Nearly lost a Beak today!!!

As many of you know, we have a cunning system whereby the Beaks live in an outdoor cage which is connected to my kitchen by a porthole in the wall. When the Beaks come in, all I need to do is pull a string and lift the guillotine gate from the cage, then take the lid off the coffee tin that forms the tunnel and - BOOM - Beaks in the kitchen! This has been working admirably for months now. Until today, that is.

So, the Beaks and I had our usual happy time playing and bathing and spending time together. Barney almost got the last remaining button off my shirt, but I managed to hang on to it despite his insistence. Madge made a point of dive-bombing Dominic, who was hanging out on the fridge. He just raised his hat at her and made as if to rip her tail out. It was enough.

It became time for the Beakies to go home, so I put the usual peanut in the tunnel and sent Barney through to the cage. Madge was a bit coy about going home, so I did a few chores and then tried again with a fresh peanut. No problem. Bye Madgie. All that remained for me to do was to go outside and lock the guillotine gate in place. Since our Lovebirds were stolen, all the birds are locked in with multiple padlocks.

OK. Next thing, I find the string that operates the guillotine gate is knotted too tightly around its cleat. I'm struggling to untangle it, so I don't notice Mr Barney fiddling with the gate. I happen to look to my right and there's Barney with one foot poised on the cage and the other on the tunnel: he wanted to go back into the kitchen, opened the gate somehow with his beak, entered the coffee tin (whose lid was on at the kitchen end, so no admittance) and thus was completely out of doors!!! That is, he was not indoors. He was loose, free and completely without restraint. O.M.G.

!!!

My entire life passed before my eyes. My first thought was, 'it will only take a sudden noise to send him flying' so my second was 'gotta get him back inside the gate back inside the gate back inside the gate'. Trying to think quickly as Barney turned toward me and visibly realised he was entirely out of doors, I simply reached up and put my hand on his back. I placed my other hand beneath him and cradled him in my grasp.

Some of you might also remember that on the day Barney and Madge came home with me, I had to manhandle Barney out of his carrying cage. I was bitten rather dreadfully on that occasion because the Beaks hate being handled to any degree whatsoever. Part of my calculation during this desperate moment was that I knew I was going to be bitten rather dreadfully again. I had visions of ER visits and lots of stitches through many layers of skin and muscle. Still, I didn't have time to care about myself or my fingers, I just got hold of Barney between my hands. He squawked irritably to let me know he was cross, but my dear little green bird never even beaked me! He didn't struggle and he didn't move his wings: he simply let me put him straight back into his cage. So, as I type, the precious little boy is sleeping peacefully beside his Madgie, safe and sound and locked in his cage with multiple padlocks.

I am just getting over being a nervous wreck.

Very close call, lucky you think fast on your feet or it could have ended...well, lets not think about that good thing he's safe & sound!

Wow, good job on your part! Very scary moment.

It's amazing how instinct just takes over in such moments and you just know what to do. So happy for you that all ended well!! I'd have needed a tall glass of something wicked after such a scare... :54:

Well recovered! I'd be having nightmares for weeks...

ohhh Trish you were so lucky!, oh my goodness talk about a heart stopping moment...thank goodness you took quick action and got him back inside-- a win win....now it's over with, go have a cocktail and relax.....well done!

Wow, that was a close call.....I'm glad everything turned out ok though!

Trish, I swear my heart was pounding while I was reading your post! How terrifying that must have been. Thank goodness you saw him as quickly as you did, I cannot imagine how you would have felt if he would have flown off.
So thankful this turned out good, and that on top of that that Barney didn't bite you:I second Beth on the tine for a cocktail idea!

Intense, Trish! That must have been a terrifying moment for you! I'm really glad that all turned out well in the end, though. I know you love those Beaks!

I have a question about your set-up, though, as I was apparently wrong in how I had been picturing it in my mind's eye. I take it that you had a hole the exact circumference of a coffee can bored through the wall of your kitchen, secured on your end with the lid of the can, and on the other with a vertically sliding guillotine gate that slides down to lock the Beaks in their outdoor cage. (Which is all kinds of clever, btw!)

But where I got lost is how exactly Barney ended up outside both the tunnel AND the cage. With the way I have always pictured it, the egress point from his cage would lead directly into the tunnel to your kitchen, with no space in between. Which would mean that, at worst, he'd have been greeted by a closed lid.

So what am I missing? What was different from all the other times he traveled back and forth from cage to kitchen? Was the cage just not flush with the wall that day? Or is there a part of your system that I'm not picturing? Something between the cage and the outer wall of your kitchen, perhaps?

Better yet, have you ever taken pics of the set-up? Just very curious as to how it all looks and works.

G'day Anansi! Yes, you've got the set-up right, except that the connection between the coffee tin and the guillotine isn't permanent. There are lots of reasons I might need to move the Beaks' cage at any point, so we decided to make the link a temporary one. What happens is, the coffee tin closes with its lid on the kitchen end and opens directly into the guillotine gate on the other end without being a permanent fixture. The guillotine gate is opened/closed by a string which threads through a hook in the ceiling and ties to a cleat on the wall. When I want to let the Beaks in, I have to first unlock and remove the padlock that secures the acrylic guillotine gate. I push the cage so that the coffee tin pokes directly into the circular opening made by the guillotine housing and then I pull the string to open the gate. As soon as they hear the gate clatter against the cage, the Beakies are in the kitchen pronto! LOL! When it's time for the Beaks to go home, I put a peanut at the far end of the coffee tin and Beak #1 (usually Barney, who is far more biddable and easy to handle than Madgie) goes through the tin, the gate and into the cage beyond. After a short delay, Beak #2 will go through. At this point, I go outside and unhook the string from its cleat, thereby shutting the guillotine gate. I have to push the cage away from the wall to get behind it and wiggle the padlock into its hole in the acrylic gate. At this point, there's a gap between the coffee tin and the gate. It was while I was unhooking the string (which was tangled) that Barney fiddled with the gate and opened it. He took a step from the gate to the coffee tin so that he had one foot on each! The lid of the coffee tin was shut at the kitchen end, so Barn would have had nowhere to go but Away!

Normally, I don't do any of the above on my own. My son, Matt, is usually there to help me by watching the Beaks and/or fixing the padlock while I watch them. I will never ever try to let the Beakies out again on my own. Never ever!!!

I'll try and get some pics for you later on (I know it's really hard to picture just from a verbal description). We want to modify the arrangement so that I can open it from inside the kitchen without worrying that the Beaks might escape. My original idea was to use concertina air-conditioning ducting, but we couldn't find a size that would fit neatly between the bar-spacing of the cage. Hence, the coffee tin.

I'm really pleased with the arrangement, though, as it means the Beaks can live outside and be a lot happier in a larger cage with natural light and sunshine. Not only that, but they can commune with Dominic and the Lovies, who live opposite them. There's no way I'd attempt to transfer the Beaks from their big cage into a carrier through the cage doors so I could bring them inside. That's why we made the hole-in-the-wall affair. Dominic is no problem. He just lets me pick him up and he travels inside on my arm: he has never attempted to fly from me and I doubt he ever will as he's not a strong flier. Yet. The Lovies just live in their cage. They were aviary birds and have never been tamed.

Thanks for the added detail, Trish! It sounds amazing and I'm very much looking forward to seeing those pics! Did you come up with the design yourself? Or had you heard of something like this, before? (I'm still wowed.)

Oh, just a thought. I've seen air-conditioning ducts roughly the size of a coffee can on those rolling a/c units that you see a lot in computer/data rooms. Those accordion style ones that stick out from the top of the unit to be turned in whichever desired direction? Next time I see one I'll pay closer attention to the brand name and such.

I came up with the idea myself. I just didn't want to take the chance of trying to juggle the birds out through a large cage door. They lived in my kitchen (which is tiny) for the first year they were at home with us and it was bleedingly obvious that couldn't continue. They had grown larger by the end of their first year and were much more active and needed a bigger cage, despite being out-of-cage for most of the time. Also, we have three cats and a dog who are not bird-safe so the Beaks needed a place of their own. They're much happier living outside, as they have the natural air and sunlight and communicate with the wild parrots that hang around our place. In fact, they do a fair imitation of a Rainbow Lorikeet, which I think is awfully clever!

I just got to thinking of doggie doors and a way in which I could get the Beaks inside from outside. I commented one day that it'd be great if we had a direct doorway from the cage to the house. My husband said 'I can do that for you!' and so we had a Big Think and came up with the plan.

PS. We gave ourselves exactly such an air-con for Christmas. Every time I look at the ducting, I think of harvesting a couple of feet of it for the Beaky Door. LOL! The reason it wouldn't work is that if the Beaks chose to bite it, they'd make swiss cheese out of it in seconds. Their beaks are like can-openers!

Then you and your husband comprise quite the Think Tank. Tres cool!

You are absolutely right about that a/c piping. Hmmm. Then how about that accordion style metal conduit they use in some building basement ceilings? Some of the larger ones would be around the right size, if memory serves.

Yes, something like that could work. The original idea was that the ducting would be quite long to allow the cage to be moved around for cleaning etc. It became apparent that any movement of the cage would really mean the duct had to be separateable. We thought about it and realised the coffee tin alone would do the trick. In fact, it's two coffee tins: one is stationary and the other is slit lengthwise and inserted into the first one. This allows a little bit of leeway (ie I can pull it out and push it in to meet the guillotine as needed). Hubby's just got home, so I'll ask him to fire up his mega-camera and get some shots for you.

Sweet! Thanks, Trish.

Wow Trish. I was having heart palpitations reading this one. Thank god you you were so calm that you were able to grab Barney and get him back safely to his cage. Wooooo!!!!

Bundii said that she is also glad that Barney had you around.

OK. I got hubby to take some pics of our Blast Gate arrangement (apparently, that's the technical name for the acrylic gate - I keep calling it a 'Barge Gate' and Hunn gets all bitter and twisted about it. LOL!) Anyway, I couldn't upload all the photos because they kept on getting converted into text characters and the forum wouldn't let me load them. So, here's the URL to see them on my Photobucket:

Barge Gate Photos by Trish_Lavis_Brown | Photobucket

I hope they're visible to all and if you have any questions, then do ask them!

Pheww, that was lucky, Trish. Glad all was well in the end and no hospital visit needed either

Hey, Trish. Thanks for the link, but for some reason your Photobucket page stays visible for exactly half a second before the screen goes blank. I'll try it using my cell instead, just in case it's a problem with the computer.