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ABOUT US
by J BeauSoleil
(pronounced Bo' so la)
Many have said I have the uncanny ability to communicate with
the animals....and looking back on my life & experiences I guess I'd have to agree. Although I knew I had a
great fondness, gentleness, patience and appreciation for animals that many others didn't seem to have, I really
hadn't given any thought that I might have this "special communication" with animals.....what is called
the "whisperers" among horse folk.
Each animal I've had throughout my life has exceeded ALL my expectations in intelligence and learning ability.
It's always amazed me to take an animal (any animal) that knows little or nothing and devote my time to develop
each to its fullest potential.
Cricket
In my early 20s I purchased a 7-year-old, untamed, quarterhorse
mare, about as wild as they come and appropriately named Cricket because she could jump higher than I am tall.
Within a few sessions of talking, stroking, brushing and handling, I was able to mount and ride without any resistance.
Every day throughout the cold winter months, no matter how severe the weather, one could find me out riding &
conditioning Cricket for the upcoming spring racing season at a nearby track. As race season approached, I noticed
Cricket had become somewhat sluggish but kept prodding her on. Finally the big day arrived and with me as jockey,
Cricket came in third out of a field of seven.
It didn't take long to figure out why Cricket had become sluggish. Completely "unknown to me" at the
time, she was in foal and six weeks later presented me with a gorgeous filly. I was very upset with myself to think
of all the hard, strenuous work I had put her through the previous months, not realizing she was in foal (and she
not even showing except slight filling out in flank area).
Cricket was the start of my decade long career of training horses; some for the track, some for barrel racing,
others for cutting, even one for trick riding, and each with its own special story to tell.
Whitney
Another great was Whitney, a black standard poodle I got at
4-1/2 weeks of age, started training immediately for tracking by placing my scent on small pebble and hiding it
among other "like" rocks. Without fail she would always find and return the correct pebble to me.
Although I'm not particularly fond of competition trials I did go ahead and get her CD, Therapy Dog and Canine
Good Citizen awards; but Whitney's primary function was tracking with the county search & rescue group; and
later became a member of the Firefighter's Emergency Management Disaster Dog team. Her training, like Cricket's,
was intense and sometimes extreme but she enthusiastically performed everything I asked of her.
One training program we participated in, under direction of a former-sentry dog trainer of WWII, was an obedience
training of sorts but much more extreme. All dogs were worked off-leash, together in a big gymnasium, had to do
sit/stays or down/stays while instructor shot off starting pistol; slid heavy chains on hardwood floor around each
dog; dropped metal folding chairs on floor...things that would make any faint-of-heart dogs fail. One exercise
most dogs failed was with the owners at one end of the gymnasium, dogs at the other end, while the instructor threw
bits of hotdog and cheese out onto the floor to distract dogs when called. Any dog which stopped to sniff or eat
the treats flunked the test.
Whitney was like a precision-tuned engine and passed all tests consistently without error. Not only would Whitney
work for me, she would enthusiastically work for others, and was frequently used for demonstrations by instructors
at the start of each new class.
Whitney was trained in obedience, agility, tracking and with use of German, English, hand and directional signals.
She would perform as fast I could give her the commands. When I became medically limited, Whitney then became my
assistance dog.
Delaney (photo top row, middle photo in 'The ParrotCove Gang')
Ahhh my sweetheart. Delaney is my now 15-year-old yellow naped amazon parrot. It took 6 months to finally locate
this special bird....three months LONGER than she was old at the time.
I had been training parrots, mainly imports, for about five years beforehand so knew pretty much what I was looking
for, particularly for talking ability. One of the qualities which quickly got my attention was that Delaney not
only expected attention, she demanded it. Although she wasn't nearly as pretty as the others I had looked at, she
had something special.
By the time Delaney was weaned at 16 weeks of age, she could already say simple things such as "hi, how are
you"; "what are you doing". Before six months of age she had learned several songs, numerous animal
imitations, and could say the entire Peter Piper tongue twister correctly.
I found working with other parrots that most cut off lengthy, complicated phrases at about the 7th syllable. But
Delaney always needed to be challenged so I attempted, and surprisingly succeeded, in teaching her to say the entire
"Hickory, Dickory, Dock" nursery rhyme, which contains about 30 syllables.
Information about this gifted talking parrot soon reached a local television station and they called requesting
to do a story. Before sending out the film crew, they asked if Delaney would talk in front of cameras and strangers,
since all previous parrot stories they'd attempted had failed. Not knowing for sure, but wanting the opportunity,
I quickly said yes. :D
Well, she did talk. A regular motor-mouth who delighted in looking and talking directly into the camera lens. She
went through her entire repertoire accompanied by cute antics such as turning her head completely upside down while
continuing to talk. The local story was such a hit that it was sent to the NBC network and the next day a producer
of The Tonight Show (with Johnny Carson) called wanting to book us on the show.
Meanwhile the NBC script writers went on strike so our booking was postponed each week for the next five months.
During that time Delaney was quite sick with a very resistant bacterial infection, on high doses of antibiotics,
and so once we made it on the show Delaney did not perform well. I was hesitant about taking her on the show because
of health problems but her veterinarian didn't seem to think the added stress would do any harm (since stress to
her means FUN).
Delaney has gone on to appear on other radio and television programs including Will Shriner's Prime Time Pets;
FrontRunners, The Tom Snyder Show, The Today Show, America's Funniest Video's and most recently a Saturday morning,
children's program out of Seattle Washington called "How Bout That."
Although Delaney will perform in front of live audiences, she does best on her familiar home turf even though the
area is completely transformed into a mini-studio of sorts. On the recent "How Bout That" children's
program, we went to a local grade school for part of the shoot. During the shoot one of the big light reflectors
came tumbling down on the floor, but Delaney was not the least bit distracted and performed as if nothing had happened.
Chiquita ('Hanging Out' photo on homepage)
Another one of my sweethearts, Chiquita, is a 14-year-old double yellowheaded amazon. She too is a gifted talker,
will perform in front of cameras and audiences and is completely reliable to sit on anyone's shoulder.
Chiquita was in a huge theatrical production of Treasure Island at Civic Auditorium in Portland, Oregon. The stage
was vast, with a soldout audience of 3,000 for each of 13 performances.
Chiquita was conditioned to any possible happening while onstage; had to get acquainted with strangers wearing
pirate clothing (primarily Long John); the sword fights, cannon fire, and exiting stage in complete darkness at
end of scenes. Although a double yellowhead is quite small for such a vast audience, Chiquita was the only bird
which could be totally reliable to carry out the part....and that she did.
She quickly made friends with all the cast and crew, and delighted in showing off to those in the green room when
she was suppose to be resting between performances.
You find those rare birds that love to perform and they don't know when to call it quits. Both Delaney & Chiquita
are hyped up for HOURS following performances and frequently I must shut off lights to force them to get some rest.
They are so accustomed to traveling that if they so much as see their travel crates stacked away in the closet,
they will scream to go "bye bye."
Beck
(photo on 'Amazon
Subspecies')
My original big bird, Beck, is a blue fronted amazon I've had for nearly 20 years. The poor guy was imported as
an adult in 1978, then sat for months in a much-too-small cage in a petstore where patrons tormented him. Although
he quickly learned to trust me, he was always terrified of others and would thrash around in his cage if anyone
(other than me) approached. Because of the extreme stressful conditions of living in the petshop, he constantly
paced back & forth while doing figure-8 headspins, completely oblivious to anything around him. It took several
YEARS for him to begin to relax and enjoy life.
Without knowing his age when imported in '78 (other than being mature), I would guess Beck to be around 25-years-old
now. He is an extremely tame, well adjusted, happy chappy.....as well as GORGEOUS!
Beck has never had his wings clipped, knows his designated landing spots around the house and is given nearly as
much freedom as he had during his early years in the jungle.
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Vocabularies
Birds speak in loud, strongly enunciated voices which sound very human-like, which includes:
*Hickory Dickory Dock nursery rhyme
*Jack Be Nimble nursery rhyme
*Peter Piper tongue twister
*Animal Imitations (hen, rooster, horse, duck, dog, cat, seal, donkey)
*Counts to Five (cued)
*Sing Old McDonald Had a Farm
*Sing portions of Over The Rainbow, How Much Is That Doggy, the Scale (cued)
*Calls the Kitty, meows (both reg meow and siamese-sounding meow), then asks: "where's the kitty?"
*Laughs hysterically
*Cries (several different types....one sounds unbelieveably like newborn baby crying)
*Sneezes (cued)
*Peek-A-Boo, I See You (cued)
*Hi, How Are You?
*Thank You (cued by giving a treat)
*Bye, See You Guys Later (says & sings it) (cued)
*and other things
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BREEDER OF
Yellow Napes, Double Yellowheads, Blue Fronts
Big robust, colorful breeding stock with great temperments. Handfed
babies are raised in the home adjacent to great talkers, available seasonally, sold fully weaned at 16 weeks, and
shipped at buyer's expense out of PDX (Portland International Airport, Portland, OR).
PRICES:
*Yellow Napes..................$900
*Double Yellowheads.....$800
*Blue Fronts......................$700
For availability, please Email ParrotCove@aol.com
I may hold back an occasional baby for cued speech training to later sell to Performing Parrot Troupe. Because
of time involved, one-on-one training of pre-planned vocabulary (and being shielded from all other sounds), I can
only train one at a time for a period of about 9 months, and which will be priced accordingly.
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I want to take this opportunity to thank Cricket and Gina
at Web Weaver for their excellent work in designing and constructing my website. I also
want to thank Bill (MikeyBird@aol.com) for his superb job in helping to research and proofread all materials.
Thanks Guys....I couldn't have done it without you!
Amazons
Subspecies/Avian Nutrition/Full-Spectrum
Lighting/How Eggs are Formed/
Breeding & Egg Handling/Behavior
& Speech Training/About Us/The ParrotCove Gang/Links/Web Rings
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