AND NOW FOR SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT

I've been writing about cats, dogs and goats so far, but, as promised, this is a "paws and CLAWS" blog. .....There are so many informative, funny, and wonderfully readable books about birds that I thought I'd devote this entry to them. An older, but immensely warm-hearted, title is "That Quail Robert" by Margaret Stanger. Taking place on Cape Cod, it tells the tale of her actually raising a wild quail in her home. The bird was so tame that it slept in one of her hats and visited with everyone who came to her house....A more recent title is "Wesley the owl", another befriending of a seemingly wild bird.....Irene Pepperberg's "Alex and me" takes a relationship with a feathered creature to a whole new level. She has been involved in very complex language and comprehension studies with Alex and other African Grey Parrots. Over the years she became emotionally attached to him and she writes of her struggle to keep perspective on the ground-breaking work they were doing. Pepperberg mentions the sign language studies which had been done with Koko, the gorilla. Scientists had no idea that parrots could use language skills to an even more complex degree, way beyond naming objects, and solving problems, to actually expressing ideas. Her descriptions of Alex's conversations are fascinating and charming. The only sad note is that she wishes she could have treated him more like a pet and shown more affection. Reading her narrative, though, the two really did become friends on some levels as they worked together re-formulating the way we think about the intelligence of the creatures who share our world...... I'll end with a final book recommendation. To be published soon: Temple Grandin's "Animals make us human-creating the best life for animals". Call the library for suggestions ----we have lots of great reads about the furred and feathered world out there!