Blackbelly's Posts
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This just brought back sweet memories.Make sure to shield the cage from direct sunlight and cold. How do they get along? Don't they fight each other? Nice birds by the way |
Awwww....read your diary from top to bottom and all I can say is wow!!! Never knew cats could make very good companions. I think my fear of cats has reduced just by reading your diary. The only problem I may have is their noisy behaviour especially when it comes up in the middle of the night. Just can't stand it!!! |
While I still had scofield, deep down, I knew I wanted him to be free and to roam the skies. I guess my wish was granted in a rather tragic way. |
The only question I have is how certain is he that the snake he saw is a Taipan? IMO I think he wants to trend |
Jcladen:Search for Nigeria-01 alliance |
Zayons pls add me to the WhatsApp group when it is ready. I have a few issues with my goats. Here is my digit zero 902 119 821 two |
No.8 Fake news! |
How far have you gone in taming your bird? |
Wow! What can I say? Some posts on this thread really cracked me up, some others had the hairs on my body standing on ends. |
stanvesco:Our scofield has gone with the wind. Lol |
laivwire:Such a touching story. I feel your loss. Beautiful bird I must say. I'll surely get one soon |
adecamp:He showed few signs of flight, but he glided no more than 10ft. I don't think it was a cat or a case of theft, I think he flew away probably with help from the evening breeze that day. I have laid down any hope of ever seeing him again though. Thanks for the encouragement |
A hedgehog looks ok to me. The others on the list are pretty much weird if u ask me |
ibietela2:Pictures of your parrot biting you or...(u know the rest) lol |
donshaize:Bro, u totally understand the feeling. Since Saturday, everytime I'm entering or leaving the house, I always give a quick glance at the tree he was perched hoping to see him. Not seeing him there brings a rush of bitter-sweet memories of the time we shared. I console myself with the fact that he may be alrve somewhere |
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AgentXxx:kiwi looks cute. How long did u keep him? |
Thanks guys for your words of comfort. I'm gradually getting over the loss of scofield. I think I'll get another parrot in no distant time |
As I reminiscence over the pain I have had to deal with when I lost hitler, snow white and dipstick my pet Newzealand rabbits, or ding-ding, my west african giant rat, or rex, my cross bred Alsatian dog...never at any point has the pain coursed through my being like the pain of losing scofield. I guess the reason for this is not because I was fond of him, but because he was especially fond of me. |
In all, I think the hardest part in having a pet is not the cost of purchasing one neither is it the time and labour put into developing a relationship with them, but rather the pain and hurt one experiences in losing them especially when one has grown fond of them. You may ask “what really happened to Scofield?” Truth is, I have absolutely no idea. One second he was there, another second, gone! If he had died in my hands, though it would have hurt as much, I think I would have had some sort of closure. Right now, many thoughts still linger in my mind: “could it be a bird of prey swooped in on him?” “Could it be a cat?” “Could It be he took to the air in excitement and landed in a thick bush some distance away and is unable to get out? Coming back home from work today, I realized that Scofield was no longer there to respond to the sound of my voice or amuse me with his funny mimicry of my words. This really made me treasure the time he was with me, howbeit life must go on. Knowing that someone out there is reading my thoughts and probably understands my hurt will perhaps bring me the closure I so desire. |
Ever since I got Scofield, I have had fears of losing him to disease, cats, hawks, street kids…and with the growth of his flight feathers; I had one more fear to worry about. As I paced back and forth around my house and nearby bushes calling out to him in the hope of him replying, it became clear that my fears have now become real. At 6:35pm Scofield was gone! I told neighbours around that my parrot was missing and even had reward in mind for whoever found and returned him to me. Some assured me that it will surely come back home, when it finds that the food I give it is sweeter than the food in the bush (talk about superstition!). I went to bed with a consolation that most likely, I would hear him chirping and whistling in the morning. Strangely I went to bed without fear of finding him the next day. Asleep on my bed, I was bombarded with all kinds of dreams about finding Scofield. The last of those dreams was so real that I woke up happy that I have found Scofield. The feeling wore out when I became fully conscious of my environment. I quickly dressed up and went outside to listen for his morning whistles and squawks, but all I could hear was the chirping of other birds. I called and whistled but still, nothing. After almost thirty minutes, the reality clearly dawned on me that my beautiful, lively, friendly, affectionate, noisy and sometimes annoying little feathered friend was gone. The hurt and guilt I felt at that moment cannot be put in writing. If only I could hear someone say “hey! Your bird is over here” or “look your parrot is over there” but sadly no one had such news for me, at least not today. At that moment when his loss dawned on me, if I was told to climb a mountain or swim across a river to get him back, believe me I would have dared it. |
5:30pm met Scofield outside on his favorite perch, a small tree by the side of my house. He climbed to the top and was visibly excited by the evening breeze. He was both preening and making random chirps at the same time. I felt a little bit of concern about his excitement as I have known him to attempt flight when he’s very excited but I shrugged it off as I thought to myself “he can only fly a few feet at a time, after all he has only three fully grown primary flight feathers and he’ll need at least five of those to go a considerable extent”. My second reason for allowing him remain at that spot was to study his reaction as night falls, if he’ll make any attempt to fly towards the veranda, an attempt I would have considered a significant step in allowing him keep his flight feathers so long as he knew the location of his home. As a precaution, I sat at a spot in the veranda where I could easily monitor his activity in order to mitigate the risks involved. Every few minutes, I would raise up my head from reading a thread on Nairaland and holla at him just to reassure him that I was nearby, he would whistle back at me and continue his preening business. Few seconds later, I raised up my head to check on him only to see empty branches. My heart skipped a beat as I quickly stood up from where I sat to have a proper look at the tree and alas he was not there. I bolted like a crazy fellow out of the veranda to check what had happened to my ‘boy’...alas! my worst fears... |
The morning of February 22nd 2018 started like every other morning for me. I woke up, had some reflections, took Scofield for his routine outdoor visit, went inside to freshen up for the day while listening to his whistles, and crazy noises livening up the once quiet environment. One or two times I may have smiled or chuckled at the ways he tried to copy some of my phrases. After my breakfast, I went outside, picked him up and took him back to his cage, changed the water in his watering can, served one spoonful of millet into one of his feeding can and one spoonful of sorghum into the other, I gave one quick look at everything to make sure all was in place and as soon as I was ok with his welfare, I turned around and made for the exit. Just as I turned to leave, he whistled a particular tune (he made this tune whenever he wanted my attention). I liken this gesture of his to a young lad who grumbles in protest when he’s served a meal that he doesn’t like in the hope that his grumbling will make mum change the meal. There were times when I had let Scofield have his way by changing the food because of his annoying persistence, but today was definitely not one of those days. I turned around and walked briskly towards the door, but just as I was about parting the curtains, Scofield let out a long kissing sound. You see, Scofield was smart enough to remember that while I was training him to make the kissing sound on cue, I always gave him his favourite treat whenever he got it right, so he would sometimes make the sound even when I haven’t given the cue in hope of getting a treat. But this particular morning I ignored him because he needed a calcium containing diet and not just his regular favourites. |
In writing a diary, sometimes there are moments of long pauses, not because things have been uneventful or unworthy of being recorded, but perhaps the events do not strike the cords of writers fancy. I think I have had a fair share of that long pause, and now I’m back to my diary desk. |
@Hozier, this is the funniest thread of 2017. I've literally cried my eyes out. More battery to your device |
hmmm....Everyone wants to be an adviser and motivational speaker these days...smh |
This thread just brought to mind a quite perplexing story I heard about an unlawful conviction of twin sisters in oko prison, benin city. The judge sentenced the identical twins to jail because there was no substantial evidence to prove which of the two of them committed the crime. It seemed the guilty one refused to plead guilty. |
Have you tried changing your monicker ![]() |
slapandfall:It's not a question of whether he copied and pasted, but rather about his resourcefulness and dedication in exploring the internet for enlightening subjects in such a manner that is commendable. Pls be smart, afterall how many copy & paste u sef don do 4 nairaland? |
Inasmuch as Robert Mugabe lead the revolt that brought about the emancipation of their land from the whites, it still does not justify his greedy clench to power for 37 long years. In my opinion, this is just a means to garner sympathy from the populace while swaying their minds from who he truly is, A DICTATOR! |
cybriz82:abeg how do I upload videos with my itel torchlight *tongue in cheek* |
kunlesufyan:Hahaha...U and sarcasm sef. Don't worry when he needs one, you'll see this thread: "pure bred african grey parrot stud available" lmao |

lol