--- In [email protected], "Cherie Mascis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > > African Grays and Amazon parrots love words spoken loudly and emphatically and loud sound effects. They often pick up sounds like things shouted on TV, cuss words, squeaky doors, barking dogs, bedroom sounds and other things we would rather they not repeat!
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Matisse, my Grey, did the sound of the garbage truck backing up for years, this is really where I had to learn to ignore behavior I didn't want to extinguish it, it was really hard, that "beep-beep-beep" really grated on my nerves, and the more I let him know something bothered me, the more he would do it. We don't have these kinds of trucks around here, not many sirens either, it's better living in a more rural area. >I had to fire a parrot from our Marine World show because it would >say "shit" under it's breath while it was doing tricks, and it would >be picked up by the microphone! > My lovely older brother thought it would be funny to leave a message on the anwering machine for Matisse, my brother kept repeating, literally "puck you", but that is not what it sounded like when Matisse instantly picked this up and it became his favorite thing to shout across the house. It took a couple of years for this one to go away by ignoring it and making sure he never heard it again. Kim
