Cheeky

STORY OF CHEEKY

Cheeky was given to me in 1978 by the manager of a company at which I was working for in Zimbabwe. I had two female Capes which my Grandmother and I had raised from the nest. The more dominant, Lucy, died from Psittacosis, and when the manager heard of my unfortunate loss, he offered me his bird. Please read their story on Lucy and Shayne under Capes & Their Stories. I initially turned him down, and told him that I did not have any spare money to think about a replacement bird. He insisted that it would be a gift from him and that he did not expect to receive payment. He also said that if I did not want him after seeing him then he would understand, as he was a very difficult bird. I agreed to consider taking the bird, only if I was happy after seeing it.

Cheeky gets a name and a new home

The family who had Cheeky had only had him a short while. He had not been given a name and was wild caught and bred. They were unable to approach the cage, and if any woman came close to the cage, he went berserk. If the woman wore a red or a green outfit, he then went totally berserk and out of control. They decided that best course of action was to get rid of him. When I lost Lucy, this looked like the opportunity they had been hoping for. An opportunity had now arisen for this family giving them a way out of the situation they found themselves stuck in. He explained the problem they were having with the bird and said that they would understand if I did not take him. I had never handled a problem bird before, but being young and adventurous, I always went in "where fools fear to tread", so that was nothing unusual for me.

I visited them at their home one evening as arranged. Imagine my surprise when I arrived and found that he was a male bird of the same species as my "babies". When approaching the cage, he growled initially and then became quiet. The family could not believe that this was the same bird. One of them approached me next to his cage and he went berserk again. I agreed to have him. The man reiterated that I did not have to take him if I did not want to and that he did not expect payment if I did take him. I took him to my car and thanked them very much for the gift. The look of relief on their faces was very apparent, although I never said anything at the time, or even later.

When I got him home, my landlady tried to look at him and she was wearing a green dress. He went totally berserk. She was not at all happy with me bringing him inside and said he must be consigned to the outside storage shed. She said that she did not want a bird like that in her home. As I was only lodging in one room, I had no alternative but to comply with her wishes. I immediately decided that his name must be Cheeky, as it was very appropriate. I agreed that he could go out to the shed the next day, after I had arranged places for the two cages. The next day was a Saturday and I rearranged the shed to give them a place close to the door and window. That way they would not be affected by bad weather in any way and could always see the light. I took him outside and for company, took Shayne from my bedroom and placed her out there too. This seemed to have a calming influence on him.

Cheeky calms down

As the months went by, he slowly calmed down and allowed me to approach him without creating and making a fuss. He watched closely every time I took Shayne out and handled her, but never once allowed me to handle him the same way. He still would not tolerate any woman, and loathed the colours red and green, regardless of which sex wore them. I learned not to wear those colours whenever I was feeding or tending to their needs. I could scratch his beak through the bars, but no closer, and definitely not in the cage.

Someone new arrives in his life

When I married in 1981, he and Shayne moved with me to my new home. I had married someone with three children, aged 7, 6 and 5. I had known them for about five years before the marriage, but Cheeky was only just being introduced to family life. He continued to create with my wife, Aileen as he did with all females. She would not take it lying down and always made a point of talking to him and quietly and calmly telling him off for creating. Slowly as the months went by, he accepted Aileen, but still would not tolerate the colours red or green on anyone. The children, he accepted without too much fuss, but wouldn't allow any of them to touch him.

He gradually accepted all members of my family, with the exception of my second eldest son, Craig. He would jump down from his perch and bite Craig as soon as he put his arm in the cage to feed or change his water. So much so that Craig refused to take his turn in feeding and watering the bird. He allowed my daughter, Corrine to get a lot closer than the other children, and even allowed her to touch him when he felt in the mood.

As the years progressed, Aileen made the best progress with Cheeky. The day she was able to touch him became a huge milestone in all of our lives. It also changed Cheeky and his attitude for good (with the exception of our second eldest son, Craig, who is still unpopular to this day). She was able to stroke his head, under his wings and pick him up. I slowly became the third favourite, with my eldest daughter, Corrine taking preference for second place in popularity over me. As a result, she is beneficiary to him should anything happen to Aileen and I. I have since had the gift of three children of my own from the marriage. They are all fortunate enough to be able to touch Cheeky.

Tragedy for Cheeky

Cheeky used to get time out of his cage with Shayne and Percy, and although Shayne was a female, tolerated her but preferred to make advances to Percy. Percy being an African Grey. Percy on the other hand tolerated Cheeky but preferred the company of Shayne, who had grown up with him. We never knew what sex Percy was, but it really was a complex love triangle.

When Percy died, followed shortly after by Shayne, Cheeky would cry every night like a baby after the lights were turned out. We took him to our vet, and she said that we could only show him love and hope that he would accept us as a substitute for his family he had lost.

It took a few months for him to settle down again and stop crying during the night. My wife, Aileen always made a point of going down in the dark and speaking to him and comforting him. After he had settled down, he was closer to Aileen than he had been in the past.

The new Cheeky

Cheeky's whole nature changed and he suddenly became a lot calmer and accepted us more and more. Each month we noticed something else change in him. Our youngest son, Ray used to stroke his beak and turn his wrist hard down to make a surface which Cheeky could not hurt. He used to lunge at Ray with his beak, but as the skin on Ray's wrist was taught, this had no effect. Ray refused to pull his hand away and eventually Cheeky gave up and accepted Ray and allowed him to stroke him too. Our youngest daughter, Luzanne is a natural with all birds. Cheeky accepted her as did all the other birds. He had become a totally different bird to the one we all first knew.

Playing Games

Cheeky loves looking at himself in a mirror. He knows it is not another bird as he parades up and down admiring himself. His favourite toys are cardboard boxes. He enjoys different sizes and climbs into and out of them. If they fall out of fancy, they get the "beak treatment". He chews them up into small pieces until you cam no longer recognize them as having once been a box. If a toilet roll inner is put onto the top of his cage, he loves to push it back and forward. When he gets bored with it, it gets thrown down for Aileen to pick up. Then a new game starts; "toss the roll on the floor". He enjoys chewing the apple branches on the top of his cage, and is very territorial of them when in his cage and others land on them.

Cheeky gets a mate (and a change of personality)

The latest developments as regards Cheeky are something that we feel other Cape and other breed parrot owners should be made aware of when contemplating buying a mate for their Cape or parrot.

We bought a mate for Cheeky, both to keep him company and also with a view to get baby Cheeky's from at some time in the future, all things being well.

Sweety was purchased on 01 July 2000 at an age of approximately one year and eight months old. He took to her immediately, and she to him. It was as if they had grown up together, or as we believe, had been destined for each other.

We gradually started to notice changes in both birds, but more with Cheeky. He was starting to get mood swings. Up until the purchase of a new mate, he would go through an annual breeding season mood, where he would make passionate love to his seed bowl and would be extra loving with certain family members. Other family members he would show a mild aggression toward but never more than a lunge in their direction from his beak. When let out of his cage for his daily walk-about, he would climb the budgies cage and make loving sounds to the female budgie, Bunny. He was always very gentle with her, and never ever aggressive towards her. Her mate always got the short-end of his beak, so to speak.

Once his breading mood passed, he always returned to the same lovable, almost cuddly bird he had been. I say "almost cuddly" as he would allow certain people to do anything with him, whereas as others were restricted to stroking his head or wings only. These breeding season moods only lasted a few weeks and then they were gone. Sometimes he would have several a year, and other times only a couple.

He had always been very sedentary and only ever walked anywhere and almost could not fly. Flight was very laboured and definitely a last choice of movement for him.

Once his "wife" appeared on the scene, he suddenly took a new interest in the world. He "discovered" flight and became more investigative. In the past, legs were more useful than wings, and although he could get by, preferred not to fly at all. He got into places he would not normally go and even took to walking on the floor, which he had never done. He suddenly started becoming very protective of Sweety. He would "go for" any bird near his mate and sometimes any person too. He started chewing anything he could get his beak into. Mostly wood, paper and cardboard. He would go through stages where even his favourite person was not popular with him.

We accepted that this may happen when we purchased his mate, but never anticipated the extent to which he was to change.

Tragedy struck on 03 February 2001. We always let "companion or friendly" groups out to have their flight together, and had never had any problems over the past several years. The budgies were one group where he accepted Bunny, the female but barely tolerated Honey, the male. This time out, Bunny the female budgie had flown to the floor, and I had not noticed her going down there. Things suddenly went very quite in the bird room. I got up to investigate and could not find the Bunny where she had been just ten minutes before. All the birds seemed to be looking at the floor. The male budgie, Honey had gone back into his cage and had pulled the door closed. He was holding onto the door and would not let me open it. I looked down at the floor and found Cheeky down there and he was tossing the bleeding body of the female budgie Bunny around. I rescued it and was immediately attacked by Cheeky. I grabbed a towel and put it around him and covered his head, while putting him back in his cage. He continued to try and bite me as I took the towel away from him. I left him for a while and took the budgie's remains and buried her out in the yard. When I went back in the vicinity of Cheeky's cage, he would lunge at me with open beak. While writing several days after the incident, Cheeky is still very aggressive to all members of the family as well as any bird coming within the vicinity of his cage. We have now taken to flighting one cage at a time, while covering all other cages. That way, there will be no chance of even having toes nipped through the bars.

I am still very unpopular with Cheeky, but Aileen can still stroke him on the wings and head when he feels in the mood. He shows his disapproval of me by going for the bars every time I walk past his cage. A long while after, his attitude top me has not changed, and he is now the Cheeky I knew before Shayne died all those years ago.

Please be aware that a birds personality definitely changes in the mating season, and you can never contemplate to what extent. This was a very sorrowful and painful lesson for all of us, birds included. Our reasonably mild mannered bird had suddenly become a monster. He still has our love and will not be treated any differently, other than segregated flight to avoid any future repetition. His attitude to his mate has become more protective and loving as the months have gone by. With a bit of luck, he may repay us with a baby to substitute for the loss of the budgie one day. Unfortunately a lost bird can never be replaced.

I would mention at this time that we got Honey & Bunny in June 1995, so Cheeky and Bunny had been friends with each other going on for six years before he turned on her. He had also been together with his new wife the relatively short time of six months when this happened.

Cheeky starts to show signs of old age

In May 2003, Cheeky started getting more and more unsteady on the perch, falling to the base of the cage. Fortunately, we had already taken action after the first fall to prevent any injury by ripping newspapers up into strips and piling it rather thickly to cushion his fall. Eventually, on 28 May 2003, he needed to be taken to the Vet, as he was looking really sorry for himself and unable to eat or drink. The vet said he would need to keep him in overnight for observation and tests. He also advised that Cheeky was extremely dehydrated and urgently needed to get some liquid in him. We were shown how mix up and to feed him directly into the crop with a Critical Care mixture. The process was very simple, and as Cheeky was so weak, he did not offer any resistance. The vet place him in the "intensive care" incubator.

We called the Vet the next day and were given an update that he was looking better but was still extremely weak. He advised another couple of days and then a revue. Early the next morning I received a call from the Vet advising that Cheeky was much stronger and chirpy, but would like to keep him a further day. Next day, I received another early call advising that I could collect Cheeky, but we would have to administer the Critical Care mixture four times a day. The Vet advised that we must accept that Cheeky was going through a progressive stage of organ failure. All indications were that his age was against him and he would eventually need intervention to prevent him suffering. We expected this, but the cold hard facts being put to us brought the seriousness home with a jolt!

We continued with the Critical Care mixture, keeping Cheeky in a "hospital" cage, but right next to his cage so he and his mate could see each other.

Within the next few days, he seemed to be getting worse and was now not responding to the calls of his mate. We took the decision that we would put him back in with his mate for his last hours, because that was what he seemed to have left. We decided that we would monitor how the two responded to the situation. It was only minutes after putting him in his cage that he was trying to climb the bars in the cage to join his mate. His strength and resolve were determined. He reached the perch where his mate was and she immediately put her wing around him and then lifted her claw to steady him, as he was overbalancing. She helped steady him on the perch until he had made his way to the nesting box and climbed inside. This was his turning point! We had made the correct decision! He was not well, but he was happy. If he died now, he would at least be happy and with his mate. He was ill, but not with anything that his mate could catch.

Now we waited. Soon it was time to give him his treatment. His mate exited the box and I took him out to put the mixture down his crop. He put up a good fight, but I succeeded and then put him back in the nest. He "grumbled" all the way out and back in again. Soon he was much stronger and was coming out to eat, so we decided to stop the crop feeding, after confirming with the Vet that this would be acceptable.

Cheeky is still weak and often falls from the perch, but is very stubborn and will bite very hard if you attempt to help him in any way. I have fallen foul of his beak for taking pity on him, so speak from experience! He would probably now be unable to fertilise his mate when she is ready to lay so we won't get any babies from him, which we had hoped for, but at least he is now happy in his last days. We have noticed that his skin is not as good as it was, he has thinning feathers on his head and the colours are not as bright as they once were.

Sweety tries to kill Cheeky

We had a major problem one afternoon. Cheeky was sitting on the floor of his cage, as he so often does nowadays, and next thing I saw Sweety dive from the top perch straight down onto his back and start pecking viciously with her beak. I mad a frantic dash to the cage. Cheeky had blood coming from several places on his back and also from his left eye. It looked like she had been trying to kill him! I rescued him from the cage and was immediately attached by Sweety as I tried to take him from the cage. I ignored her attack and took him out the cage, closing the door almost immediately. He was now covered in blood. We cleaned him up and stopped the bleeding, and took out the "hospital cage" to put him in. After a call to our vet, as he was just away out the country, advised that we see his stand-in. We went along to see the stand-in and had medicine injected into him for pain and infection. He gave us medicine to administer and advised that we should keep Cheeky warm and watch that he didn't deteriorate. We followed the advice, and found Cheeky to be in a great deal of pain on his back and around his head. It took several days for the injuries to begin healing, and poor old Cheeky was black and blue all over. His eye was the worst and we feared that he would loose it, as it was his good eye. After a long period of time, he was almost back to his old "decrepit" self.

We are now several months on and although not at all strong, he is still able to move around his "hospital" cage and enjoys his time out.

We dare not put him back with his mate for fear that she may kill him, as she makes a point of trying to antagonise him whenever she is out.

It really is hard to believe that she changed so suddenly. We are left to assume that once they start getting beyond their useful existence in the wild, this is how the flock "do away" with them.

Goodbye Old Man

Our son, Ray, went into the bird room at 06:30 on Monday 21 June 2004 to take the covers off all the cages and found Cheeky was no longer with us anymore. He had passed away some time after covering him the previous night. There was a great deal of heartbreak in the home, as he was like a child to all of us.

We had noticed that ALL the Capes had sent a chorus of whistles and call, soon followed by the rest of our family at around 21:30 on the previous night. All cages were covered and their lights out, so there was no reason for the chorus. We feel that this may well have been the time which Cheeky "flew the coup" to the spirit world or land of everlasting light.

We had spent real quality time with him on Saturday, and must have had some sort of premonition. Although his condition had not really changed much recently, other than he was finding it difficult to get about, there was no reason for us to have loved and comforted him more than normal.

We held a funeral for him and buried him in the back garden, next to a lovely flax plant.

Thank you for reading the story about Cheeky. Please go on to read the stories of my other birds from the HOME PAGE location.

GO TO PICTURES: CAPES PICTURES

RETURN TO: CAPES

HOME PAGE