For a year and a half now, as I lounge on the deck, I have heard the lady talking to someone or something inside the house.
As you are probably aware, I am an outside cat except for at night, when I am secured in the garage (with food, water, litter box, and a choice of beds to rest in). So, as you might imagine, I was very curious about the creatures inside the house. One day, the lady let me inside for my afternoon snack because the yellow jackets were trying to get at my food. I took a good look around and saw these birds (birds!!) in the "office" aka "bird room." I only got a quick peek because the lady closed the door so I couldn't harass or scare them.
Oh, mustn't disturb the spoiled birds. I mean, seriously? Keeping food as pets? I am very, very disappointed in the lady. She actually named them! Lulu and Mr. Eddie Green (guffaw!). And, now that she has them, she feels bad because she realizes that birds should not be in cages. She said she will take care of them until the end of their days (which, if I had my way, would be sooner rather than later), but no more birds in cages. She got them the largest cage she could find, so they can actually fly a bit, and they have plenty of toys and things to do.
They seem happy as they talk and whistle much of the day. And, she feeds them good seed, broccoli and an egg protein supplement.
To be perfectly honest, I'm a bit ticked off about the whole thing. No one consulted me, the King of Everything, about keeping perfectly good food in a cage. What a waste! And, my research reveals that the Aborigines of Australia agree with me about these birds. Parakeets are also called Budgerigars, which is sort of the English version of the word the Aborigines use for "good to eat." Well, I'll never get to taste them, but I can dream.
