Kilo Lani came to live with me on Saturday, just two days ago. We are still getting accustomed to each other, but we are really happy he is here.
Kilo's story isn't that tragic as far as I know. I met him at the rescue about 6 weeks ago - a beautiful Mitred Conure. He played on top of his cage all day, sometimes jumping over to other cages to see the other birds. When I came in, he would come to the edge of his cage and we would talk. I thought he was glorious. One day I put out my hand for him to step up - since he appeared to want me to - and he bit my finger! I looked at my hurting finger and immediately remembered the words of Bruce Lee, "It is like a finger pointing to the moon - don't look at the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory!" So, I stopped looking at my finger and looked back at Kilo - he certainly was filled with the glory of God's creation. Actually, Kilo didn't have a name then, but I decided he was "the Moon" and that is how I referred to him from then on.
Kilo, I was told, was unadoptable. He would not let anyone handle him. He bit people. He would approach me but not let me pick him up - and then when I turned my back too close to his cage, he would jump onto my shoulder and I would have to get help getting him off before I needed a trip to the emergency room. He was going to be sent to "Sanctuary" - it sounds like the movie "Logan's Run". Everyone in Sanctuary is deliriuosly happy living on a farm...but no one ever comes back. I wasn't convinced that was what he need - I thought he should come live with me, but I was just getting my first bird and certainly didn't have enough experience for an "unadoptable" sanctuary bound bird. So, I kept going back and vistiing him several times a week. We talked for long periods, but he never warmed up to me - but I never cooled off to him.
Kilo was gone one day when I went to visit! Oh no! Had he gone to "live on a farm!"? Was I too late? Oh no! What could I have done? There was no way that I could have taken him home, but there was no way that I would have let him go either.
Kilo had gone to stay at the parrot supply store owner's house - he was taking up cage space they needed for birds with better prospects, I was told by the girl who was working that day. "Nope, we don't know what is going to happen to him". But then, a week or two later, one of the owners, Tim came in while I was in the store and when he saw me, he yelled, "Brother Bob! How are you? Hey, we have a parrot that we have decided is yours. I took him home and I have been working with him to see if he can be tamed enough for you to take him. He is great and you have a real way with birds. What is he? He's that Mitred Conure that was here that you used to talk to all the time! He doesn't have a name [oh yes, he does, I thought] and we have decided that unless you take him, he will just live with us - he is still basically unadoptable. You should hear him talk! Just let us know when you are ready for him. You can adopt him or just foster home him for as little or as long as you want to."
Kilo stayed at their home after that. I couldn't take him yet. But last Friday, the family talked it over and I made my case and I presented my plan and I acknowledged the issues and problems and the family agreed that we should take him - later when we had things worked out. We were going to get him, it was just a matter of time. It tunred out to be a matter of about 18 hours! The next day, I got home and there was a message on the machine, "Bob, Karen says that she is coming in with the Mitred and you can take him home today if you want to. Come down as soon as you get the message." I jumped in the car and off I went.
Kilo was at the store when I got there. "Bob, he is yoiur bird, we all just know it. You know it, we know, I bet even he knows it. We could keep him at my house, but he belongs with you and he will be happiest with you. You can borrow a cage and don't worry about any adoption fees for now. You can just foster home him [but I want to ransom him and adopt him into my family fully]. We are going to be selling some of these great hanging playgrounds that you have made and we can talk about money later - it isn't about the money and we wouldn't even be bringing it up if you didn't insisit on supporting the rescue financially so much all the time anyway. Take him home." So, I did. When my wife and son got home, there was a new parrot.
Kilo was missing a toe, I noticed. Apparently, he and some other birds were at one time kept by a breeder and they were in cages with no perches. They had to cling to the sides of the cage all day and all night (Coco sleeps that way at night in his bedtime cage). Several of the birds were all missing the end of a toe. No wonder Kilo wasn't used to being held or carried or petted. He wasn't actively abused, he was just unsocialized. Last night, he stepped up onto my hand several times. He has not let me pet him, but he has let me feed him from my hand a little (and some times he acts like he is going to bite). He reminds us that he is a, "Pretty Bird" and when I covered his cage the first night, he wished us, "Good Night". And, he laughs when something is funny and he dances like a fool. It has only been two days and things are looking good. Our home is a much better "haven" than a "sanctuary".
Kilo Lani means "One who looks heavenward" - so as not to miss the heavenly glory.
