CHECK WING CLIP - Jake is gone

[lovemyGreys]

Fantastic news i am so pleased for you & Dan.I love a story with a happy ending

[dblhelix]

Very happy news! We are all sooo happy that Jake is safely home. I am sure you all will need some time to regain your balance. Keep us posted, but this is the best news you could ask for. Did animal control finally trap him for you, or how did you finally get him??? Hooray in any event!

 

{Communicate-0002011B}

[Talon]

Dan & Kim, This is wonderful news!! I have been following your posts all day via my blackberry, as I couldn't be near my computer. I am so excited, relived and happy for you. You must be ecstatic!!

I know you both must be emotionally exhausted, and I hope you will post the entire rescue story after you have had some time to rest and relax, and tend to Jake.

 

Thank you for THE BEST NEWS!! {Communicate-0002011B}

[itzazu2u]

I am SO GLAD you finally have him back in the house where he belongs! It's a hard lesson learned to say the least. This past spring I watched helplessly as my Quaker flew off and like you, scoured the neighborhood for hours. I also recovered him but I had walked past him several times as he had landed in a tree, shoulder level, and blended in so well, I didn't see him and he was afraid to peep. However, this was probably his saving grace. For the two hours I searched for him, I also kept a watchful eye on the hawks flying level with the tree tops.

[Guest Monique]

Wonderful news - I am SO happy for you!!!

 

{Feel-good-00020114}

[Toni]

Im soooo happy Jake is ok. Wow yea I learned from this. Alcazar will not be out w/ out a harness. Im getting one right away and even try to put it on at the pet store. This is great news to hear. I was so worried for you but had hope at the same time.

[CeasarsDad]

GREAT NEWS.. I know you guys are H A P P Y... :P

[RdnkParamedic21]

YAY!!!! {Communicate-0002011B}

[Makena]

Awww!! That is wonderful news... I can't even imagine how horrible that was!!! I think this will make us all a little more careful....

[danmcq]

Thank you all for you support, prayers, positive karma, concern and good advice on items to try and coax Jake down with. :-)

 

I have many thoughts regarding this terrible experience and am still digesting and weighing risk factors now regarding letting both my Parrots becoming flighted or even only clipping their wings to the point of being able to maintain level flight.

 

But, enough of that, the resulting decision I come to. I will post in a separate Topic, once I have it sorted out.

 

The finding and rescue of Jake yesterday was quite a learning experience. One thing I find odd, is the first day he flew away, he did not return any of our calls, even though we now know he was only 75 feet away from us in a huge Pine Tree.

 

Yesterday morning at the first hint of light, when we started calling Jake, he returned a call once he could see us about 40 feet away from him.

 

One thing to note: A Green Parrot is just about invisible in a Green Tree. The only thing we could see of Jake once we had an auditory direction, was the Peach colored quarter sized spot on his forehead IF he was looking in our direction!

 

In retrospect, I believe he was so afraid of being out of his environment and not yet too a dehydrated point severe enough that he would be suffering. He saw no reason to give away his hiding place to the over flying Crows, Blue Jay's, Mocking birds and the occasional Hawk or a Strange Human.

 

Now, when we first saw him and were trying to call him down at 630am, he would not fly down to us, even though he was only 20 feet high in the pine tree in a neighbors backyard and he could see his Cage from that vantage point.

 

The neighbor awoke and came out to see what was going on and offered to let me come over. I brought a 20ft long 1/2 inch PVC pipe with me to be viewed hopefully by Jake as a perch. When I extended it up to him asking to "Step Up", he first considered it, but then became fearful due to it being bouncy at that extended length and flew and disappeared over another house, much to our horror!

 

It took 2 hours of walking the streets and calling Jake to locate him once again. It seems after to "Fright", he once again became "silent", until his thirst and hunger drove him to return our call.

 

He was now in a very overgrown Chinese Elm about 45 feet up in it. We called and coaxed to no avail. Then I decided even if it hair lipped the Boggy Man, I was going to roll Jake's cage down to that persons yard and camp out. The Lady of the house came out about an hour later and first said "What the Hell?", then I just pointed to the tree and explained, she then became helpful and concerned immediately.

 

Jake would look at his Cage, and "Talk" to us constantly, but would not climb or fly down. He would move around very awkwardly and obviously FEARFUL of falling!! He always ended up climbing higher, rather than down toward us.

 

So then the wheels started turning and I came up with the idea, that if I just had a 40-45 foot long pole, I could reach him. But, I did not want to "Spook" him again. I finally realized Jake loved his Playtop and would readily climb up on it, if I carried it to him.

 

So I have a Pool cleaning pole about 20 feet long. I talked to one of my other neighbors and they had one also. We connected the two poles together and then using Radiator Hose clamps, firmly attached Jake's Playtop to the pole using one of the Perch support Poles.

 

We then climbed up the ladder and precariously moved the playstand on top of the pole up through the tree's very thick growth maneuvering it carefully to avoid it getting snagged by a branch. Once the Playtop reached jake's level, he readily climbed on it!!

 

As we started carefully lowering the Pole gently maneuvering it down through all the branches, it became snagged. We started working it down sliding it along the branch, then the perch gave way that the branch was snagged on (We couldn't see from below as the bottom of the playstand obstructed our view completely) and Jake being fearful of falling hopped off and climbed back higher into the tree.

 

We got the playstand down and tried piecing it back together aligning the nail staples that came out and also used the duck tape to add more rigidity. We raised it back up to Jake again and much to our dismay, would not get on it. I can only assume he no longer trusted it as a solid perching place.

 

We tried several times with the same result and it was starting to scare him and I became concerned he was go to Fly on us again. So at that point, the only options I had, was to be patient, talk to him, offer him food like Peanuts etc. to try and coax him down.

 

This turned into a 6 hour ordeal. Kim brought me a lawn chair (I would not leave or remove my eyes from Jake, due to the fear of him flying and not knowing where he went). She also brought me water, my cellphone etc. and I guess kept you all updated on the situation :-)

 

The temperature was climbing fast again and was around 102 by 1pm. Jake kept talking to me and looking at his Cage and food and listening to me ring the bells on some of his favorite toys, but he would not climb down, only up!! I and Kim were becoming VERY FEARFUL as the heat climbed. We did not believe Jake would make it through a second Day with no water or food.

 

So, Kim went back to the house and called the humane society. They then patched her over to the Fire department and they patched her over to the Police. The Police department then stated that due to it being a domesticated Parrot, out for over 24 hours and not able to feed or water itself would die, was considered an emergency (unlike a cat or dog) and they would dispatch the Animal Control ASAP.

 

While waiting for them to arrive, Kim came back down and started calling Jake and shaking his food bowl up high in the air where Jake could see it. He finally started clumsily trying to work his way down the tree and was kind of falling from branch to branch in that thick growth. He would stop and hang on for dear life, but Kim with her sexy voice and food bowl shaking in her hand, was more than Jake could resist. He finally wound up only 20 feet from the ground.

 

Right at this point, the Animal Control officer arrived. I explained situation and when he found that Jake could fly, I could tell he was horrified and had no clue as to what he was going to do!!

 

So, seeing that Jake was so close to the ground with no more branches in the way, I told the Officer that we had this 40 foot pole with the playstand attached. He of course jumped on that information.

 

The good idea he came up with, was to have us put his favorite foods in the playstands bottom and raise it ever so slowly up to Jake so he could clearly see the food. We worked out the plan of who's doing what and where. He raised it up while Kim coaxed Jake. The closer the playstand got with food in it, the more he became unaware of his fear of falling. He just wanted that wonderful food that was coming so close to him.

 

He became so engrossed with the food, that he jumped on the playstand once it was about 6 inches from him. The fear was, in getting that Long Pole down to Cage level meant SLOWLY angling it down to where it was almost a 75 degree vertical angle. We were VERY fearful Jake would fly once he was pretty much upside down.

 

But, much to our surprise, he was so focused on eating, that he didn't care what angle he was at. Once we had the playstand portion down to the Cage top, he climbed right in and drank more water than you would think a Parrot could hold!!

 

He was obviously very thin from mainly dehydration, I believe, unless they can lose 20 percent body weight of muscle and fat in 26 hours? With this kind of weight loss and the dehydration point he was at, there is no doubt he would not have made it through another 106 degree day.

 

I also know that all your suggestions of having the Cage out, food in view and most importantly having faith and hope that he was still alive to continue a full focus search was the key factor in our finding Jake!!!

 

I thank you all again for your kind and wonderful support through this ordeal.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/09/03 15:33

[Talon]

Wow Dan, what a story! That is incredible what you two went through. I am so proud of the both of you for not giving up on him. Thank you for sharing in such detail your nerve wracking experience. I felt I was there with you the entire time.

My entire day revolved around my constant worry for you three, and updates from Kim. Please thank her for me. The wondering was hard for us members, and her updates helped us to send our positive thoughts to you guys.

I'm so happy it was a happy ending!! :)

[judygram]

Thank you Dan for this wonderful update, so thorough and detailed. I knew you would get him back and that woman of yours is the reason, with her coaxing and calling. You better get down on your knees and thank God for having her, you need to kiss the ground she walks on, wait on her hand and foot today. :P

[DayosMom]

Greetings to All in our Family of Friends,

 

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to all here for your tremendous support during our rescue efforts yesterday. It was your continuing offer of suggestions that keep us trying, and trying even though it was scorching hot out yesterday. At one point Dan got so sick, from the heat, that he said maybe we should leave the cage here and go inside to cool down. It was then that I shared all your comments and suggestions with him, your supporting comments, and it was like water on a desert floor. I saw Dan's faith in retrieving Jake renew before my eyes, and his resolve to continue.

Because you all supported him, he kept on. It was all of you who helped us rescue Jake, and for that I thank you from the depths of my fragile heart.

 

I have to say how comforting it is to know there will always be someone to talk to when going through such a trying ordeal. Your understanding, and comfort rescued Jake. All of you were here with us as we struggled to deal with such a frustrating situation.

 

Each time we look at Jake now, we see all of you, and your concern for his safety. I thank you again, and again.

 

Judy - your comments of having faith in Jake's rescue, and recovery made Dan cry. He has been through such a trauma, and your words of having faith were just too much for Dan to hold in. All of you who made such comments to Dan, toughed his soft heart, and was just too much for him to hold in his heart.

 

And Judy - I have read your last post to Dan, and am reminding him regularly of your words. I tell him, "Don't forget what Judy said this morning." He laughs and says oooook. :lol:

 

Talon - we were touched by you following our ordeal from your blackberry. Now that is support in the first degree. Thank you.

 

And I can't remember who suggested the Animal Control, but whoever you are, "THANK YOU TOO!"

 

May God always turn HIS face toward you, and smile upon you ALL!

Kim

[judygram]

Oh Kim, you two are special people to us here and especially to me, for we never know when we are going to need other. I am glad that things turned out ok and Jake is back in your loving hands, and I know that even though he is so small that you cannot hug you surely kissed him nearly to death, I would have.

 

This is such a fine example of how close our friendships are here and the way we treat each other like we are family, I am proud to have you all as close friends and may nothing like this happen again ever.

 

I didn't mean to make Dan cry, but now they are tears of joy for he has his little Jake back, a little hungry and thirsty but good otherwise.

 

And Kim don't stay away for so long, we haven't seen you here on site much lately, we miss you here.

 

You two have a greyt day and I will chat with you later.:kiss:

[judygram]

Kim that was Mark, aka dblhelix, that suggested animal control, just so you know, he is the smart one of the ones who replied in this thread.

[nevjoe]

<br><br>Post edited by: nevjoe, at: 2008/04/10 17:04

[Guest briansmum]

oh my goodness, what a story, i could hardly believe it when i read the first post. my sincere appologies for not being here to offer my support. i am so over whelmed with happiness that you got him back. i have to say i don't think i have ever had two such extreme emotions in such a short space of time because i read the whole thing at once. i cannot begin to imagine what you must have felt.

[danmcq]

Talon - Thanks for your kind concern and comments. I wrote such a lengthy detail, hoping that IF anyone experiences a Parrot fly away, they will have some idea to go by. :-)

 

Judy - You didn't make me cry :-) I was so emotional of possibly cutting short the life of a parrot that would normally live 30 years down to just 2 years, due to my negligence. When I do something that causes harm, I do a lot of soul searching, "If I had only's" etc. while doing my best to reverse it, if possible, the event caused by my poor judgement. So, once the battle was over, I then became very emotional while analysing what I could have done differently. I am still emotional over this and am now going over how I can prevent this from ever happening again.

 

If Jake was flighted, he could have had the experience, practice and skills to have flown down to us with no problem.

 

If Jake's Wing clip had been performed shorter, to where he could only flap furiously down at a 45 degree angle, it would not have happened.

 

If I would have kept his Cage closed, instead of opening the Top for his enjoyment, it would not have happened.

 

If's........once I am not so emotional, I will decide IF I am going to Clip or let Jake and Dayo become fully flighted. I must weigh out each Pro and Con, then make the decision that is best for our home environment and the amount of people coming, doors, sliding doors opening etc.

 

I know to Clip or not to Clip is a highly charged discussion, but I am going to address it, in a separate topic. It will based more on the environment the Parrot lives in, rather than what the ability to fly may or may not mean to the Parrot. :-)

 

I really appreciate the close knit family we have on this forum. I do not believe I have ever experienced this in any online community!!

 

We just Love you all unconditionally !!! :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/09/03 19:24

[Falconeer]

WHAT IS THE LATEST NEWS? Tell us, did he come down?

[judygram]

Read the entire thread, Falconeer, the whole story is there for the asking.

 

Dan, you don't have to be ashamed of crying, I know other men that do and I don't think any less of them, in fact it is the opposite.

 

And I do the same thing in similar situations, what if's and if only's, are endless. Once the roller coaster stops, you will think it thru and come to a decision that you can live with.

 

I hope this misadventure serves a purpose of keeping this from happening to anyone else, I would not wish this on my worst enemy.

[Talon]

Yes, please read the previous posts. He is safe & sound back at home.

[lovemyGreys]

Kim & Dan thank you both for your wonderful posts,I am so pleased for you both that Jake's escape had such a happy outcome.What a traumatic few days you both have had, i hope you are both relaxed now.

[Tari]

Oh darn like I need to cry more but at least these are tears of joy.

So glad you had a happy ending.

[DayosMom]

judygram wrote:

And Kim don't stay away for so long, we haven't seen you here on site much lately, we miss you here.

 

 

To All,

Since Dayo came home 5 weeks ago, I have been so busy with him, spending time with him while Dan is gone, etc. The feedings, the play times, and the bonding time, on top of my regular life. I have thought of you all many times, and kept up with some of the posts. I just couldn't make the time to respond to anything. By the time I read many posts, it was time to go to bed.

 

I'm hoping I will be able to do better at posting now that all has settled down here. All the G-kids birthdays fall in June, Aug & Sept it seems. I have been so busy the last 6 weeks, it's all a blur.

 

Thank you for noticing my absence Judy, and to all, thank you for just being here.

Kim

[judygram]

Isn't it funny how sometimes all the kids birthdays fall in a short time frame, most of ours are in May. But we do miss you and hope you can get back into posting and sharing time with us, just put Dayo on your shoulder and type away. :) :) :) :)