was happy.
I hope this gets to you cause now she's trying to pull wires out of the modem. She's tugging so hard.
She was standing on my hand, each foot on a different finger as I spread them. Her body sank lower and lower until she was doing the splits. No problem, she just sat there looking very uncomfortable but didn’t care.
Now she just finished her Yoga stretch routine, which she does about 5 times a day( Left wing left foot stretch, then Right wing/foot stretch, then both wings touching over her back, followed by a big eyes-closed yawn, and shakes her head slightly).
She can see out the windows but rarely pays any attention to the outside. Yesterday I was outside and looked toward the window and there she was resting on the window sill, motionless, kinda napping but watching me work in the yard, waiting for me to return. It was obvious she was a lonesome Dove.
She seems to know that pressing the "Eject" button on the keyboard will open the DVD drive, she turns to watch it open.
Now she’s on my shoulder nibbling on my ear.
She likes to walk around on the floor too and often goes for a stroll around the office, rearranging all the computer wires.
Ace has some "bird toys" on his desk for her. One is a garland of autumn leaves. She sometimes shapes them into a "nest" and naps between Ace and the monitor.






She spends most of her time sitting on the back of the keyboard pecking at keys but often will settle down there, fluffs herself up and take a nap. Ace just nudges her to get at the top keys.
Ace has a floating keyboard, tensioned to support the two keyboards. At 5 ounces Spot is just heavy enough to hop on it and ride it down like an elevator and she does this frequently ("Woooo HooOOOooo" she says). She likes to nap on the back of Ace’s chair too.
If Ace hasn’t paid attention to her for a while, she flies in front of Ace’s face brushing him with her wingtip, then lands in front and stares back ("Wooo Hooo", "I’m here").
She LOVES rubber bands and shakes them violently until they are totally dead then she tosses them as far as she can ("Woo Hoo hooo hooo" as she congratulates herself). I'll just pick up the 5 pens, 2 flashlights, several paper clips, an insulator, a bottle cap, 3 pieces of wire, a key chain, 2 batteries, an empty box, several keys, string, and 2 rubber bands that she threw on the floor, then back to work.
Now she’s pecking at the cursor (Ha ha I keep moving it)…
The 100% totally pure white Dove is named Spot because… I can never find her when I walk into the room. She finds some tiny places to hide sometimes, so I just glance around looking for the white Spot in the room.
Ace’s wife Karen came into Ace’s office and says to Ace "It’s hard to take you seriously with a bird sitting on your head". Karen brought Ace a plate of "Pilaf " with lots of natural grains (Looks just like birdseed) and Spot insisted it was for her, kept trying to hop on to the edge of the plate ("Woo HOO HOO HOO"), very persistent.







On my desk there is a Dove perch supported by two vertical bars about 2-1/2" apart. She could have easily walked around it but… Noooooo, she has to struggle to squeeze and squirm and twist between the bars almost gets stuck, but then Wooooo HooOOOoooo on the other side (" I did it"). Show-off.  She loves a challenge.
She seems to understand the word "Treat" because she then zooms down to Ace’s hand. Or, sometimes she sits in front of Ace and silently STARES at the treat container (She makes it quite clear) until Ace finally gives her some treats.
Today she learned to say a new word…. A very very quiet "mmmmmm….". I’m not sure yet but I think it means "Good, or Great, or Fine, OK"…
Sometimes she sits on Ace’s hand while he’s typing… she just goes along for the ride swaying back and forth as Ace’s hands move around, it seems to be a challenge for her. Then she’ll walk up his arm usually to his shoulder and takes a nap.
Now she’s settling down on the keyboard above the number pad and fluffing up, and her eyes tell me she is getting very sleepy and ready for another of her many daily naps. Now her eyes are closed. She fluffs up to nearly twice her normal size. Sound asleep. She takes afternoon "Siesta’s" of about 1 to 2 hours a few times each day. She is SOOOooooo sound asleep now. In case you’re wondering, no, she doesn’t snore.






If you’re still reading this…. I could go on writing indefinitely because she is non-stop active always finding new and creative ways to make Ace smile and laugh. She’s such a sweetie.

Lonesome Dove and Mashed Potatoes

Spot, the 100% pure white Dove is getting to be like a hyperactive child. (as told by Ace)
She is getting more and more mischievous. Right now she's doing one of her most favorite things, she is mutilating a dead chicken.. one of those fake rubber ones. She has decided it's fun to pick at it's Feet and watch it squirm. She has learned to torture it and roll it around while standing on it like a lumberjack in a log-rolling contest.

She stands on it as if in triumph over it, pretending she's a "Chicken-slayer" and picking at the poor dead thing then watching it wiggle it in it's death throes. She's getting into trouble more and more frequently. She just knocked over a bunch, a stack of AA rechargeable batteries, sounded like a shelf collapsed. She went down with it but landed on top (flew).
It's like she went from a sweet cuddly irresistible little cooing baby directly into her "terrible two's" and now is a reckless carefree crazy teenager, and she coos so sweetly while being mischievous. She is SOOOoooo bold and confident of herself. She's quite a risk-taker. She even harasses Tuna the cat. She seems to thrive on a challenge and has no fear of anything and she gets quite stubborn too.
I have had to rescue her quite a few times when she gets in trouble, then she gets embarrassed, then she hates it when I laugh at her. She flies away and sulks for a while. Apologizing to her does no good.
Spot and I have totally bonded, Inseparable. Never more than an arms length away or sitting on the back of the 1974 Mustang chair


She talks (coos) a lot. She has learned how to tell me what she wants or needs (like food/water, treats, etc). She sits on the edge of my desk STAREing at the little container of her favorite treat, until I give in and give some to her. She flies to my hand before I can even open the container.
It's bad enough having Bert the Chicken pushing me around and telling me what to do, now I have a smart-ass little 4oz Dove doing the same thing. She often sits up high in the open door of her castle cooing and smugly surveying her personal private kingdom (including her serfs = Ace) as if she is the ultimate "King of the world". SO proud of herself.
But mostly she is still a very sweet gentle peaceful Dove who loves to sit on the keyboard or my hands, arms or shoulder and nibbles at me, and then settles down fluffs herself up and takes a nap. She is very loving, sweet, gentle and affectionate, a treasure and a pleasure to have around. Always comical and entertaining.
SHE:
Loves to sit on Ace's chair and pull his hair.
Loves to sit on the keyboard, stomp on the backspace key and erase all that Ace has written.



Loves to sit in front of the monitor, block the view, and read your blogs.
Slides down a slippery magazine cover just for fun.
Landed on a model of the International Space Station hanging from the ceiling and broke it.
Peeked into a web cam and got her eye broadcast on the internet.
Chases away the cursor on the monitor and tries to catch it.
Sits on the mouse to keep it from moving.
Throws SD memory chips on the floor.
Tries to yank cables from the computer.
Landed in my mashed potatos. Mashed potato on her beak

Actually likes to be hugged, then she coos like a Dove.
Below are examples of her typing skills (compiled from various sessions)
44444444444444444444444444
0000000okkkkkkkkkkkkmn
-==----------=========pppppppp
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwsssdddddd
and pppprrrrrrrrrdddddyy-bbbiiiiirrrdyyyyy (Just kidding).
She's taking another nap now. Ace is sad because he and Karen are going to the Bayfield Apple Festival Fri-Sun and Spot may be a lonesome dove. Ace and the Dove have never been separated that long. Ace will be lonesome too.