From the dept. of "Oh, Great...", my interviewer said that she had a budgie when she was little, and her mother trained it to fly out the window MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> On a positive note: We can remind folks that there have been numerous children/people who's lives have been influenced/changed by having budgies during childhood (many of ourselves included). Where might the world of avian cognition be without Dr. Irene Pepperberg if her childhood (and young adulthood) hadn't been spent with budgies? Would we have had the same of storyteller in Stephen Spielberg (or ET) if he didn't grow up with budgies? --- On Mon, 5/23/11, Jonathan Harris wrote: From: Jonathan Harris Subject: Re: [Media-advisors] Your thoughts? To: pblau@sonic.net, "Mickaboo media advisor team" , "Mickaboo media advisor team" Date: Monday, May 23, 2011, 8:50 PM This might be a good context in which to deconstruct the "parakeet as starter pet" illusion. Q: "Many parents have to respond at some point to their children's pleas to have a pet. They may feel that a dog or even a cat is too demanding, too much work, or too big for their home. And they may say to themselves, What about a bird? A parakeet is small, and inexpensive to buy and care for. It can stay happily in its cage and not make a mess all over the house, while the child learns responsibility and about the animal. Wouldn't something like a parakeet make an ideal starter pet?" -----Original Message----- From: pblau@sonic.net Sent: May 23, 2011 7:33 PM To: Mickaboo media advisor team Subject: Re: [Media-advisors] Your thoughts? Good ideas, I'm going to go with this. p On Mon 05/23/11 4:12 PM , Michelle Yesney wrote: And it's a chance to emphasize the positive aspects of the differences. Many people like the idea of a long-lived pet, for example. I had a talk with a woman recently whose husband said no more pets because she was so traumatized when they died. Ironically, he was the next to die and she is thinking about getting a bird. On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 4:07 PM, Vincent J. Hrovat wrote: Thanks for doing this. Since they have never discussed birds before, the differences between dogs/cats and birds as pets seems like a good place to start. You might also mention the similarities, specifically the breeding mills and overpopulation crisis. People have heard about these over and over again for dogs and cats but might not be aware that the problems exist for birds too. --VH From: media-advisors-bounces@mickaboo.org [mailto:media-advisors-bounces@mickaboo.org] On Behalf Of pblau@sonic.net Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 2:59 PM To: Media Advisors - Mickaboo Subject: [Media-advisors] Your thoughts? Hi folks, There's a 5-minute radio (internet) interview that I'll be doing this Wednesday. I thought I'd ask this group what they think the best (short) topic might be. The couple that runs this "Pet Patrol" show in the Half Moon Bay region has mostly done things on dogs & cats, no birds yet. So it's really an intro, more than anything else, and perhaps we'll get called back. I'm able to submit the question(s) to her for our response. Some ideas could be: - the difference between a dog and/or cat as a pet v. a bird - why get your bird from a bird rescue-- aren't they damaged? - what's the best thing about bird ownership? or things along that line. I don't want to be a 5-minute negative Nellie (don't do this! watch out for that!)-- I'm thinking upbeat, to be positive, etc. Let me know if you have any ideas. p -----Inline Attachment Follows-----