We went back to that same park today that I mentioned on Tuesday. The mallards ate banana chips directly out of my hand (only a couple, you anti-feeding, duck-defenders out there)! Auggie was cautiously intrigued by the ducks, but after the parrot incident at Petsmart, he is a little wary of birds.
What, I didn’t tell you about the parrot at Petsmart?
A couple of weeks ago, Auggie and I ventured to our local Petsmart to buy some Fishy-related paraphernalia. I enjoy taking Auggie to the pet store so he can check out all the wacky kinds of fish there are to choose from (although Petsmart has a pretty weak selection compared to some other fish-only establishments here locally, like the Pet Marketplace). He quickly tired of looking at the fish (none of which looked like his Fishy at all anyway), so we headed over to the bird section to check out that action. They had a big, beautiful parrot, so I started talking to it, saying, ‘Hello, birdie. Say hello, birdie. Hello.’ After a few seconds of this, the parrot suddenly said, ‘Hello!’
Auggie got the most terrified look on his face and nearly started hyperventilating with horror. I’ve never seen an expression so clearly say, ‘That was NOT supposed to happen!’ as that poor little man’s.
We quickly walked away, as the bird said ‘hello’ in three different voices in our wake. After we purchased our paraphernalia, I took him back to see the parrot again, just so he would not be scarred for life when it comes to talking birds. He did better this time, smiling at the twittering parakeets and giggling at the mice and hamsters in their little exercise wheels.
He kept his eye on that parrot, though, who, luckily, was silent.