Animal Tales: At Furry Glen Farm, bird is the word

The farm is understood to the Hebron neighborhood and numerous bird lovers in Maine as an informal rescue shelter for birds.

Keough’s journey to bird ownership, rehab and rehoming started 3 years earlier, not long after Keough relocated to town with her family and made the dive from home education to public school for her 2 kids.

“I just sat in my house and I cried because my kids were gone, the house was silent and I was just listening to the clock tick,” she said. “So, I went outside and I got a cricket, put him in a glass jar, put him on the kitchen table and made him have lunch with me.”

Keough said your house was so peaceful and she was feeling so alone she stated, “I will never be this alone again.”

“My motto for Furry Glen is, ‘Never spend a single day alone,’” she said. “I’ll tell you, now, it is never quiet and it is never boring.”

Keough’s very first birds were a number of little parakeets, however things altered rapidly when she understood she enjoyed having birds and there was room for more.

She called Siesta Sanctuary in Harmony, and the owners said they had a number of African grey parrots and some Senegal parrots. Keough said she did not understand what Senegals were, however she would take them.

Parakeets indulge in the afternoon sun last Tuesday at Furry Glen Farm, a rehab and rehoming center in Hebron. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Once word navigated that Keough kept birds, individuals unexpectedly had an auntie or a friend or next-door neighbor who was desperate to eliminate one, she said.

Keough ultimately needed to get picky about the birds she might keep, however she stayed dedicated to taking in surrenders briefly to rehome since she does not like the concept of individuals hanging onto an animal they do not desire.

The typical rehoming duration for a bird has to do with every 2 years, Keough said.

Depending on the kind of parakeet, they can live from 5 to thirty years. Senegals can live more than thirty years, cockatoos approximately 40 years and various kinds of macaws approximately 80 or 90 years.

“It is better to rehome a bird if you think you’re not giving it its best life,” Keough said. “There are so many people who could give any animal a really great home. It breaks my heart to hear about birds living in small cages for so long.”

Angel, a sulfur-crested cockatoo, welcomes Christine Keough last Tuesday afternoon at Furry Glen Farm, Keough’s rehab and rehoming center in Hebron. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Angel the sulfur-crested cockatoo is amongst Furry Glen’s quirkiest locals after having actually been presented Dec. 23 to the Keough household.

One day, Keough was stopped at a gasoline station when her truck experienced a mechanical issue. Keough put Angel’s cage on the front seat and returned into the Dunkin’ for help.

When jumper cable televisions would not help and Keough’s AAA subscription number would not go through, she understood she would be waiting even longer, so she asked if she might bring Angel inside while Keough continued to resolve her truck problem.

“I come back into the Dunkin’ Donuts and everybody had been flocking around Angel and giving him pieces of doughnut,” Keough said. “And all I can hear is: ‘Eff you! Eff you! Eff you!’ Except it was the actual word. I had to apologize, and they all thought it was so funny. It was the most embarrassing thing.”

Keough said the majority of those at Dunkin’ gladly accepted Angel’s salted language.

Angel and a few of Keough’s other birds likewise reacted in huge methods at the vacations when Keough put a Christmas tree in their room. As the Senegals yelled at the tree and African greys Oliver and Taxi concealed, Angel duplicated his preferred vibrant expression up until Keough got rid of the tree.

Keough said the birds were great with the family’s Christmas tree in the living-room, however plainly did not desire a tree of their own.

Oliver and Taxi likewise enjoy drama, specifically Oliver, which typically drags Keough’s other half, Merle, into intriguing circumstances. Oliver was quiet over the previous couple of weeks since he obviously felt threatened by now Florida-bound Jimmy the macaw. Otherwise, Oliver talks in total sentences and says “Christine” in Merle’s voice and “Merle” in Christine’s voice.

Keough said she has actually gotten so utilized to Oliver calling her that when Merle shouts for her, she believes it is the bird.

Oliver and Taxi originated from a breeder in New Hampshire and were untamed. Keough might not touch them or get too near them. Oliver likewise “swore like a sailor.” Anytime somebody would drop something or screw up in an apparent method, Oliver would exist to provide an, “Oh, (expletive)!”

Echo, a pineapple conure, is Christine Keough’s most vibrant bird at Furry Glen Farm in Hebron. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Oliver is now sit trained — indicating he acts near individuals when they do not manage him — and Taxi is hand trained. African greys take pleasure in the business of individuals and other birds, however usually do not like to be managed, Keough said. Other than a bop to the head provided with an “I love you” from Oliver, Keough can manage both, and Taxi is the dancer.

“Taxi and I do a goodnight dance. I made up a little song with her name and she’ll just be bopping to it,” Keough said. “Oliver has his own song. It’s from ‘Sesame Street,’ but ‘Oliver, Oliver’ is the only part he knows. He knows if he starts singing it, then I will start, and then he gets the whole song.”

Keough has actually likewise ended up being matchmaker as a bird keeper. Rikki and Yoshi the Senegals originated from the very same house and were kept in different cages. From the minute they concerned Furry Glen Farm and had the ability to engage, they ended up being a bonded set and have actually loved making children since.

Keough said Rikki can likewise be a little bit of a discomfort, having actually drawn more blood than any other bird.

Almost all of the birds shriek “Rikki!” since he has actually bitten Keough typically, after which she has actually usually screamed his name. Rikki is now caged the majority of the time — in a spacious setup — since he has actually required to drawing blood actively, understanding it gets him attention.

“I have a scar on my wrist from about a year and a half ago where he got between two veins,” Keough said. “He got me so deep that he almost yanked one, a major one, right out of my arm and he almost killed me. It was the price of the drama.”

Although swear words are not a lot the standard nowadays from the birds, Keough said the quirkiness has actually barely left the building. Chuckles the Senegal, which Keough said is most likely her preferred, is 22 years of ages and originated from a vet who rescued her for a male who remained in and out of the medical facility and worried he might not  keep a good home for Chuckles. Keough said she sends out the male a Christmas email every year to let him understand how Chuckles is doing.

Chuckles is among the birds, Keough said, that can be found in and remained since it is such a good suitable for the family.

At the very same time, Keough said she typically discovers herself losing arguments with Chuckles.

“She’ll state, ‘Christine, come here,’” Keough said. “I’ll inform her, ‘No, I’m hectic.’

“Then she yells: ‘Christine, come here! I want to go to bed!’

“I say, ‘No, you can wait.’”

Chuckles, nevertheless, can be relentless, stating: “Christine! I want to go to BED!”

“Then, I’ll carry her over to her cage and I realize, wow, I just lost an argument with my bird,” Keough said. “She won.”

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