Camping with a Grey

[harmonicaman68]

I don't know if anyone posts here who likes to go camping. I have camped out over the years and had thought of going camping with Ziva since she first decided to adopt me. I picked out a nice autumn weekend here in Ohio, US and took a few basic pieces of equipment to make life easier with a Grey.

 

First, I didn't try to make our first outing overly long. There were nine of us (guys) going on this campout. We had decided to do one night at a nearby campground that has some fishing and hiking available. We arrived at the campgrounds about 5pm after work on a Friday and only stayed until 3pm on Saturday. This allowed Ziva to experience an overnight, hanging out with strangers, but a limited number, and one stranger was an 8 year old grandson of one of the other participants. So Ziva had adults and children as a part of this experience.

 

I took my usual camp gear including a small (4 person) tent which is really only large enough for 2 people if they keep their gear inside. That gave me a place to zipper the mosquito netting closed and either let Ziva out to stretch her wings a bit without an Aviator harness on. It also gave a place for me to zipper closed to place her Aviator harness on safely. At night, I placed her in a small travel cage that she is "at home" in and she slept in it inside the zippered tent with me.

 

I put her in her travel cage at dark and later, after sitting around the campfire for a few hours, when I entered the tent, I said a few words so Ziva would know it was me. Not even a worried growl did she make. Just a couple of familiar sounds to say "I know it is you" and she was back to sleep.

 

I mentioned that I took a couple of items along to make life easy for me. They also made life easy for Ziva. I took the Aviator Yard Perch to have something for Ziva to sit on at our campsite and be comfortably near me,but off to the side, since we were cooking and doing other activities that she didn't need to be in the middle of. I also took the Aviator Harness so I could keep her safe, yet a part of activities. That was connected to my wrist, or safely anchored to the Aviator Yard Perch at all times. I also took the Aviator Flight Line to allow Ziva to fly and it worked beautifully. The 8 year old grandson of one of the guys helped me give Ziva some exercise on the Flight Line. Since this was our first campout together, I also took an extra Aviator Harness in the same color as the one Ziva is used to. (just in case she got nervous and chewed through one). No worries, she did fine, but there was peace of mind in knowing I had an extra along.

 

I enjoy hiking and the Yard Perch had an unexpected benefit. It worked as a walking stick for me and as we stopped to rest from time to time, I could push it into the ground so Ziva had a perch. I could also take the tether extender from the Flight Line and attach it to the Aviator Harness and it worked well to extend Ziva's range when attached to the Aviator Yard Perch. This extended range was MUCH appreciated by Ziva. :-)

 

Ziva did well. She is usually gregarious, but for this trip there were enough new experiences that she stayed close to me. I'm hoping that as campouts become more frequent in Ziva's life that she becomes more adventurous when she is on them. There were lots of new taste treats, long walks, new friends, cool weather at night, listening to campfire music, listening to talking and laughter after dark, new foraging experiences (on our walks) and just life being TOTALLY different than the normal state of affairs around our home. She and I were both tired out when we returned. Lots of fresh air and beautiful sunshine with cool breezes. Maybe even a bit of a suntan for me and the right color and intensity of lighting for Ziva's health.

 

All in all and good trip.

 

I hope some of you have the opportunity to experience the same with your fids :-)

Edited September 26, 2010 by harmonicaman68

[birdhouse]

Fresh air, exercise & adventure. Sounds like you had a great time! Good for you & Ziva!

[harmonicaman68]

It was a great time. The best part was that Ziva seemed to enjoy herself. Fluffed up, preening, being handled by about half the guys including the 8 year old without complaint. She even sat on the boy's arm long enough that she eventually climbed up the sleeve of his shirt and sat on his shoulder, fluffed up again and sat like a queen. She had never met even one of the others who were with us, but she has been being introduced to strangers on a regular basis. The pattern of "normal introductions" seems to be paying off :-)

[danmcq]

Sounds like a wonderful time.

 

We have taken Dayo camping with us as well and pretty much used the same equipment such as a travel cage and Aviator harness. It is an experience all should try if possible.

 

Thanks for sharing this.

[judygram]

What a wonderful time Ziva had and it doesn't surprise me that she did just fine, they can be very adapting to new experiences when handled properly and you did all the right things, I bet she will be looking forward to the next adventure and will be more gregarious and next time take some pictures please.

[Luvparrots]

What an excellent time both you and Ziva had. If you have any pictures, we would love to see them!!!!

[harmonicaman68]

Hi All,

 

No pictures this time, but I'll definitely take a camera along next time :-)