Who Sells Man-Hating Parrots?
Best headline today "Man-hating parrot proves too much for abductors". Where do I get one?
— suzanne moore (@suzanne_moore) July 27, 2021
I had to laugh at this great tweet from Suzanne Moore who wondered aloud about where to get a man-hating parrot after Sky, an African grey, proved to be too much of a handful for her callous kidnappers.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/man-hating-parrot-abductors-sky-oxfordshire-v7r3qk8w3
Man-hating parrot proves too much for abductors
In her appeal for Sky’s return, White had said: “She hates men! Only likes me” - Photo HYDE NEWS & PICTURES LTD
By Daniel Keane - The Times
Whether it was Sky the parrot’s hatred of men, her tendency to shriek “come on” before biting, or her habit of singing “Do do do” repeatedly we do not know, but the thieves who took the pure African grey could clearly put up with her no longer. The pilfered parrot was returned to her owner Sarah White over the weekend a month after being stolen in a burglary. An appeal for the beloved pet had warned that she was “not to be messed with”.
Sky was taken from White’s home in the hamlet of Tusmore near Bicester, Oxfordshire, on June 18 along with jewellery that belonged to White’s grandmother. White had returned home to find her bedroom ransacked and her beloved pet no longer in her cage. After an appeal supported by the animal charity Beauty’s Legacy, the 20-year-old bird, below, was recovered from a family home in Bedfordshire 40 miles away.
Sky’s new owners had recognised the appeal’s unique description of the feisty parrot and got in touch to help send her back home.
In her appeal for Sky’s return, White had said: “She hates men! Only likes me. We think she was bundled into a laundry basket and taken. No food or drink. I’m absolutely devastated.
“I just want her back safe and sound. She makes very distinctive noises, she says ‘come on’ all the time. She says her name, sings ‘do do do’ and makes kissing noises.”
She also said that Sky plucked her feathers around her neck, could not fly very well and walked everywhere, before warning the thieves: “I hope whoever has got her has lost all their fingers from her biting them and didn’t get any sleep last night.”
After her return, she said: “They [the occupants of the property] had seen the appeal and contacted us. I knew from the pictures that they sent that it was Sky.
“We went to recover her and I had a little cry in the car because it was quite emotional, she was really happy to see me and was talking to me.”
White said that Sky looked fine when she picked her up and had not lost any weight. “When we got home, I gave her all her favourite food because I doubted she’d been having those,” she said. “I gave her nuts, vegetables and all the things that she really likes. She was a very happy bird. She’s probably not had a bath so she was able to do that as well.
“It’s been nice to hear her voice like this morning when I was going to work she was telling me to ‘come on’ and ‘ get going’.
Sky was found with help from the charity Beauty’s Legacy. It was founded by Lisa Dean following the disappearance of her elderly cat five years ago.
The group began as a voluntary group based on social media and was granted charity status in April this year. It has since reunited over 700 animals with their owners.
Look who’s squawking
● Charlie, a green-winged macaw, was reunited with its owner Graham Ralston in Manchester after police recognised its “Hello baby” squawk during a raid on a burglar’s home
● Chico, a yellow-crowned Amazon parrot from the Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in Friskney, gained fans online for a pitch-perfect rendition of the Beyoncé song, If I Were A Boy
● Onion, an African Grey, went viral for its broad Edinburgh accent
Whether it was Sky the parrot’s hatred of men, her tendency to shriek “come on” before biting, or her habit of singing “Do do do” repeatedly we do not know, but the thieves who took the pure African grey could clearly put up with her no longer. The pilfered parrot was returned to her owner Sarah White over the weekend a month after being stolen in a burglary. An appeal for the beloved pet had warned that she was “not to be messed with”.
Sky was taken from White’s home in the hamlet of Tusmore near Bicester, Oxfordshire, on June 18 along with jewellery that belonged to White’s grandmother. White had returned home to find her bedroom ransacked and her beloved pet no longer in her cage. After an appeal supported by the animal charity Beauty’s Legacy, the 20-year-old bird, below, was recovered from a family home in Bedfordshire 40 miles away.
Sky’s new owners had recognised the appeal’s unique description of the feisty parrot and got in touch to help send her back home.
In her appeal for Sky’s return, White had said: “She hates men! Only likes me. We think she was bundled into a laundry basket and taken. No food or drink. I’m absolutely devastated.
“I just want her back safe and sound. She makes very distinctive noises, she says ‘come on’ all the time. She says her name, sings ‘do do do’ and makes kissing noises.”
She also said that Sky plucked her feathers around her neck, could not fly very well and walked everywhere, before warning the thieves: “I hope whoever has got her has lost all their fingers from her biting them and didn’t get any sleep last night.”
After her return, she said: “They [the occupants of the property] had seen the appeal and contacted us. I knew from the pictures that they sent that it was Sky.
“We went to recover her and I had a little cry in the car because it was quite emotional, she was really happy to see me and was talking to me.”
White said that Sky looked fine when she picked her up and had not lost any weight. “When we got home, I gave her all her favourite food because I doubted she’d been having those,” she said. “I gave her nuts, vegetables and all the things that she really likes. She was a very happy bird. She’s probably not had a bath so she was able to do that as well.
“It’s been nice to hear her voice like this morning when I was going to work she was telling me to ‘come on’ and ‘ get going’.
Sky was found with help from the charity Beauty’s Legacy. It was founded by Lisa Dean following the disappearance of her elderly cat five years ago.
The group began as a voluntary group based on social media and was granted charity status in April this year. It has since reunited over 700 animals with their owners.
Look who’s squawking
● Charlie, a green-winged macaw, was reunited with its owner Graham Ralston in Manchester after police recognised its “Hello baby” squawk during a raid on a burglar’s home
● Chico, a yellow-crowned Amazon parrot from the Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in Friskney, gained fans online for a pitch-perfect rendition of the Beyoncé song, If I Were A Boy
● Onion, an African Grey, went viral for its broad Edinburgh accent
