Jungle Love

Pat here:

Devilish Montague will be out in little over a month, and I’m waiting in some trepidation of the advance reviews. PW has already produced the usual “Intriguing protagonists, quirky secondary characters, and a surprising plot make for an endearing sequel to Rice's 2010 Regency The Wicked Wyckerly”  and they generously added a line about the “clever, foul-mouthed parrots.” I’m waiting for the first reviewer to recognize that one of those quirky secondary characters has Asperger’s—not a problem that I could actually name in an historical!

But back to the parrots—the entire reason for this novel. My heroine is called the Byrd Lady, not just because her name is Byrd-Carrington, but because as a child, she collected birds and still knows more about them than anyone in the ton. But no one seems to understand that she does this for her odd younger brother, who is obsessed with birds, and at best, can be called socially inept . Recovering the African grey parrots Jocelyn’s older step-brother sold begins the antics that bring my hero and heroine together.

After researching parrots I chose African greys because they were utterly perfect for my plot—they mimic sounds so well that it’s sometimes difficult to tell them from the humans they imitate. Or the teapot whistles. Highly intelligent birds, they can be taught to identify colors and actions. I worried a bit about introducing them to the Regency era until I learned they were so admired that they can even be traced back to Henry VIII’s and Marie Antoinette’s courts. And if Andrew Jackson could have a parrot that cursed at his funeral, and Queen Victoria could own a grey that sang “God Save the Queen,” I saw no reason my creatures couldn’t run the plot—outside the romance, of course.

Birds have apparently been kept as pets for as far back in time as we can trace. They can be found in Egyptian hieroglypics, as pets for aristocrats in ancient Greece, and mynahs have been sacred in India for two thousand years. Alexander the Great had parrots with him in 327 BC. And of course, birds have been an export from Africa and the Caribbean for as long as there were traders. The characters in Treasure Island might have started the cliché of a parrot-carrying pirate, but pirates actually did trade in parrots, just as they traded in rum and sugar and anything else they could steal, salvage, or barter. So if pirates had pets, parrots would be an excellent choice, as well as an early-warning system in case of invasion!

I would love to own a parrot, but like dogs, they need their companions with them, and I travel too frequently to keep one happy. Parrots can live fifty years or longer, so they really need to have guardians appointed to care for them in the event of their caretaker’s incapacity, just like children. I daresay my daughter would shoot me if I left her a parrot! So I have birdfeeders all around the house and watch the finches and woodpeckers and cardinals and talk to myself rather than a pet. Besides, the finches don’t talk back.

In the interest of bird antics, Jo Beverley will give away a copy of her FORBIDDEN MAGIC with her pet parrot for a random reader to enjoy! Does anyone out there have bird pets?

Comments

[Robyn Fleming]

Fascinating! I had no idea that keeping parrots as pets went back so far.

Myself, I have a parakeet that my husband trained to say, "What the deuce?!" which always cracks me up.

[donna ann]

I vaguely recall my sister having a parakeet when I was young. It was a pretty blue and would get out of the cage & not want to get back in & didn't do any mimicking. That's about all I recall about it, no idea what happened to it. The limited experience was enough for me to realize that while pretty, birds were more work & care than initially expected.

Looking forward to Devilish Montague since I finished The Wicked Wickerly last year and "met" the hero in that book.

[Helen]

The book sounds great. I had a Galah when I was a child it had been with my Mum for years they are pink and grey and make lots of noise out in the bush here in Australia but if you have one from a very young age you can train them to talk and mimick and they can live till they are 100. His name was Cocky and he could mimick my grandfathers cough so well and he would call my mother all the time and everytime a female walked into the back yard he would wolf whistle I will never forget him

Have Fun
Helen

[Bibliophile]

I have two cockatiels (actually I have one and another one who I am permanently looking after). They are very different personalities but complement each others nicely. Neither talks but they whistle and have unfortunately learned to mimic the sirens of the fire trucks, police cars and ambulances that frequently pass by my house.

If I was 20 years younger I would get an African grey, but but at my age it is highly likely that such a long-lived species would outlive me and it would be a crime to do that to a bird who bonds as strongly with its owner as African greys do.

[Jane O]

Birds. Hmm.

These days the birds outside my window get going at about 4 am. They are loud. Really loud. That's how I know they get started at 4 am.

I am not particularly fond of birds today.

[Anne]

A bird that says, "What the deuce?!" That's hilarious!

Well, I have a bunch of chickens and a rooster that crows continuously in my neighbor's backyard (I live in the city!) so does that count? *g*

I'm not much of a bird person but I love Jo's Forbidden Magic, so I wanted to throw my comment in here! :)

I'm also looking forward to Pat's new book. I hope you get all the lovely reviews you hope for (and deserve!)! :)

[Linda Banche]

I love birds, especially ducks, but I don't have any bird pets. I have two bird feeders, which host the usual backyard birds. The wild turkeys also come to my house, but can't eat from my feeders because I raised them high to keep the squirrels out. Doesn't help, though. The squirrels and the raccoons get on my feeder. So, I have a feeder which drops a door over the seed when a large-enough weight (squirrel) sits on the feeding ledge. Trouble is, this doesn't stop the raccoons. The raccoon will sit on the back of the feeder, on the other side of the hinge that closes the door. His weight lifts the door and he reaches around front to swipe out the seeds. I have to lock the feeder every night with a big clamp.

Right now, at my local river I have a pair of Canada geese who LOVE my bread. The see me and they variously swim, fly or run over, depending on which medium they occupy and where I am.

As for my ducks, I go to the ponds to see them. They're big enough to see easily and they're pretty. And they can splat in the water instead of in my yard.

Not too many ducks now. The hers are on the nests and when I do see ducks, I see groups of hims. Two months ago, the males were fighting. Now, with the females nesting, they're best buds. I guess males are all the same. *g*

[Mary Jo Putney]

We had a blue parakeet when I was a kid.

I -do- remember what happened to it.

It is -not- a happy memory!

[wendy p]

I always wanted a parrot, but by the time I got old enough to actually purchase one, I realized that the bird would most likely outlive me... and I have cats... many many cats... so we have 'pet' birds in our birdhouses and feeders outside.

[Isobel Carr]

Sold! I’m now dying to read this (not that I wasn’t before *grin*).

I had a wonderful Meyers parrot when I was younger (Zabi). Her original owner had died, and she was “on consignment” in a shop in Berkeley. She hated everyone. I’d come in several times trying to chose a bird and one day she was out on the jungle gym. She came right to me, and was lying on her back in my hand getting her belly scratched when the owner said, “You want a cheap bird?” She was devilish creature who never really liked anyone but me, my best friend, and my mom. She did a perfect imitation of my best friend’s laugh, learned to call the dog (who she would then bite and laugh), and would strut all over the house just like the parrot in the old Popeye cartoons. She also loved going to the bar across the street (where I did a lot of studying and drank a lot of Guinness). She was the queen of the bar and would wander around demanding peanuts from the regulars.

[Isobel Carr]

And my great grandmother had a VERY foul-mouthed mynah bird when I was small. The kids all thought it was hilarious that he’d been taught to say “Stuff your cracker up your #ss!” when you offered him anything to eat and “Sh*t or get off the pot!” whenever a door closed. He was gift from one of her beaux and though she always put on a great show of being mortified by the bird’s chatter, she never got rid of it . . .

[Patricia Rice]

LOL, looks like I'm not the only with a passion for birds! Linda, we had to hang our feeders on long, long wires from high tree branches to keep out the critters. The open one has to be lowered to fill it, but it keeps the deer out. The closed one that you're describing is hanging far enough out that the raccoons can't reach it.

And strangely enough, we had a blue parakeet when we were little, too. Must have been the rage back then. I suspect ours flew away.

[Louis]

Interesting post.

We don't have bird pets.

We do have "resident road runners".

And humming birds that zoom around when sitting on the deck.

Plus crows by the dozen. I've counted up into the 50s recently.

[Patricia Rice]

You're in CA, aren't you, Louis? Crows really occupy that state. Not sure why.

[Louis]

Yep, Ms Patricia, I'm in Southern California in the back country.

[Isobel Carr]

We do have lots of crows, but I have more ravens in my part of the state. Absolutely love them.

[Susan King]

Great post! And I can assure everyone that Pat's "endearing sequel" also contains some very endearing parrots!

We've had a few parakeets as pets over the years. Two of them came as a pair to us from a friend who was a breeder. Beautiful little birds, one almost completely white, the other a lutino, a sort of albino parakeet, yellow with maroon eyes. Very sweet little birdies. They lived about 15 years each and died within a few months of each other, ancient in birdie years. The one seemed very lonely without the other.

I sometimes miss the lovely chatter 'n chirp sounds. But I don't miss the bird seed that seemed to scatter everywhere!

Our Westie was trained from the first to never go after the wee birds in the cage, and one day, one got loose and flew around the house ...we found the Westie sitting with the bird in her mouth - wide open jaw, very gentle, waiting for us to come take the bird from her. Whew!

But when we were out, she would occasionally relieve herself in front of the cage just so they'd know who was really boss. *g*

Susan

[Barbara Elness]

No, I've never had a bird for a pet. My mother used to keep canaries and had several parakeets as well. They seemed messy, but nice.

[Janice]

Back in the day someone I knew at work would parrot-sit for a friend of his from time to time. The parrot, Baxter, an African Grey, would stay with him. He was pretty to look at but hated men, though he was said to like girls, and he really hated dogs. I was told to stay away from him because he bit, and his sitter would often come to work with holes in his hands from Baxter's attentions. And that's all I know about parrots.

[Jami S]

Its funny I am reading this because just today we took in two mini parrots well they called them contures but they look like mini parrots to me!!!!!!!! I use to have a parakeet a few years back but he passed. These two birds can say somethings i am pretty excited about them.

[peg s.]

I have chickens, and have hatched several flocks of ducks--white and Mallard for our pond. They come for feed, but their names aren't really printable.

[Quilt Lady]

I have had birds in the past but not right at this time, they are amazing pets. I have had a few cockatiels and I also had a Spectical Amazon one time that would wave by,by and said a few frazes like Chico pretty bird and he would say by, by as he was waving his foot. He also wanted a dinner plate when you were eating. He liked people food.

[Minna]

No birds here. Our cats would have eaten them anyway.

[Patricia Rice]

LOL, understand about the unprintable duck names. We live in an area with lots of ponds and often have ducks and geese checking out our yard and parading down the street. I can understand why people might want to make meals of birds. "G"

And yes, I raised a baby sparrow when I was a kid. Our pet cat ate him. I've been kind of down on cats ever since. Traumatized in childhood!

[Jo Beverley]

Thanks for blogging about parrots, Pat. I can't promise that Knox the misogynistic parrot will appreciate it, "Women! Women! Road to hell!" :)

We had a couple of budgies. Are they the same as parakeets? One blue and one snow white.

Jo

[Andrea Penrose]

Wonderful post, Pat. I confess, I've never been as fascinated by birds as other people, though I do enjoy watching the crows around mt y house, who can be quite funny interacting with each other as they hop around in the yards. (And I actually like their raucous cries and cackles.)

I hadn't known about African grays, but they sound intriguing—as does your book! Can't wait to read it!

[Patricia Rice]

Yup, Jo, Budgerigars, budgies, parakeets, all the same. We should introduce Knox and Percy, see what they make of each other. "G"

Thanks, Andrea. Joan at RT gave Montague 4 1/2 stars but she's biased. "G"

[Jeanne Miro]

A parrot sounds a lot more interesting than the parakeets we had when I was growing up! My father and oldest sister both had all sorts of animal alergies (or at least that was my Mom's excuse) so we were limited to small birds! The only interesting thing that ever. happened is my oldest sister's bird "escaped" (truth - my next oldest sister opened the window and let it out) and my oldest sister was so upset my father actually placed an ad in the local paper. Two weeks later we got a call that someone had found the bird on their window sill of their apartment. We got the darn bird back! All it could ever say was "Mickey Finn".

For revenge as soon as I got my own apartment the first thing I "splurged" on was getting a cat and I've owned both cats and dogs since. Not liking "normal" animals they have all had their own special quirks. Our current cat Charlie (aka Atila) can open a large sliding glass door that goes from the kitchen to back yard all by himself. The darn door is so heavy that I have trouble opening it. His favorite kind of play is to catch birds, mice, squirels, and chipmunks in the woods around our house and bring them home to me. He doesn't kill them, he's too proud for that, he just wants to show me how much he loves birds and critters. Let me tell you it's a tough job returning all those animals into the wild.

Maybe I'll decide to love birds instead of cats. They'd be a lot less work!

PS - Pat I love your books and have read The Wicked Wyckerly more than once. One of my friends "borrowed" it and now won't give it back so I'm glad that Devilish Montague is being released soon. I need my "Patricia Rice" fix!