Hopeful B&G Macaw adopter.

[Shannon2319]

Hello! Im Shannon, new to the group. I live in Togiak Alaska its a wild place, quiet town. Im a stay at home mom of a toddler and a senior dog. Im hoping to find a Blue and gold macaw to adopt or rehome. Im still in the reading stage and have asked rescues about adoption. None are willing to come out here for a home check so things are looking quite bleak. But im not giving up so wish me luck!

 

[Wingnut]

Welcome Shannon!!

I have never been to Alaska but it looks so beautiful up there. I live completely opposite of you here in Florida! Haha. If you have any questions there are TONS of people here to give you advice.

I Love that youre considering rescuing by the way! Why a macaw might I ask?

 

[Allee]

Welcome Shannon! I’ve visited Alaska but my trip didn’t include Togiak, Alaska is breathtakingly beautiful when you experience it for the first time. Best of luck in your search for a feathered companion.

 

[EllenD]

Hi Shannon, welcome to the community!!!

I've never been to Alaska myself either, but have always wanted to go and hopefully will someday...I'm not familiar with Togiak, whether or not it's an actual city/town or if you are a homesteader, etc. but either way I'm sure it's a beautiful place to grow-up and live. I have watched most episodes of the "Alaska: Last Frontier" show on the Discovery Channel about the Kilcher family, and that way of life really intrigues me, and I often wish I would have been born into an original Alaskan or similar Homesteading family...So I'm jealous, lol...

I have worked for a Parrot/Reptile Rescue for the last 8+ years, so I totally understand the whole "Home-Visit/Home-Check" issue; most Rescues won't adopt to anyone that doesn't live within 200 miles maximum of their Rescue's location, sometimes it has to be even closer to their Rescue, I've seen as close as 50 miles maximum...Thankfully the Rescue that I work for is privately owned by a couple who cares dearly about the birds and reptiles and who puts them first above all-else, and they have no distance-requirement for people who want to adopt, simply because they realize it's hard enough to find people who are suitable to own parrots as far as where they live, their work-schedules and their amount of available time to dedicate to a parrot each day, their financial capabilities, etc. So if you limit your prospective adopters to a 50-mile radius of your Rescue it becomes nearly impossible to find homes for your birds! And in-reality the living-distance requirement that most Parrot/Bird Rescues have is one of the main reasons why most Rescues have their Parrots with them without being adopted for an average of 6-months or longer (6-months was the most-recent statistic that I read this past October in the quarterly-report we get)...So I feel your pain, I really do. We actually regularly take-in birds from other private Avian Rescues who are outside of PA (far enough away from us that it will make a difference) who have been with these Rescue for a long period of time, just to try to get them into a totally new area for a totally new population of potential-adopters to see...

I've never looked but I'm sure that Alaska has Craigslist pages and the like, and I'm sure they also are in the search-tools on websites such as birdbreeders.com and birdsnow.com, so those are the places you can continue to check for people who might be re-homing their B&G's...I don't know how common it is for people in Alaska to own Parrots as pets???? I also don't know how much it would cost to fly a Parrot up to Alaska from Canada or the lower-48, but it may be worth looking into what the flight cost would be because if you were to find a B&G down here or in Canada who was being re-homed by it's owner, the "Re-homing Fee" is typically a fraction of the cost of what a hand-raised baby B&G would cost, so it may even itself out if you found one being -rehomed by it's owner down here and you paid to have it flied up to you...I know that it's a very common, regular thing for farmers/homesteaders in Alaska to fly-in all kinds of Livestock-Animals from the lower-48, like Horses, Cows, Pigs, Sheep, Goats, etc., so you could probably find someone who might already be flying-in some animals from down here and be able to stow-away your Macaw with their flight for next to nothing...If you know any local farmers well, I'd ask them, they would be the ones to know how that works, how long it takes, who to contact, what it costs, etc.

I hope you are able to find your B&G soon, there are a ton of them down here in-need of good, loving, responsible homes, so hopefully you can find a safe and economical way to get one of them up to you...If we can help you with anything or answer any questions about the Macaws for you, please never hesitate to make a post a ask...The Macaw-forum is full of great information about anything Macaw, and also full of very experienced Macaw owners who can answer your questions...

 

[Scott]

Welcome Shannon! Ellen's suggestions have great merit, you'll find many re-homing opportunities in the lower 48 or Canada. Unfortunately logistics will be complex and you'll need time for the luxury of perusing several macaws before choosing.

Looks as if the closest major airport is Dillingham. Alaska Air has reasonable pet policies, both in cabin and cargo. (I'm not fond of the latter even as many ship without difficulty. You'll also experience seasonal embargoes with pets as freight)

Hopefully you'll find a macaw in-state!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to the group!