Please detach this bird from my face.

Bandit's Bra

Bandit, my Nanday conure, is glued to me from the minute I get home from work until I put him to bed (the only time he's off my shoulder is when he is on my knee or forearm or stuffing his face from my dinner plate). So he is deeply involved with the running of my household.

A routine chore he enjoys is the Doing of the Laundry, where we travel from bedroom to bathroom to bedroom to basement making lots of noise and throwing clothes around wildly. Bandit particularly enjoys the Ceremony of the Bra Strap, where Mom (me) hooks the dirty bra closed so that the little hooks don't catch in the washing machine or dryer. Over the last few weeks this Ceremony has peeked his interest so much so that he will climb down the front of my shirt from the sacred shoulder perch to try to get his beak around whatever it is that I am doing so religiously. Yesterday he practically ripped the bra from my hand.

So, I cooked up a surprise for my buddy. After he went to bed last night, I found that bag in the basement (you know, the one with all the clothes that are too small for me to wear anymore) and pulled out an old sport bra (from back when I would move this body for fun rather then to just get somewhere) and wrapped it around the wooden clothes drying rack I keep at the foot of my bed as a bird perch.

This morning, following our usual routine, Bandit brought him upstairs with me while I got dressed for work, putting him on the rack. He took one look at that old bra, one look at me to make sure I was seriously letting him have it, and then dove for it.

He was ecstatic and played with it until I was ready to go downstairs. This is a great improvement, because otherwise he would be on my shoulder helping me apply mascara, supervising the brushing of my teeth and the application of deoderant, and then christening whatever shirt I chose to wear to work with his own brand of holy water. He even gave me a severe QUACK when I had him step up to bring him down with me.

I don't know how long it will be till the novelty wears off - but here's hoping I have a few more mornings!

Posted March 22, 1999