Cujo

A photo I snapped last night of Cujo, our Blue and Gold Macaw, with Matt. Anyone who owns parrots will tell you that they act like two year olds—sometimes they love you, sometimes they nip you. Yep, Cujo is a typical parrot.

When I picked him up from the breeder, I asked her, "why is he named Cujo?" (I knew that Cujo was the name of a famous rabid St. Bernard in a Stephen King novel). She answered, "Oh, you'll find out." When I opened his travel cage to let him out after we arrived home, he tried to bite me; then I understood.

Parrots need a lot of activity and interaction, so I try and keep him out of his cage as much as possible. He even sleeps on a T-stand in our room (yeah, I know it's weird, but then we are weird people, probably weirder than your average bird owners). They can also screech to wake the dead. Thankfully, Cujo is quieter than your average macaw (but yes, he can (and probably has) awoken the dead).

He's also EXTREMELY protective of his gang (that would be us). When Kelly's boyfriend first started coming over, he was harassing Kelly (in fun) and Cujo jumped off his cage, ran over and attempted to bite Andy. He has hated Andy ever since (parrots have long memories).

Speaking of gangs, parrots are flocking birds, so if you live in the house, you are part of his flock. This generally means that a. he likes you and will protect you, and b. if you are eating something, then he ought to be eating something as well (and not nasty bird food, real human food), after all we are part of the same flock and the flock shares its food.

Oh, and for some reason, he REALLY loves women in general, and blonde women in particular. He DOES NOT like strangers who talk loud and move fast, and he HATES Andy. Andy is the enemy.