I used to live near Pomona, and it was my neighborhood where the parrots first chose to live. I remember when and I remember why.
In the late 1950s, there was a huge "parrot ranch" about 10 miles from my house, a series of large, barnlike structures where parrots of all varieties were bred and raised for sale. One night, the place caught fire. It was a big fire, too; we could see the glow from the flames in the sky.
The first firemen to arrive, realizing the buildings would be almost impossible to save, broke in and released as many of the parrots as they could. I seem to remember that several hundred survived.
Said parrots stuck together, adapted nicely to their new environment, and (of course) started laying eggs. For years, we saw flocks of them everywhere. The Pomona Parrots are their descendants. I'm happy to know they're still doing well.
No doubt there will be attempts made to get rid of them. It hasn't worked before, and I see no chance of it working now. They are wily critters, fast and good at camouflaging themselves.
We have parrots here Where The Ghetto Meets The Sea as well. I like 'em.
PARENTHETICAL POST-SCRIPT-Y ABSOLUTELY-NO-PRIZE-FOR-GUESSING TYPE QUESTION: How many parrots do you see in this photo?
12 comments:
Birds gotta live, too. :)
I'll bite. I only see two parrots.
So, am I retarded or blind or super fantabulous?
How many are there?
SWG
You'll bite, SWG? Bite what...a parrot?
I'll give the answer after a few more guesses....
I see two quite distinctly, but I have a suspicion there could be four. Do I get a prize?
JJ
2?
-Lauren
Thanks, MrScribbler! I love parrots and that was a very interesting story you wrote.
I even have the movie, "Paulie" about the parrot who learns to fly over the Rockies.
SWG and Lauren are, of course, absolutely right. I wasn't trying to play hide-the-parrot; in fact, when I first looked at the full-sized picture, I didn't see any. What you see is less than one-fourth of the original.
JJ -- since you fudged and hedged (just like any senile old word-crusher), you only get the runner-up prize. Which is the same thing as what the winners get, which is nothing. You just get less nothing!
Love the story and the picture. Parrots are very beautiful. I had to struggle to see 2!
That is a cute little parrot. I think we have some around here somewhere, not sure why, but DH knows the story. He knows ALL the stories about our little town, lol! (((hugs)))
The parrots seem pretty cool to me!
Gill
my parents have those birds down in El Cajon... boy, do they make a racket! It's nice to find out the story behind them.....
I think I saw a documentary about these parrots - neat story!
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