Sunnyskies Bird and Animal Sanctuary

[sweetmarie]

Sunnyskies Bird and Animal Sanctuary is now on the web, at www.sunnyskiesbirdsanctuary.com! Linda wrote a piece describing her work at Sunnyskies:

I have worked in parrot and animal rescue for 18 years. Here at Sunnyskies, we've established a parrot sanctuary--a place where unwanted parrots will come to stay for life. I do not adopt out. Many of the birds here have been with us for 10-15 years.

I will, occasionally, take a bird or birds that are bound for another home, as an assist to another parrot rescue organization, as I have a quarantine room (our large dining room). This was the case regarding Sky and Firecracker, rescued from Catskill Game Farm by Gayle and Barry Schwartz of Maspeth Bird Haven. I picked them up at CGF as I was there helping with transport, and kept them here a few days, until Barry and Gayle could come up from Queens.

Over the years, there have been several occasions when I felt birds would do better in a situation other than the flock situation here. In those few cases, I found rigorously researched homes for those parrots--and all are, to this day, happy, healthy parrots. I am in touch with the families, and will always be in touch with the families. The birds went to them free of charge, and with a large cage and toys. Hand-fed Moluccans, in particular, simply want dedicated human companionship, and so, a dedicated family is often the answer to their dreams.

Birds that will outlive me are, with the exception of 2, now living at the Oasis Sanctuary. All of the Sunnyskies birds will go to the Oasis upon our deaths, with an extremely large financial arrangement to assist with their care. However, I will probably outlive all but a few of them.

Most of the birds I now care for are smaller--finches, budgies, tiels, conures. I do have an umbrella and a Goffin (from CGF, rescued by Randi Hoffmann), and 2 yellow collar macaws (a small breed of macaw). I keep birds in cages for their own safety, but they are let out to play and fly during the day. I interact with the birds for approximately 6 hours of the day. I have one paid employee to help with caring for the birds. Our birds are kept in a 700 sq foot addition built onto our farmhouse. It has 16 foot ceilings, skylights, many windows, and a special area for food preparation and cleaning of bowls and cages.

We now rarely take in new birds, but will take in desperate cases. Although we've turned hundreds away, we always do our best to find a place for them, and network on their behalf.

That’s Sunnyskies story. The heartbreak I've witnessed over 18 plus years of animal rescue--well, it's another story entirely. Everything I know of parrots, I've learned from parrots; the medical stuff, I've learned from avian vets and research. I also have a few rescue horses, dogs, cats, mice, and chickens. All receive terrific care. All were unwanted.

In a nutshell, the parrot problem is this:

1) Breeders breed birds.

2) People buy the babies.

3) People don't want the birds, once they mature into intelligent, emotional, complex creatures with wild instincts, and a beak.

4) There are not enough sanctuaries to give unwanted parrots a final, quality place to live.

5) People wanting to help, who are enthralled with the beauty, and often the talking ability, of an adult parrot adopt or buy the bird, but find they cannot make it happy, or it cannot make them happy.

6) This group, a different one from the baby buyers, the breeders, and the sanctuaries, is made up of people who are constantly taking in, and then, giving up, unwanted birds.

7) People who take birds/animals in, but do not or cannot properly care for them and give them a quality life, are called collectors. Often, these people keep animals/birds so that they have something in their empty lives to love. It doesn't matter, to these people, whether the bird/animals loves them back, or not.

These are the problems. There are no easy answers.

Anyone who wants to come visit Sunnyskies is welcome. We are proud of our beautiful and clean sanctuary.
To all who are truly involved with bird and animal rescue, who know the heartbreak, who spend the time, the money, who give up their lives, in fact, to this cause of helping--thank you. You know who you are, and you know, it's been worth it.

[Beatriz Cazeneuve]

I've been to Linda's home and sanctuary a couple of times and it looks just like the pictures: a perfect post card place. She keeps the bird rooms immaculate (to my great envy!) and her birds are all not only excellently cared for but also deeply loved. I remember the first time we went, the birds were out of their cages and one of them, a jardine, if I remember correctly, flew to her shoulder and starting nuzzling against her cheeck and her comment was: 'Oh, so and so (I forget the name), watch him, he is getting ready to bite me' She just stood there, with the bird in her shoulder, KNOWING this bird was going to bite her. And did nothing about it.
Need I say more?

[Sunnyskies]

That was Peter Pan, the sun conure. But his bites are Love Bites--just little warnings that I better not give too much of my attention to these guests--the quiet guy who looks like he's seen enough of birds to last him a lifetime, and the other one--the one who never stops moving, the one with so much energy, the one that's making me tired just looking at her!

[Beatriz Cazeneuve]

Well, if Peter Pan's love bites are anything like my Elvira's, they draw blood and hurt like the dickens so it still requires a lot of courage, love and fortitude of heart not to shoosh him off your shoulder.

And yes, Robert has had enough of birds. And dogs. And cats. And, most especially, spiders, which he hates and fears and is forbidden to harm in any way so we have a goodly number of them in the house and one huge one ended up in his bed last night so I had to rescue both of them from each other .

[Sunnyskies]

Oh man--spiders!

Right now, there's a wolf spider that lives in the chicken coop--I can't believe he's survived this long. Every once in a while I see him on the wall--he's almost as big as my hand! He's so big, I'm afraid to trap him, in case, somehow, he ends up on my person!

Poor Robert. These old houses are like a magnet for spiders. But, we don't harm them either.

Actually, I remember: it was Chico, the gold capped conure, that was on my shoulder that day. Yes, his bites will draw blood. He always aims for that little dent between my neck and my shoulder, and it doesn't take much to set him off. I have to hold the tv remote under a little towel and fumble with the buttons, or I get a bite. Such a good little man--he protects me so well!

[sweetmarie]

Linda, sorry, what does the tv remote have to do with him biting you or not?

We also do not kill spiders in this house, but I'm always the one suffering with spider bites. They seem to get me when I'm sleeping. Talk about gratitude!

[30 Seconds to Bob]

Our garage occasionally becomes infested with black and brown widow spiders. All it takes is one egg sac to go un-noticed and before you know it, there's about a hunderd all around. They sometimes find their way into the house. I wonder how many would take the non-chalant, no kill attitude toward these spiders with children and pets in the house? Sorry, but I have to get out the Raid! P.S. nice place you have there Randi, keep up the good work! Bob

[Beatriz Cazeneuve]

If there were pets?? do you have any idea the number of animals that I have in my house? And we've never been bitten, not once. Neither humans nor any of my animals. And we have lots and lots and lots of spiders over here. All different kinds, little and big, the ones with short squaty legs and the ones with loooong skinny ones; ones that have a perfectly round bright red abdomen and the longest legs ever with two of them even longer than the rest and ones that are black, huge, fuzzy and mean looking that live in the grass and can run real fast and even jump! I even bring the ones that I find in 'inhospitable habitats' (like the bathroom -no insects in there for them to eat) into the birdroom so they can eat the pantry moths and the fruit flies that I always get at the end of the summer. And we all live in harmony. We don't bother them and they don't bother us.

I like spiders. I always have. I find them beautiful and clean and very beneficial to humans.

[30 Seconds to Bob]

Any kind except for the widow spiders can live in my house. They and the brown recluse (not native to Fl) are the only two North American spiders capable of killing a human or at least making them deathly ill. They also like to hide in shoes and my daughter alone has 20 pairs. I personally know two co-workers who have been bitten by widow spiders while putting mail in rural type, curbside mailboxes. For some reason, they say the antivenom can only be administered one time. Get bit twice and you're out of luck. One missed a month of work. The other is still affected from time to time some two years later both neurologically and topically. The little spiders that live in the windowsill corners (like the one in my shower) keep the fire ants out as well as the tiny flies that come out of the sink overflow drain. No problem with any of those. I even catch and release little scorpions that find their way in once in a great while. Bob

[Beatriz Cazeneuve]

Well then, there you have it, you also share your house with them. We are lucky here in PA because it's too cold for brown recluses and although the black widows are native, they are so distinct that it's easy to recognize and stay away from them. The rest of the species present no problem to humans, they rarely bite them and even when they do, unless you are allergic to it or have a very compromised immune system, there is little or no reaction.

[Sunnyskies]

Oh man, you guys are creeping me out! Sometimes, I look at spiders I've caught, through the glass, and marvel at how hideous they are: those bulbous bodies, those hairy legs, those little beady eyes--the pinchers! Boo, ick, uggo!

Chico perceives the remote control as something threatening at the end of my hand. Always on the alert, he suspects it just might, at any time, creep up to shoulder level, where he perches, protecting me and destroying my t-shirt. If I cover the remote with a small towel, it becomes acceptable, so I've learned to manipulate the buttons by touch. If the towel slips off, however--whack! Instantly.

No, you can't fool little Chico! Always watching, always on the alert. Such a responsible little man. He will stand his ground against anything but tiny Twinkie--a green cheek conure. I can't have Twinkie out at the same time, as he, too, sees his place as on my shoulder, keeping me safe. He'll attack Chico like a little Tasmanian devil, and bite his feet to force him away.

I'm so well protected!

Chico came to us after a call from a very caring woman who works for Meals on Wheels. One of her people had a stroke and was having to move away. She had two birds and one cat. The family was going to have them all euthanized.

Twinkie, and his companion, Pipsqueak, were brought to a bird store (Bird Haven in Danbury, CT) for re-homing. Because of their aggressive nature, no one wanted them. The owner, Judy Woods, a good friend of many years, called to ask if Sunnyskies could take them. Unhandled, they were becoming worse.

Twinkie was immediately loving. Pipsqueak, very protective of his friend, took some work (I initially called him Stinky). But now, both ride proudly in the catbird seat--my shoulder.

All are wonderful companions; intelligent, beautiful, complex little birds.

[kjhna]

Okay, gotta jump in here!

Linda, first of all...LOVE the website! I have been meaning to ask you if you had one, and also ask you about your birds. Now I know!! Thank you!

Secondly, if is so funny that you guys are speaking of spiders. I do not kill them either, or bugs or ants etc. I usually "capture" with a plastic cup and paper plate on top and release them outside I if find them in the house. I thought folks would think I was crazy if I admitted that!

I have a story about an Orb Weaver Spider that lived in the rear-view mirror of my car this summer. I keep meaning to write about our adventures, but just have not found the time. Her name was Willamina.....

I also had a house spider that lived on my front porch all summer. I watched her hatch three eggs. Every time the eggs hatched, all the hundreds of little babies would hang out for a few hours...I would walk out on the porch and look at them and say "Salutations, little ones!" ( Get it?? from Charlotte's Web??)

Here is a picture.... http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2761615330072026344ISbLmz

Okay now that you know I am completely crazy, I'll go for now...



Kim

[Beatriz Cazeneuve]

Oh, no, not us! If we thought you were crazy then we would have to admit to being crazy ourselves

[Sunnyskies]

Hey, this world needs more crazy people, if crazy is defined as respecting life--any life. Every life on this planet is here, and lived, for a reason. How arrogant of humans to think they're really just around for our convenience--or inconvenience.

Even I like little spiders. We had a beautiful mosaic grow in the space between our kitchen window, and the storm window. First, I saw a spider web. Two days later, a little leaf was trapped in the web--I don't even know how it got there. It looked pretty, like a leaf in the mist of the web. Then, the spider laid an egg, and I was privileged to watch those adorable dots--the teenie babies--emerge. About a week after that, a feather got caught (I discovered there's a gap at the top of the double hung storm window, which is letting stuff get in). Now, more spiders are there, with babies! In every sense of the word, the window has become a nature movie--with generations coming and going.

I love life. I watch the creatures around me, the wild ones, and I think: they love life too. They would never think of harming me. They might take a nip, if they're hungry, or afraid, but they would never attempt to take my life. We've so much to learn from this world, and we're so running out of excuses for being such terrible students, for so long. Such selfish, cruel, arrogant, egocentric students--one could say we deserve to fail the grade.

But how much better to stop fighting everything and just learn. Learn to love the Earth; learn to respect it, and to respect the gift of life. Learn empathy as well as sympathy. Learn to not just see the connections between us all, but to feel them.

Oh well--spiders. Yes, amazing creatures. But still, just horrific to look at!

[30 Seconds to Bob]

Correction: I meant to say nice place Linda, keep up the good work! It was your place this post was originally about. (with the pictures, right?) Randi was the one who wrote the article. I'm sure Randi has a nice place as well with all the rescue work she does. Bob