Author: Nancy Ellis-Bell
Publisher: Broadway Books
ISBN: 0307406288
Category : Macaws
Languages : en
Pages : 258
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Book Description
A touching, laugh-out-loud memoir that reminds us that love can come from the most unexpected places Nancy Ellis-Bell has always had a love–and a weakness–for animals. She’d already spent a lifetime taking in rescue animals when she and her husband brought home an exotic, wild-caught, one-footed macaw. And so it was that Sarah came into their lives–and changed them forever. Life with Sarah was anything but average. With a huge beak, raptor claws, and a four-foot wingspan, Sarah quickly staked her claim on anything and everything around, including the dogs’ toys, the humans’ food, and the prized furniture. But just when taking in this rowdy, unruly creature began to feel like an utter disaster, Nancy was able to coax Sarah to spread her atrophied wings–weak from years of being confined to a cage–and fly.
Author: Nancy Ellis-Bell
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307409538
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 258
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Book Description
The last thing Nancy Ellis-Bell expected to descend on her life was a neglected, too-tall, smart-mouthed, one-legged, blue-and-gold rescue macaw named Peg Leg. And yet, it made perfect sense. A lifelong animal lover, Nancy could never turn away a stray cat, dog, squirrel, or raccoon from her California farm. But the macaw, quickly rechristened Sarah, was a whole new challenge, as Nancy, her husband, Kerry, and their furry menagerie would find out. Initially timid of her new surroundings, Sarah soon imposed her four-foot wingspan into the family homestead—first claiming the laundry basket, then conquering a prized dresser—and achieved complete household domination. Nancy couldn’t “bird-proof” the place fast enough, and it was not long before Sarah started stealing the dogs’ toys—using her enormous beak to disembowel Ben the mutt’s treasured stuffed bear—and bathing her richly hued feathers in their water bowl. She also peppered Nancy’s phone conversations with expletive-laden outbursts. There seemed no end to Sarah’s realm, nor her destruction, and it dawned on Nancy that the entire house had slowly transformed into a birdcage. On the other side of the coin, Sarah started to abandon her own raptor instincts when she discovered that dog food was pretty tasty and that she had a knack for “barking” (and a few other sounds that alarmed the neighbors). As they all learned to live together, Nancy marveled that Sarah had truly found a place to call home, but she sensed that there was something she could give Sarah to make her feel more complete: a chance to fly again. Touching, eye-opening, and laugh-out-loud funny, The Parrot Who Thought She Was a Dog is a tender tale of two worlds colliding, two lives enriched, and two souls restored. It is also a rewarding reminder that love can come from the most unexpected places.
Author: Michael Steven Smith
Publisher: OR Books
ISBN: 9781682193136
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 120
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Book Description
Charlie Parker is an African Grey Parrot. He entered the life of the Smith family three decades ago when they first encountered him in a downtown Manhattan bird shop and found him so irresistible, they had to bring him home. Charlie is many things in the Smith family, articulating them all in an astonishingly diverse and colorful vocabulary. He can be demanding, squawking imperiously "Clean my cage" or "Want some water." He can be very direct, warning an aggressive business associate who had been yelling at Debby "I'm going to kick your ass, you sonofabitch" He can be mischievous, making meowing noises to a neighbor's confused dog in the elevator. He is a survivor, who ended up recovering on an IV after the collapse of the World Trade Center filled the Smiths neighboring apartment with toxic dust. He is often the entertainer, with a songbook that extends across the opening bars of "Home on the Range" and "The Yellow Rose of Texas." Most of the time he is affectionate, as when he hangs upside down against the side of the cage and asks for his tummy to be tickled. In hearing Charlie's tales in this charming book, we come to realize that parrots are intelligent, sociable and loving creatures, to an extent that, as the renowned avian scientist Professor Irene Pepperberg insists in her introduction, they cannot meaningfully be owned by humans but should rather be enjoyed as companions.
Author: Joan Chittister
Publisher: BlueBridge
ISBN: 9781629190143
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
"Two Dogs and a Parrot offers both heartwarming stories and thought-provoking reflections about sharing life with an animal companion. [...] It illuminates the significance of the deep bond between humans and animals and invites us to embrace and celebrate our animal friends"--Front flap of book jacket.
Author: Joanna Burger
Publisher: Villard
ISBN: 158836027X
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
“Birds are my passion,” says Joanna Burger, “but parrots are my weakness.” Fifteen years ago, when se adopted a neglected, orphaned thirty-six year old parrot named Tiko, she entered on of the most complex relationships of her life. Sullen and hostile when he entered Dr. Burger’s home, Tiko gradually warmed as she carefully persuaded him of her good intentions. Eventually he courted her, building nests inside household furniture during mating season and trying to coax her into them. He nursed her vigilantly through a bout with Lyme disease, regularly preening each strand of hair on the pillow as she slept. For a while he even fought her husband for her attentions, but eventually theirs became a relationship of deep mutual trust. The Parrot Who Owns Me is also the story of the science of birds, and of parrots in particular (America’s third most commonly owned pet, after cats and dogs). Woven into the narrative are insights and fascinating revelations from Joanna Burger’s work — not only about parrots, but about what it means to be human. By turns delightful, hilarious, touching, and enlightening, The Parrot Who Owns Me introduces us to an unforgettable bird and his human companion, whose friendships tells us much about ourselves.
Author: Karen Keilt
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1631525727
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 271
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Book Description
The Parrot’s Perch opens in 2013, when Karen Keilt, age sixty, receives an invitation to testify at the Brazilian National Truth Commission at the UN in New York. The email sparks memories of her “previous life”—the one she has kept safely bottled up for more than thirty-seven years. Hopeful of helping to raise awareness about ongoing human rights violations in Brazil, she wants to testify, but she anguishes over reliving the horrific events of her youth. In the pages that follow, Keilt tells the story of her life in Brazil—from her exclusive, upper-class lifestyle and dreams of Olympic medals to her turmoil-filled youth. Full of hints of a dark oligarchy in Brazil, corruption, crime, and military interference, The Parrot’s Perch is a searing, sometimes shocking true tale of suffering, struggle—and survival. Karen Keilt lived through the darkest days of Brazil’s military dictatorship. In her courageous and compelling memoir, Keilt narrates an emotionally honest reckoning of her desire to find true happiness. Forbidden by her wealthy family to even mention her imprisonment, torture, and rape, Keilt is forced to make a change that will affect the rest of her life. Seen through her testimony to the Brazilian National Truth Commission at the UN, readers become witnesses to both her vulnerability and her quiet strength.
Author: Patricia McConnell, Ph.D.
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307489183
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 289
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Book Description
Learn to communicate with your dog—using their language “Good reading for dog lovers and an immensely useful manual for dog owners.”—The Washington Post An Applied Animal Behaviorist and dog trainer with more than twenty years’ experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell reveals a revolutionary new perspective on our relationship with dogs—sharing insights on how “man’s best friend” might interpret our behavior, as well as essential advice on how to interact with our four-legged friends in ways that bring out the best in them. After all, humans and dogs are two entirely different species, each shaped by its individual evolutionary heritage. Quite simply, humans are primates and dogs are canids (as are wolves, coyotes, and foxes). Since we each speak a different native tongue, a lot gets lost in the translation. This marvelous guide demonstrates how even the slightest changes in our voices and in the ways we stand can help dogs understand what we want. Inside you will discover: • How you can get your dog to come when called by acting less like a primate and more like a dog • Why the advice to “get dominance” over your dog can cause problems • Why “rough and tumble primate play” can lead to trouble—and how to play with your dog in ways that are fun and keep him out of mischief • How dogs and humans share personality types—and why most dogs want to live with benevolent leaders rather than “alpha wanna-bes!” Fascinating, insightful, and compelling, The Other End of the Leash is a book that strives to help you connect with your dog in a completely new way—so as to enrich that most rewarding of relationships.
Author: Melinda Johnson
Publisher: Sunshine Books (MA)
ISBN:
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 170
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Book Description
Author: Sally Blanchard
Publisher: PBIC Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 250
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Book Description
Author: Virginia Morell
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
ISBN: 0307461440
Category : Animal behavior
Languages : en
Pages : 306
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Book Description
Explores the frontiers of research on animal cognition and emotion, offering a surprising examination into the hearts and minds of wild and domesticated animals.
