Tornado Drill

[Saber]

Not sure if this is the right section, my apologies if not.

I live in tornado alley (in Kansas). That being said, I have severe weather kits, first aid kits, additional food and water, and other various things stored in my basement (which acts as the tornado shelter) for all my pets, including Scooty, my CAG. Most of the time there is adequate warning/tornado watches so I can get all the animals in thier carriers and in the basement with plenty of time. My basement is furnished so its not uncomfortable, we just hang out there watching a movie on the iPad or something until it passes. However there are times where it pops out of no where. There was one time in particular last year that we had no warning. Parrots in general are very perceptive as you know and Scooty knew something was wrong. He was so freaked out that he wouldn't come out of his cage for me for anything. There was no time so I just said hell with it and threw a towel in there and wrapped him up like a football, took the biting, and ran my butt downstairs. I figured that would be better then if a tornado hit and we all died, as I was not going to leave him. He seemed fine after we were down stairs and he was in his severe weather crate (its more reinforced then his normal travel one). He even started talking an whistling which he won't do if he's nervous about something.

Is there something I could do beside maybe doing tornado drills? Does anyone else worry about this or am I just nutty? If I have adequate warning its no prob, he steps up and comes with me but if he senses even a little anxiety from me or anyone else then its a no go. And its extreamly hard not to be anxious if tornado sirens are blairing in your ear and through the house. My heart sank the first time I had to do that as I figured I had damaged our trust and bond by basically tearing him from his cage. I don't think it did or at least he seemed to act normally the next day but its hard to say whats going on in that brain of his. Granted this situation doesn't happen often but it will be coming up on severe weather season around here and i want to be prepared. Maybe someone here has a suggestion for those times where you have just a minute or two to take shelter. I feel like I have all the supplies I would need if our house were destroyed or we were trapped in the basement but its his mental state that I'm concerned about.

[Wolf]

Read this and practice it with your Grey
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12970
When faced with an emergency situation you don't have time to play games or to always be nice about everything, sometimes you just have to grab and run. This should help to keep the birds stress levels low in these circumstances. The only other thing that I can think of is to keep a transport cage close to his regular cage to put him in right away.