Hi all,
I thought that seeing as he's come up in other threads, I'd better introduce Benson my parrot - Benny for short.
He's not at all friendly with other people and strangers, be it human, bird or animal, freak him out for ages. If he sees a cat in the garden (or even worse a hawk in the distant sky) it can throw him into an epileptic fit, which he's been prone to for about 7 years, and if a stranger visits then he just won't shut up squawking his disaproval. But with me he's a pussycat and I can stroke him when he comes to see me in my comfy chair, have a rough and tumble, turning him on his back and pick him up any time I want. He even obeys me when I tell him to go back in his cage at bedtime (mostly).
He's 50+ years old by our best reckoning and doesn't bother saying much more than the occasional "Hello", relying instead on various different shouts and squawks to make his feelings known (especially when it's time for tea). He was a hand-me-down from my mother when she went into hospital 9 years or so ago and she had him for at least 15 years prior to that, getting him from a lady who'd had him for over 25 years. We took him home to look after him and he and I just sort of bonded. Mum didn't have the heart to separate us when she saw us together.
Anyway, I present Benny the grumpy old man (just like me according to SWMBO!) before and after having a bath.
Say hello Ben...