Since I was about 7, our family has had animals. Over the years, my parents have owned 2 cats, 4 dogs and a bird. Wherever they go, their animals accompany them--even on camping trips. And the trailers my parents have owned have always been pretty small affairs, intended mostly for sleeping. On one memorable occasion about 6 years ago, chaos erupted in their tiny camper. The three of us humans were in there, both dogs were barking, the bird was squawking and I couldn't stop laughing at the comedy of the situation. Yes, my parents take their bird camping with them; he also rides in the car with a seat belt strapped around his cage, and he sleeps in their bedroom. Talk about a lucky bird. :)
Anyway, for this particular trip, my parents thought it might be better to leave Charlie with a sitter. I think they thought things might be just a little too crowded if they brought the bird, his cage and all his paraphernalia on their road trip adventure across America--with their dog, Sadie riding next to him and trying to eat him through his cage. So Michael and I volunteered to take him . . . keeping in mind the fact that Charlie would be sharing our house with Chloe, my "almost" 10-year-old cat.
Mom and Dad brought him over yesterday, along with both of his cages (he has a large "condo" cage on wheels and a smaller one that would be better for taking him upstairs with us, should we choose to put him in our bedroom at night. He was pretty quiet last night, being that he was probably in a little bit of a culture shock from being in a new environment. Besides that, he gets really quiet when it's dark--I think because he can't see where potential predators might be and he doesn't want to give away his position.
My mom and I were sitting downstairs last night after they had brought him over, and I was interested to see what Chloe would think of Charlie. I coaxed her downstairs (she is very shy when people come to our house and always runs upstairs to hide in my book room) and was surprised that she didn't seem to notice him. She definitely heard him tweeting, because she looked around for the source of the sound, but I don't think she connected it to the cage. And I am almost positive she didn't see him in there.
We tried to get Charlie to go into his smaller cage last night so we could take him to bed with us, but he would have none of it. So I double and then triple-checked the doors on his cage, to make sure he couldn't get them open and fly out onto the floor where Chloe would surely find him. I even turned his cage around so the door that has the loosest latch faced the wall--just in case he managed to get it open. It would be bad enough if Chloe got to him, but to have to tell my parents that their beloved (and I do mean beloved) bird was eaten by my cat on his first night at our house would have been unthinkable. So I made sure he was locked up tight and then went to bed. Chloe still didn't seem to realize he was there, although she did sniff at the legs of his cage a little and sniffed the air like she smelled "bird" (or some other tantalizing scent) but couldn't tell where it was coming from.
This morning when I opened the bedroom door, Chloe was lying there, waiting for me. I was glad to see that she hadn't brought me a "present" in the middle of the night and that Charlie must still be safe in his cage. Chloe followed me downstairs for her breakfast and when I took the towels off of Charlie's cage, he began to greet me with some fairly loud squawks. This time, Chloe took notice. She sat down in front of his cage, her gaze riveted to his figure on its perch. I don't think I've ever seen that kind of concentration from her. He got very quiet and turned his head so that one beady eye looked right at her. Her attention was glued to him for about 10 minutes and then she sauntered off. He looked a little shaken, and I talked to him soothingly, telling him not to worry, that I would not let her get him. Maybe she sent him a silent signal that said, "I'll leave you alone for now, bird. But watch yourself." :)
A couple of our friends came over later in the morning, for breakfast and a movie and Charlie got really loud. But when Michael and I came back this afternoon from meeting some other friends for lunch, he was very quiet and just peeped at us a bit. I called my parents to see if they had made it to their first overnight stop yet (Spokane, WA), and to give them an update on Charlie. I held the phone up to his cage and turned the speakerphone on. That bird definitely knows who his mom and dad are! It was the funniest thing to watch Charlie start tweeting and "talking" to their voices coming over the phone--he looked right at the phone the whole time. It was very sweet. Who knew a bird could have so much personality? :)
So Charlie will be our companion for the next 2 weeks, and as I write this, he is sitting in his cage next to me, tweeting for all he is worth. Mom and Dad said he really likes to be around people (just not too many at one time or he gets overwhelmed), so hopefully, Michael and I will be good company for him too.
I just have to keep an eye on one little gray kitty . . .
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