23 May 2006
Dark Ira and ghostly, two-headed Frankie enjoy some seeds:
This is what the birds have been up to since the move. Now that they're in a smaller, enclosed room (my craft room), I've been giving them the opportunity to do some exploring. Before I pull up the shades for the morning, I open their door and clip on a piece of millet. After a few days of this, they're now quite happy to fly straight down to the doorway and enjoy their snack. Ira once wound up on the outside of the cage (by mistake), but he was able to take off and fly straight back to the doorway and back inside.
People have been fascinated with kept birds for ages, but that doesn't really make it any less intrinsically wrong to keep them caged up. Society finches (like Ira and Frankie) are a domestic breed -- they don't exist in the wild. That was one of the bits of info that drew me to these birds; for the most part, they are completely calm in the presence of humans. Ira's happy to get face to face with me, trying to pull out my hair, so I'm not really concerned about that.
But it's still nice to give them the chance to explore the world outside their cage. They might never take it. Or maybe they will, and there will be pandemonium as they try to figure out what they've done. Or maybe they'll edge out, bit by bit, getting bolder as time goes on. For now, I like watching them eat their seeds in the doorway, without any bars to block their view.
What do you think about keeping birds? I'm sort of a hypocrite, in that I see it as fundamentally wrong, yet I still do it. On the other hand, I know that I've given these little birds a much richer life than they probably would have had in another home. On the other other hand, it's only when people resist buying that an industry can be stopped. Hm. At least I don't eat them.
Like you, I think it is wrong to keep animals in an unnatural environment, and yet it is one of man's better qualities:that capacity to be delighted by, and to care for, other species without reason. Many animals (and birds!) have been enriched by such cross-species relationships. I think you can only judge right and wrong by looking deeply within and if it still feels right do it! I think your birds have a fine time!
posted by Cherry at May 23, 2006 11:57 AM
It's a difficult one itsn't it. It's like fish. I can't keep them myself but when the previous owner left one behind I wasn't going to flush it so I persuaded MrP to look after it.
She's gorgeous to look at in his house but if she was in mine I'd feel claustrophobic about the tank. But like you say, she's getting a better life now (she had been left in 2inches of cloudy water with no food in an unheated house!).
Having said all that, I can't be trusted near the pet section in garden centres cause I'd want to get all the birds and bunnies!
posted by cally at May 23, 2006 02:56 PM
I think it has to do with the person. If you acquire a pet from a humane society or rescue it from the centerpiece of a prom night dining table, make the critter part of your family and treat it with love and respect I can't see anything wrong with having a pet. If you purchase a fancy breed of cat or dog from a “puppy mill” and treat the animal as a fashion accessory, that is wrong and you should be kept in a small cage and be fed dog biscuits until you figure that out. Most birds actually like cages. I have proof. There is a parrot that has over a nine hundred word vocabulary. He was asked what he thought of his cage and he said : “It’s great but we could stand to upgrade the black and white for a hi def LCD telly.” Really quite amazing. Read about it here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm
Maybe I embellished a little bit, but still.
posted by .d at May 24, 2006 12:41 AM
It is wrong to keep something and treat it badly, but to care for something and love it. How can that be wrong?
If you are thinking of consuming, I hear they go good with butter sauce...haha...just kidding...cocktail is better!
posted by Jessica at May 24, 2006 04:46 AM