I was washing my face in preparation of going to bed. Since Rocky was out, the door was closed, leaving me in peace.
Thomas opened the door to grab something (Seriously -- we are both adults. Do I need to start locking the door?) The water was running as I rinsed my face off, drowning out all noise, including the tell-tale click of macaw talons on the floor.
Before I knew what happened, I felt a sharp pain on my foot:
Rocky had followed Thomas into the bathroom and bit me! This was not an unforeseen situation, as Rocky frequently follows Thomas around, like a dog. Thomas knew he was right there. Thomas is just in denial about Rocky's intentions and wasn't expecting him to dart through his feet and charge me. I'm surprised he didn't try to blame the bite on the greys.I'm not sure if this really qualifies as a bite, since he didn't break the skin, but it really hurt yesterday and I have a diamond-shape mark still on my foot today.
Since I am a runner, training was my first concern (Foot bite! That's the worst for me!) but I was able to run today, no problem. Lucky.
And Thomas is going to have to start being even more careful with Rocky.
7 comments:
Bah, I wouldn't count that as a bite. No blood, minimal bruising.... no problem. If it was Harley I would just look at him and go "What? Am I suppose to be impressed? Is that what you call a bite?"
Having said that, I did detour out of the kitchen this morning, to avoid getting too close to Harley, who was guarding his latest box. I was barefoot, and when he has a box.... well, don't trust him. Rocky and Harley are much alike, I've noticed.
Richard,
That was EXACTLY Thomas's reaction!
"You're overreacting! I can't even see where he bit you! He does that to me all the time! He's just playing!"
I know he could have gotten me much worse, but I take precautions to not have this happen!
And, yes, Rocky and Harley are much alike. Possibly why I love Harley so much when you write about him!
No, I'd count this as a bite. It left a mark, just not blood. You tell Thomas to do a better job of protecting you and Rocky!
I'm thoroughly astounded at your husband's pooh-pooh-ing of Rocky's mean behavior toward you. I've been reading your wonderful posts; enjoy them very much but never felt compelled to write before now.
Yes, as a parrot owner, I've been bitten--hard, with blood/gashes, etc. It is inevitable, imho, since we can never know exactly what those delightful yet exasperating featherheads are thinking. Body language is quite telling but surprises do happen, as it did to you.
Why does Thomas persist in babying Rocky to the exclusion of everyone else, including you? It appears rather passive-aggressive to me. It's been a consistent theme since I started reading your blog months ago. I'm sure he's a great guy (?) but he has a definite blind spot named Rocky the Hooligan.
Yes, Rocky's mini-macaw beak could have ripped out a chunk of flesh, to be sure, but that doesn't mitigate the fact that he feels quite comfortable attacking you at (almost) every turn. Worse, Thomas doesn't seem to care to a) protect you from him or b) empathize. Does he not understand that Rocky plays with him but attacks you?!
Sorry if this is too personal, but I'm very glad to know that you are not as injured as you could have been.
btw, not to name favorites, but I adore Miss Max!! Of course, being a TAG like my Mr. Logan does create a wee bit of an advantage for her.
Take care; thanks again for all the pics/videos/entries.
Hi nimbus,
Thanks for delurking and commenting! I really appreciate your comment, as it lets me know that I am not relaying the whole picture on my blog!
I will definitely do a better job at portraying all of the things that Thomas does to protect me from Rocky. Believe me, things would be much worse if I didn't have Thomas's support! (And I have met people at the rescue who passive-aggressively use their parrots as weapons against their spouses, so I know what you're talking about!)
I just don't usually have pictures of those times, so I don't think to write about them!
I'm not sure if you read a post I did a long time ago about severe macaws? http://parrotmusings.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-thoughts-on-severe-macaws.html
But that might help to explain, somewhat, Rocky's behavior. His species. Things have actually gotten a lot better since I wrote that post -- Rocky has had all of his flight feathers for quite some time now and no longer aerially attacks me.
I definitely agree that he doesn't empathize with me enough on this! He has a much higher pain tolerance, so Rocky actually "bites" him (in the same way he did to me on this post) and it doesn't really bother him, but it does me, so he thinks I'm overreacting.
He also thinks that if I would not react Rocky would not attack and would just play (which is quite possibly what he was doing on this post). I'm not so sure of that, though Rocky has drawn blood on Thomas much more frequently than he has on me, simply because I don't put myself in that position.
Don't ever apologize for being too personal! I am so happy you wrote this as I had no idea he was coming off like that on this blog!
I'm the one who really shouldn't play favorites, since I live with them, but Max is my favorite as well. Though everyone else is right up there!
Mr. Logan is very lucky to have a caring owner!
This comment is very long, and I'm not sure it made sense, but I will write more on all of these topics in the future.
Don't be a stranger :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM&feature=related
Hi, Mary,
Just lost a whole post that I'll redo another time but enjoy this video about biting. Charlie is the very dickens himself and Harry is quite forgiving, seeing as how he put his finger in Charlie's mouth. Did I mention Charlie appears to be teething? lol.
Thank you for your response and that you understood my point. Great pics---more, please.
5150 -- Sorry that you lost your post :(
I hadn't seen that video before, but it did remind me of my husband, with Charlie = Rocky and Harry = Thomas. Gluttons for punishment!
One other thing I forgot to write yesterday is that Thomas really does have the best of intentions. (Though I'd submit he's wearing rose-colored glasses). He hates it that Rocky is a one-person bird for handling, and he thinks he can broker some kind of peace between the two of us. (While I'm willing, Rocky appears to not be).
I'll try to get some video this weekend.
I can kind of understand where he's coming from as when a parrot loves you (as you know!), it's incredible, and you kind of want to share that! I have a severe macaw at the rescue right now that loves me and hates Thomas, and I catch myself thinking "if only Thomas would put forth a little effort with him" then I catch myself -- he's a severe macaw! I've lived with Rocky for almost 4 years and have put forth incredible effort. I know it's not that simple!
I have made progress over the past 4 years with Rocky; who knows where we'll be in a decade. I'm not giving up!
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