July 4th arrives with all its bright, colorful, and need I say, noisy fireworks, splashing across the skies of America. What a wonderful day for celebration of our countries hard fought-for-liberty.
Then, of course, there's the down side of the celebration. Many parties and fireworks end in disaster of one sort or another: drownings, house fires, and injured body parts. Then, there's pets that get left out and who easily are startled by the loud noises. These loud noises have many family pets running for shelter from the storm of bright lights and noisy celebration.
My cat, of course, sleeps nonchalantly through all the ruckus, while my dog can always be found beneath the bed or in the bathtub. But the creatures I had not given much thought to was my birds.
Five adult cockatiels began a frightening attempt at flight in an enclosed cage while the 2 1/2 week old baby could only cry piteously. I'm not a late night person anymore, so by 10:30pm I was safe in bed with a good book, But when the 'tiels began their flight of terror, I knew it was time to get up and go help.
Cockatiels or any bird, for that matter, can seriously damage themselves when frightened and in a contained space, so I had to find a way to calm them. It's fairly simple with one bird. Like a child, you can take them in your hand/arms and hold them, speaking softly or singing until they become calm. But five!
Well, there's only so much I could do. So, I removed the cover from the cage and spoke to them, softly, cooing and calming as you would a terrified child. As we all know, the neighborhood fireworks usually end long after midnight; and that meant a long night unless I could find a solution.
After calming the birds a bit, I sat down at the table with a low light on, and started reading out loud from the Psalms. Before long, the birds came down off the bars of their cage and settled onto their branches, and an hour later, when the noise had abated somewhat, they were all fast asleep.
Regardless of the situation, bird, cat dog, or even human adult or child. the Word of the Lord is powerful, calming the fearful heart.
Then, of course, there's the down side of the celebration. Many parties and fireworks end in disaster of one sort or another: drownings, house fires, and injured body parts. Then, there's pets that get left out and who easily are startled by the loud noises. These loud noises have many family pets running for shelter from the storm of bright lights and noisy celebration.
My cat, of course, sleeps nonchalantly through all the ruckus, while my dog can always be found beneath the bed or in the bathtub. But the creatures I had not given much thought to was my birds.
Five adult cockatiels began a frightening attempt at flight in an enclosed cage while the 2 1/2 week old baby could only cry piteously. I'm not a late night person anymore, so by 10:30pm I was safe in bed with a good book, But when the 'tiels began their flight of terror, I knew it was time to get up and go help.
Cockatiels or any bird, for that matter, can seriously damage themselves when frightened and in a contained space, so I had to find a way to calm them. It's fairly simple with one bird. Like a child, you can take them in your hand/arms and hold them, speaking softly or singing until they become calm. But five!
Well, there's only so much I could do. So, I removed the cover from the cage and spoke to them, softly, cooing and calming as you would a terrified child. As we all know, the neighborhood fireworks usually end long after midnight; and that meant a long night unless I could find a solution.
After calming the birds a bit, I sat down at the table with a low light on, and started reading out loud from the Psalms. Before long, the birds came down off the bars of their cage and settled onto their branches, and an hour later, when the noise had abated somewhat, they were all fast asleep.
Regardless of the situation, bird, cat dog, or even human adult or child. the Word of the Lord is powerful, calming the fearful heart.
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