Gulliver the macaw back in the U.S.

[spookyhurst]

Gulliver the macaw is back in the U.S. . To watch a little video of him stopping over in Hawaii before heading to L.A. for quarantine, visit here (stupid 30 second commercial shows first):

 

http://www.kitv.com/video/16827296/index.html

[lovemyGreys]

What a wonderful result,thank you so much for posting this amazing story a few months back,i have followed gullivers story with great intrest

[spookyhurst]

Here's one more little video of Gulliver :

 

http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/8177/40/

 

They did a DNA test, and Gulliver is a boy. They say he's doing fine in quarantine, and is talking to the staff, eating well, and playing with his toys. In about 3 weeks, he'll move to Arizona to be with the rest of the macaws at The Oasis.

[lovemyGreys]

Thanks Spooky,This has been an amazing story to follow.

[spookyhurst]

Here's some info about Sybil's trip to collect Gulliver:

 

Dear Friends of Gulliver and the Oasis

 

One of the first unexpected things which surprised me on Christmas Island was the fact that most people had Cell-phones. These phones only worked on the Island, but since many had built-in cameras, Mamarau's co-workers all pulled out cameras and took pictures of Gulliver playing "big bird" or sitting on my shoulder.

My greatest, unspoken fear before going to Kiribati was that Gulliver wouldn't like me. At the Sanctuary, birds are allowed to "select" their people and their bird-friends. And while there are a number of birds who really adore me, there are probably more who couldn't care less…and a few how are obviously hostile toward me. Some of these birds absolutely adore other staff members. Others only like birds. Here, we really don't care if we are individually liked by a particular bird….as the main thing is that the bird is happy.

None the less, I was concerned that Gulliver might take a dislike to me. But I should not have feared. Gulliver is a delight. Much of his flexibility with new people and strange situations is due to the wonderful job that Darla, the ship-wrecked lady, did in raising and socializing him. The other reason is that he is young. While I had been told that he was 3 to 5 years of age, it is obvious that he is very young…his eyes are still slightly grey and have not yet become their adult yellow.

Mamarau and I agreed that Gulliver would come to the hotel with me. She needed time to separate herself from him. And I needed time to "bond" before I would have to, temporarily, relinquish him into US quarantine.

When Nautonga caught up with us, we went back to the Captain Cook hotel which would be my home for the week so that I could rest.

Again, not having any previous experience with companion animals, the hotel never questioned Gulliver's presence in my room, or in the dining hall during meals. My new companions, Chris Paul and Dave, Aussies working temporarily in Kiritimati with the government as consultants, were amused as none had even had a parrot as a dinner companion.

While the Capt. Cook is somewhat limited by American or Western standards, but was certainly much more than I had expected. While Hawaii has truly incredible natural landscape, Christmas Island has a yet-unspoiled and natural authenticity.

Kiribati is poor. Kiribati is third world….not even emerging at this point. Many people live in shacks put together with tin (sometimes scavenged from the abandoned US and British military bases) and or with a type of composite board or plywood. Instead of using rock, coral debris cast up on the beaches are used to walk-ways, building walls or foundations. Many homes have dirt floors, with raised sleeping platforms. Other homes still have thatched roof outdoor sleeping areas. It is not uncommon not to have running water or electricity. Many homes have a shutter instead of glass levered windows. The homes have no heating or cooling…which is generally unneeded as the daytime temperatures are 85 and the nights 75. The difference between summer and winter temperatures are about 5 degrees…with winters having stormier seas and rougher, higher tides.

In London town there are blocks of "government housing"….which consists of a row building, with a one-room apartment, one next to the other, with one wooden shutter in the front, and perhaps another in the back for cross-ventilation, and an extended family who live within spilling out of the doorways.

Out-door cooking areas as well as out-houses are common throughout the scattered villages.

There is no sanitation on Christmas Island, other than the occasional "pit" dug by a family to collect their personal garbage. Garbage is dropped by people walking along. Plastic from wrappers, water bottles, paper debris litter the roadway. However there are not aluminum cans as they are collected for recycling by people on bicycles or small motorbikes.

There is no privately owned land on Christmas Island. Rather it all belongs to the government. If you wish to build a home, you apply to the government for a land permit. They chose the parcel and you have five years to build you home and settle in.

Vehicles have right hand drive and it took me a few days to become accustomed to the seemly backwards traffic. Few passenger cars are in evidence, and t hose that are seen are often older, sometimes with mismatched fenders, missing windows or windshields. Tires on most vehicles are bald by American standards. More often there are "bush trucks" piled high with people, mini-van "buses", or 125 to 200 cc motorbikes, sometimes carrying three people, zipping around on the concrete main road, build by the Brits before World War 2. All other roads are dirt, winding into the bush. There are no noticeable street signs. There were no stop signs other than on private property (such as the airport or the hotel.) Nor where there any traffic lights anywhere on the island. Cars were available for rent for $40 a day. The nearest and largest store within walking distance from the hotel also rented motorbikes for $20 a day plus gasoline, which they called benzene. Gas was often sold by the liter for $1.45 per liter or approximately $ 5.49 a gallon; only a dollar more than we are paying here in the US. Since Nautonga and Mamarau were chauffeuring me around, I bought gas several times during the week.

There are churches everywhere. The people are very involved with religious life. Catholic, Mormon, Seventh Day Adventist, Baptists and many other denominations dot the roadside. The best schools are all church schools, and schooling is not free, as in this country. Mamarau's daughters get partial grants or scholastic scholarships, with the family paying the rest. . I told Mamarau I wanted to go to her church – Seventh Day Adventist – with the family on Sunday. She liked the idea.

For me it was another way to learn about their loves on Kiritimati.

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I could see the beach from the front door of my bungalow. I spent a lot of time on the beach and took photographs of the sand, the sky…and the crabs, which were everywhere. Christmas Island has Hermit crabs ranging from shells the size of half a pinky-nail to palm sized giants. Every whole shell I picked up had an inhabitant! There were other crabs as well….but they would dig into the soft coral sand which cover the beaches and the island during the day…and come out in the cooler evenings, covering the roadways and walk-ways during the nights.

I have always told people that there is an invisible neon sign which hovers over me wherever I live. It can only be seen by animals, and says "Look pathetic for food. Sucker lives here." Apparently it is translated into the Kiribati language, for I had not been in my room for more than 10 minutes when one of the local cats showed up. While I first thought that she was a kitten, I soon learned that all the cats on the Islands are tiny. Not necessarily skinny….but small. They remain the size of 6-7 month old American cats. In all other aspects, colors and such, they are "normal"…but, as is the case with most animals on Kiribati, if they are not food, they are ignored. As a result the cats are very feral. The hotel cats, fed and played with by western guests, are far more affectionate than most. Since there is no spay or neuter available on the island, the cat population has burgeoned. Given the number of ground-nesting sea birds, this has become a serious problem.

Dog birth control is simple however. No female dogs anywhere on the island. Just unneutered, fairly mellow, mostly human-fearful boy dogs everywhere.

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On Saturday July 5th I went to sea. Well, not exactly to sea….but Gulliver and I went out on the lagoon on Dive-guy Kim Anderson's motorized outrigger. We went with Chris and Dave the Aussies, Kim and his two local staff members, a local friend of theirs, and a Canadian named Gary. Gary and Chris knew one another and had been diving with Kim previously. David and the local friend did a little scuba diving in the calm, teal blue lagoon waters.

Although I had planned to try my hand at scuba-ing….I ended up feeling like a Desert Tortoise trying to pretend she was a Sea Turtle.

(We did see Sea Turtles, but they moved too quickly for me to get a photograph.)

I splashed around in the water for a bit, but was content to sun-bathe (wearing SP 50 Sun Block) and play with Gulliver. Gulliver was a natural….at home on the boat except when salt-water would splash on him. He would then bury his face into my chest and squawk.

Gulliver was the same color as the water. It was beautiful!

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--

Sybil Erden, Executive Director

The Oasis Sanctuary

www.the-oasis.org

520-212-4737

[lovemyGreys]

Thanks Spooky,great reading material,i think having millie my B&G drew me to this wonderful story

[spookyhurst]

Gulliver is out of quarantine and on his way to Arizona . Here's a new article about him:

 

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080808/news_1n8gulliver.html

[zooman]

wow that is an adventure. Makes you really treasure your pets when i read that. Im really suprised the owners left them soo easily. I wasnt in their spot but at this moment i couldnt leave my boys behind.

[siobha9]

No me neither. But we don't know the ins and outs of it, they must have had very good reasons. He seems to be a very balanced bird all the same, considering all he has been through.

 

Thank you for the updates

[spookyhurst]

From what I understand, the owners of Gulliver boarded a cargo ship to get back to the US, and the dog and bird weren't allowed on. They were told they could come back and get their pets, but since they didn't have any proof that Gulliver was hatched in America, it didn't happen. The Oasis spent $15,000 and had to cut through a lot of red tape to get Gulliver back here.

 

Here's another new video :

 

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=7177689<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2008/08/14 04:46

[spookyhurst]

Here's one last Gulliver video. It shows some pictures of him with his people in Kiribati, as well as pictures from his party in San Diego. Even the dog who was shipwrecked with him came to his party :

 

http://www.azfamily.com/video/?z=y&nvid=273350