Katanga

Depending on which survey you read, there are between 10 and 18 million pet birds in the USA. The pet bird is 3rd behind dogs & cats.

I have had some very rewarding relationships, with some extraordinary birds in my life. It was about ten years ago that Katanga, a Blue Fronted Amazon parrot came to live with me. At the time I was told he was about 22 years old. My guess would be Katanga was a wild caught parrot who at one time new the sights and sounds of a far away South or Central American jungle.

I first saw Katanga's picture when he was put up for adoption through a wonderful organisation called, "The Connecticut Association for Avianculture", or CAFA. I would often look at his picture while I considered adding him to my life. I thought for sure he would be placed with a new family very fast, but week after week went by, and each time I was a little relieved, that no one offered to provide him with a permanent home. maybe I was being a bit selfish. Finally one day I decided to go for it and I started the adoption process.

When I arrived at the house of very kind women who was fostering Katanga, she led me to his room for our first meeting and the start of our life together. She explained to me that he was a screamer, and often would risk her fingers while attempting to feed him.
Anyone who has encountered an angry parrot knows that this could be extremely intimidating and painful.

She then proceeded to tell me a story that to this day could bring a tear to my eye. She told me about the day she picked up Katanga from a man who for one reason or another needed to part ways with him. Many times this is because a new girlfriend or boyfriend comes into the picture and parrots being very possessive, will often not want to tolerate this new person coming between them.

So she told me how this man handed her this beautiful bird and a bag of his toys and pretty much walked away. She told me how she could not understand how after all the years he spent with him, why was he so cold toward Katanga.

As she secured the cage holding this brilliant green bird she spotted the man in the door watching, and as she was about to drive away, she saw that the man was approaching the car. He came to the open window closest to Katanga, and with tears pouring down his face, he learned in and said, "I just need to say goodbye".

So 10 years ago I am driving home with this angry bird that attempted to attack this nice lady and everyone that went near his cage. All the way home I thought that perhaps I had just made a major mistake.
When I arrived at home I located my insurance card and prepared for a trip to the emergency room because I thought that I would be ripped to shreds, or he would sink his razor sharp beak into my flesh, stopping only when he hit bone.

Maybe I was a bit crazy or maybe deep down I like the sight of my own blood gushing from a artery, so I opened his cage and offered him my hand. I am not sure how to explain the sound of a happy Blue Fronted Amazon parrot, but the noise he was making was anything but threatening. he climbed onto my arm and stopped when he reached my shoulder and sort of let out a calm sound that might have meant, "I am Home".

There is no place Katanga would rather be the sitting on my shoulder, getting his head scratched and taking a nap. But he is so protective and possessive of me, if anyone comes near us, he will attack them and scream until my eardrums burst, but when we are alone, he is the sweetest creature, and my friend for life.

Notebooks, Pencils, Pens, & Snapping Turtles

Before school started we bought notebooks, erasers, backpacks, lunch boxes, paper, pencils, rulers, pens, binders,folders, new sneakers and clothes, and a briefcase type of organiser called a trapper.

Over the summer, Tommy received a very nice letter from his new teacher. It was a very sweet letter and in the letter she put out a request for a caterpillar of the Monarch Butterfly.

I thought no problem, for a mighty hunter-outdoorsman like me. Well a few days before school, we searched, and searched, and searched. We covered every stand of milkweed plants we could locate in town. I was so desperate for a Monarch Caterpillar, I found myself wading through thickets of poison ivy to reach some milkweed. Now what I thought would be an easy assignment for a old woodsman like me, turned into a humbling and complete failure. How could I not find a Monarch Caterpillar?

On the day before school, and just before nightfall washed away any hope of locating a Monarch Caterpillar, I carefully repeated my search of the few milkweed plants we have here in the field. I don't think I can possibly express the jubilation that shot through my entire body when I, at the last possible moment, found a Monarch Caterpillar.

I do not believe very many Monarch Caterpillars made it to school the first day, and I believe Tommy's caterpillar was the only one that completed its metamorphosis and was released into the wild. "He's off to Mexico" said the boy.

So not to be outdone by the boy, Jordan comes home from school on the first day and tells me she needs a baby snapping turtle for Social Studies class.

Why would you need a baby snapping turtle for Social Studies? I really thought this was some type of extremely cruel joke. I barely survived the special ops mission to locate and capture a caterpillar. How on earth will I come up with a baby snapping.

It has been my experience that a baby snapping turtle is something you stumble upon, you don't mount an all out expedition for something the size of a quarter. I would stand a better chance at locating a 20 pounder, but would I think, until the school develops a curriculum that includes, "How to attach a severed limb 101", the school may frown upon a classroom monster capable of removing a child's finger.

The Town of Mansfield has an awesome Public Woks Department, and has some really nice, kind hearted folks working hard for our town.

Recently I approached a group of guys working on our street cutting brush, and while they worked up a soaking sweat while battling the 36 inch mosquitoes we have down here, I mentioned that I was searching for a baby snapping turtle for Jordan's school project.

It was less then a week later when Glenn and Tory from the town showed up with 2 young snapping turtles, one of them the size of a quarter.

So to Glenn and Tory, THANK YOU!!! You made a kid feel very, very special when she was able to fulfill her teachers request, and you saved me he pain and agony of crawling though malaria filled swamps in a desperate attempt which would have resulted in failure and more weeks of therapy.

Snappy and Snapper will spend the Winter months as foreign exchange students, majoring in Social Studies, and return to the swamps in the spring.

All Nighter Woodstove

I paid $25 for a copy of The All Nighter Woodstove Installation Instructions. And because I believe in the brotherhood of the "All Nighter Woodstove Burners", (ANWB) I have have added a link here on our blog so that anyone who may need these documents for their building officials may copy them here free of charge.

I believe, but I am not sure, you might only need 2 pages out of the nine I loaded. My building official asked for none because he has inspected the All Nighter Woodstove so many times he knew what he was looking at.

The link is located in the right hand column near the bottom. Click the blue All Nighter Woodstove Installation Instructions and you should be good to go. I hope this works because it took me half a day to figure out how to do this.

Good Luck to all my fellow ANWB members and drop me a comment if this worked out for you.

PS. If this should work out well for you, consider dropping a $10 check or something to help out someone down on their luck.

Send To,

Covenant Soup Kitchen Inc
220 Valley St
Willimantic, CT 06226

Thanks and stay warm!