This bird is NOT for sale!

[JaydeParrot]

This is a story on someone saw my whilst I was walking outside and tried to buy her from me. I be quite happy to know if anyone else has experianced anything like this or have ever had out of nowhere people try to buy their pets before?

Had a bit of a werid incident yesterday when I was taking my Sennie for a walk around the local pet store (she was on her aviator harness), the only animals for sale are rabbits and rodents and they're both behind glass.

I was having a look at different items when a little boy (probably about four or five) ran over and asked if he could hold the bird, I don't like strangers or kids handling my bird so I told him she bites and it wouldn't be safe. Next thing I know his mom runs over going "STOP!", glares at him and me saying it's dangerous- she half looked like she was going to yell at me- although I knew I was fully within my right to bring the bird in and that the child had run over to me not the other way around.

Next thing I know the woman's smiling brightly and starts telling me about this huge aviary her friend's got with three Galahs and three African Greys, I just nod and smile but don't engage her in conversation, she then walks away and I can hear in the next aisle talking to someone else saying "yeah, the person over there's got a parrot, go look".

This situation was getting uncomfortably werid and I decided that I didn't want poor Cain to end up in the middle of it so I left and went to a different store across the road, as I left I looked back and could see the woman from before pointing at me from the doorway of the pet store, I carried on into the other shop, putting Cain under my jacket so I wouldn't get kicked out.

I walked around that shop for a little while until a woman walked over to me and asked if I had a parrot, I thought she might be shop assistant and asked what she was talking about, she explained she was the woman that her friend in the pet store had talked about and again asked if I had one. I said yeah, that it was under my jacket and that I would probably get kicked out if shop assistants saw the bird.

"Oh ok, shall we go outside then?" asked the woman. Perplexed, I asked her what on earth she was talking about and that I was busy (I wasn't I just didn't want to be around her any longer than necessary). Aparrently either her or her friend believed that I was going around the store by myself trying to sell Cain and she was interested in buying.

Mortified, I told her no and that I'd die before I sold her. The woman said oh, smiled and laughed nervously and then quickly walked out of the store. I made sure she didn't get to see Cain the whole time we were talking as this situation just seemed to get more and more weird, maybe it was a misunderstanding, I went back to the store later (after I was sure they'd left), brought what I'd intended and explained to the curious shop assistant what had been going on, I smiled to the shop assistant just before I left and said that if anyone ever asked 'her' (I'm a regular at the shop) this bird is NOT for sale!

[Michael]

People ask to buy my birds all the time. I just say that they are priceless and that you dont sell family.

[Pajarita]

Well, the way I see it, if you go on the street with a parrot on your shoulder, you are kind of inviting this type of people to approach you. I always remember what happened to somebody in another forum: the lady was sitting on her porch with her cockatoo on her lap, a car stopped at the curb, a young man got out and approached the lady with Oooohs and Aaaaahs about the bird (it was a beautiful Moluccan) and, as soon as he was standing in front of her, grabbed the bird and ran back to the car which immediately took of. She never saw her bird again.

[JaydeParrot]

Jeez, I didn't figure that was a normal thing for people to try and buy your parrots Micheal, certainly a good point about not selling family, I'll use that one next time if it ever happens again, hopefully it doesn't .

Pajarita, I think to say that someone with a parrot on their shoulder is inviting those kind of people to approach is a bit much.

I've got a friend who walks her pug dog daily and has had several people try to buy it from her, is she inviting it by walking her dog?

A guy lets his pet jack russel off the lead to run around a forest, it gets grabbed by a passerby who then runs away with it, by letting it off the lead was he inviting someone to steal his dog?

Me 'years' ago aged eleven walking around in broad daylight looking around the streets for my dog who's walked off, a guy runs over, grabs and tries to kidnap me, was I inviting it by arrogantly thinking that I had the right to walk around un-escorted in my own neighbourhood?

If your answer to all of those is yes then I must excuse myself from this conversation whilst I grab Cain, my neighbour's pug, step into a giant security safe, weld it shut and remain there until dooms day, living off whatever Asda can post through the letterbox, thankyou and goodnight.

The way I see it is that while some behaviours can be seen as unwise, they certainly shouldn't be seen as inviting trouble. If you left your door unlocked for a few minutes whilst you went to talk someone across the street and then came back to find that someone had briefly invaded your home and stolen something or someone precious to you, are you going to think that you invited that to happen and so you in a way deserved it? ...YOU SHOULDN'T.

You have the legal right to not be threatened, stolen from or abused in anyway, and unless you purposefully break the law or are actually in someone's face, taunting them, then I don't exactly see how you could possibly be inviting or deserving of any kind of negative repercussion for you attempting to go about your life.

My best advise I could give to someone taking their bird out is:
1. Always keep your bird on a lead and in constant sight.
2. Do not allow strangers to hold or handle your bird
3. Only ever take your bird to places which are not within walking distance of your home to help prevent people from recognising you.
4. MOST IMPORTANT: If you get bad vibes or something doesn't seem right, leave immediately!

[Wolf]

If I may join in and perhaps play a bit of the devil's advocate. I read this post this morning but had not decided what I wanted to say beyond thanking you for sharing this with us, which I still want to do. So thank you for sharing this with us.
To me this is actually a much more important post than it first appears to be on the surface. In a way ,by taking your bird out with you , you are kind of inviting others to approach you without you really knowing their intent. Most of them will hopefully just be attracted by the novelty of seeing someone walking about with a bird on their shoulder and all will be fine, even if just a little bit frustrating for your bird. But it is also a commentary on the state of our society in which you are increasingly hard pressed to safely walk about minding your own business without having to consider that some of these people are there to hassle you or steal from you or even harm you or yours. Actually it is one of the reasons that I prefer to reside in largely rural areas. But this me, me, me and scr-- you type of attitude is even becoming more of the norm way out here. It is indeed a sad state of affairs that we must first consider self defense and preservation before we can go out in public places these days, but that is what is happening. There is a massive failure in our system of doing things that is shown by the lack of respect for anyone and anything that is there.
I think that it is due to this attitude becoming so commonplace especially in our towns and cities that prompted Pajaritas response and I believe that her intent was not to insult you, but to remind you that in these troubled times that we unfortunately need to take these kind of nasty people into account when we go out. You are ultimately responsible for your own protection and in order to be successful at it you must consider it before it happens. It really is a crying shame that this has come to be a normal thing, but it has.
Again I wish to thank you for sharing this with us. I really wish that it was just an interesting story about a weird chain of events, but that is not the case in these days and times and it also serves to remind us that there are more bad people on the streets than there should be. All of this is why I had not responded sooner as I was not sure how to say all of this without being offensive. I do know that things should not be this way.

[Pajarita]

Yes, if you allow your child to walk alone on the street, you are risking somebody taking him/her.
Yes, if you walk your dog off-leash, you are risking that the dog might get stolen, hurt by another dog or run over by a car. Many years ago, when I was a child, this was not the case but it is today's reality and just not my personal opinion. You can't trust people, my dear. Even the acquaintances you think are 'safe' might turn out to be something completely different than what you thought (neighbors of murderers and child molesters always say he looked and behaved like a 'normal' guy).

As to people walking with a bird on their shoulder been the same as somebody walking a dog on a leash... well, how many people do you see walking a dog and how many do you see with a bird on their shoulder? It's all a matter of how familiar the sight is. Dogs are common and everywhere and everybody has had some kind of contact with them even if they don't own one but there are still lots of people who have never had contact with parrots because they are still uncommon, exotic and flashy, and any time you walk in public with something uncommon, exotic and flashy, people will pay undue attention and will assume that this is what you wanted to do in the first place -no matter if it was or not- and feel you would not mind 'sharing'. The law and what the privacy it entitles you to have has nothing to do with the matter.

[JaydeParrot]

:p!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! E.t.c.

[Wolf]

:p!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! E.t.c.

I agree!

[shiraartain]

I believe there is a difference in inviting others and exposing oneself to the possibility of certain situations.

That said, that's a very awkward situation to be in! My cockatiel enjoyed going for walks in his basket (he'd run inside it and keep calling for me if he found it, we ended up having to hide it in a cabinet), and we would go together to pick my sisters up from school, but never did I receive any purchase offers.

I'm assuming the woman knew about bird bites and that's why she was overreacting over her son, but I have no theories about the other one.

[Wolf]

I agree and I don't believe that JaydeParrot was inviting anyone to do anything, but she was exposing herself to the possibility. Either way this type of situation should really not be occurring, it just ain't right and people need to wake up and start changing it while they can do so. Andto do it I believe that it must start in the home and be carried on through the school years. It is not that any of us don't know right from wrong. I believe that we as a whole have lost a sense of belonging and the self respect that comes with that sense of belonging. That is what I think, although I don't know how to prove it, or verify it, I am not even sure how to react to it.