I got my first stray today!
Generally speaking, I do DOAs (Dead On Arrival), injured birds, animal transport (to and from vets), other errands, and some licensing... but today I got a stray.
A pearl cockatiel had escaped and was found by a couple, ushered into their kitchen, and was being kept under a laundry basket. Although the husband wanted to keep it, the wife had vetoed that option and so there I was.
The little guy didn't want to climb up on my hand while my gloves were on, but the husband reassured me that he was really friendly and that I would probably be fine without them. Sure enough, gloves removed, the cockatiel soon hopped up and climbed up to perch quite comfortably on my shoulder. Obviously I couldn't go outside with him there as he'd fly away but when I tried to get him on my hand again he flew over to the husband.
This was the plan: have him hop up on my left hand, pet him with my right, and then gently hold his wings down so I'd be able to bring him to the crate. (You know, my ideas always seem to work so well in theory... but by now I should really know ahead of time that they're going to somehow mess up.)
Cockateils, as I soon found out, do not like to be confined like this by strangers and they also have really bendy necks. Meaning, very effectively biting my hands and fingers was not a problem for the littly guy.
"Oh, he's really biting you there eh?"
"Yea..." And so I ask the husband to help put a glove on each hand while I hold the bird in the other.
"Oh, well it can't be all that bad.." chimes in the wife.
"Well," I laugh and calmly say,"it's enough... I mean, he's drawing blood and I'm bleeding from my fingernails so... I wouldn't mind the gloves..."
The bird was contained and I brought my first stray back to the Centre without any further problems. But realistically, just throwing this out there, bleeding from the fingernails is not exactly pleasant. I didn't exactly see her going within 5 ft of the bird...
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