Merlin
 |
| Merlin |
| Is a Harlequin Macaw |
| Merlin came to us in April of 2008 |
| When we collected Merlin he was with a very nice but inexperienced owner that told us that she had purchased him when he was a baby and that he was 1½ years old. |
| At a glance, we were very surprised to see what we did. |
| We were shown to a closed in front porch area of a local home owner that had two small identical bird cages side by side at the far end. One cage was home to a beautiful male Umbrella Cockatoo that looked to be in absolute pristine condition and he was, he was a beauty. His cage door was open and he had the freedom of the porch. We were told that he follows his owner all around the house and pretty much does what he wants to. His cage was dirty and he had not one single toy, just the necessaries to live, but he looked great. |
| When we arrived O'Mally (the cockatoo) was striding across Merlin's cage and that is when we first laid eyes on Merlin. |
| "WOW" |
| Were we surprised. A 32" bird in a 30" cage. |
| "I have an idea that you might know what is coming next" |
| We see Merlin stood on the floor of his cage. There are no toys. He can hardly turn himself around in his own home. He had one side perch, the size of a mans pinkie finger that was about 4" long and that wobbled around like a small tree branch in the wind. His food & water bowls were on the floor because he had chewed, and yes, I mean chewed off all of the brackets that hold the bowls in place. There was a thick padlock on his cage door because he had also chewed the lock off. He looked terrified and wild. |
| The owner put O'Mally in the house and unlocked Merlin's cage. The first thing Merlin does is lunge at the owner in a way you do not want to experience with a bird that has a beak that can take your finger off in a heartbeat should it decide that it wants to for whatever reason. The cage door is closed again and owner comes out with the gloves and thick towels. (this was obviously not a first time experience). |
| As you may or may not imagine. We were not expecting all of this after several prior phone calls with the owner. It was obvious to us at this time that we needed another cage to put Merlin in, so that we could get him to his new home with everyone still in one piece. |
| The owner then proceeds to tell us that it is not a problem, we can put Merlin in a plastic tote. The solid colored dark green tote that was shown to us was approximately 24" x 15" x 10"high. We were then told that Merlin was used to it. This is where I put him when I get time to clean his cage out. This explanation explained the amount of holes that were in it, the gloves & thick towels. |
| By now, we have seen & heard enough. |
| We go back home and return with a Plexiglass cage that we have. Even though it was not really ideal for a Macaw, it is still a large enough cage for Merlin to travel home in. |
| Out come the gloves and thick towels again. This time there is no messing around by the owner. His cage door is opened, the towels are thrown over him and with the gloves on Merlin (screaming) was taken from one cage and put into our plexiglass cage. |
| You had to be there to see it. We have heard of people going to jail for less, but |
| This is a bird we are talking about. |
| I will leave your imagination to figure out the rest of what I would like to say. |
| With Merlin, safely in our plexiglass cage and with his regular cage in the back, we take him to his new home. The ride was only about 10 or 15 minutes. On arrival we unload both Merlin and his regular cage and then we immediately called a friend of ours that gives us a break on new cages. We leave Merlin in the plexiglass cage to go meet our friend on his day off and when his business is closed but we come back with a new cage 48" x 36" x 72". |
| We took off the original latch style lock that came attached to his new cage and used carbine hooks with full expectation that he would chew off all and any hardware as he had done with his old cage. The carbine hooks have long been removed and we have never had the need to place the original latch style lock that came with i the cage. |
| To this day all hardware still remains perfectly intact and he is only held in his cage by a flimsy swivel tab on the top of his cage door which if he decided to, could be undone in a matter of a minute or less. He is very content and never tries to find his way out unless we open his door. |
| Once he was in his new cage we thought that we had him under control. It had plenty of toys and things for him to take his aggression out on if he wanted to and plenty of space for him to move around in. Merlin loved his new "condo" and seemed to be so happy. |
| First mistake. "Never assume anything with a bird". |
| With our experience. We should have known know better. We are human and all humans make mistakes. We do not know what really happened in his past. We only know what we were told by his owner at the time ! |
| After a few days in his cage & being left alone, he started to show signs that he wanted attention. So we opened his cage door. At first it was as if to say "you mean I am free to leave". Then he lunged as if to say, "do you really need that finger". Eventually he came out and explored his play top, but we could not get anywhere near him. |
| Once he came out the first time, he would not go back inside his cage. (I wonder why)? |
| So |
| Now we have a bird that seems
to hate us, on top of his cage, in our office and we can
not get anywhere near him. We try ladders, sticks,
talking to him. All of which seemed to make things
worse. What do we do now ? Peanuts...... If we put
peanuts in his food bowl, he would go inside to devour
his treats and we could close his door & rest knowing
that all is well. This worked for about a week. Merlin
had his cage door open in the morning and he was free to
move around and getting more confident each
day. We
went through the same routine each day. I would be
working away at my desk and Merlin would be doing what
he wanted to do. He soon figured out that once the peanuts go in the bowl in the evening, I am locked in. Guess he did not like that idea, so then he would not go in for love nor money unless there was no one at my desk. Peanuts or no peanuts. |
| Now What! |
| We can not get anywhere near him. He is a real wild child. |
| (do not forget the beak that can take fingers off). |
| We left him to do his own thing. |
| For over a month, he spent a few nights in his cage but most of them asleep on his open cage door with newspaper underneath for the obvious reasons. |
| We really thought that we had finally found a bird that had us beat. He was so scary to the point that we did not know where to go, or what to try or do next with him. |
| Well. |
| What happened next is what makes it all worth while and why we love what we do. |
| I am sat at my desk one morning, waking up and still in my housecoat with my bare feet on the chair base drinking my tea and checking my email, when something nibbled on my toe. No bites... Just gentle nibbles. |
| I jumped out of my skin as you can imagine not knowing what was nibbling my toes and not expecting anything. |
| It was Merlin |
| He was on his cage door when I sat down at my desk and I did not hear him move. He climbed down his door and decided that he was ready and it was time to check me out. |
| Our relationship started to build from there and after a while Merlin was acting as if he had found his soul mate. He was, starving attention and enjoying every second of it that he could get. He even enjoyed going in and out of his cage and started to take himself in there as bedtime approached. He would sit on his swing and then we started to hear someone talking on the phone. Well, this was another new experience. Merlin is sat on his swing having full blown telephone conversations with himself. |
| Next was a well overdue shower, which was not an easy task, he still has that beak and we are not sure what he might do with it. It took many attempts to get him into the shower but we persevered and the deed got done. Merlin was very unsure about this "shower thing" but he soon discovered that he liked it. He actually loves them now. |
| Dee was still extremely cautious about Merlin at this point and would not get to close. She was very intimidated with this beak that he was thrashing around in earlier days and she would say that she likes her fingers where they are. Meanwhile Merlin and I continued to check each other out (so to speak) and we had a lot of fun time. |
| Time goes by and Dee starts to spend time sitting on the floor close to my desk. She so desperately wanted to overcome "the beak & finger issue". One day she gets her wish Merlin decides to check her out as well with little toe nibbles and gentle taps from his beak. |
| The bond between the two of them started on that day. |
| It did not take long for Merlin to decide that
Dee was "ok" and that he would give her a chance.
Before long he wanted to spend more time with her
and then one day. Merlin decided that Dee was his Mate. He started to tolerated me and fell in love with Dee. Their bond just grew and grew from that day forward. |
| I still continue to work with Merlin every day and if I am lucky he will sometimes honor me by letting me give him a head scratch. Every once in a while, he still comes across the floor and nibbles gently on my toes just like the old days. |
| Merlin will probably remain a resident bird forever. Dee has fallen in love with him. Merlin does not really get along with anyone except her right now, other than our two dogs. He is fine with them and enjoys chasing them around, especially if there is a whiffle ball involved in the game. |
| We are hopeful that with time and continued effort Merlin will come around again. |
| We really do not know how old he is. As said earlier, we were told that he was 1½ years old in April of 2008, but we have strong doubts that this is correct information. |
| We do know that he is now a happy camper and he has a great life which makes everything worth while. |
| We have put a few pictures and a couple of short video clips of him below. We hope you enjoy looking at them. |
 |
| Merlin Now |
 |
 |
| This is how he looked before we could get him into the shower | Starting to enjoy Jeff's
attention |
 |
 |
| His First Successful Shower | "This is not to bad. I could get used to this" |
 |
 |
| First Boat Trip | A little Game |
| Dad is upstairs driving but he just wanted to help from downstairs. | Dee and Merlin still play
this game |
 |
 |
| Dee's Bond In The Making | Happy Ever After |
| Her first interaction on his
turf |
I think that this picture sums everything up and says it all. |
| To See Clips Of Merlin | |
 |
|
| Merlin Dancing | Merlin Kisses |
| The above links will open up our you tube video clip in a new window. | |
