Survey
Results
Summary from The African ARK Vol. 9 # 1
Complete Survey Results may be found in the African ARK Vol. 9 # 2
Survey
Results: Do Bird Owners Travel?
Charlene
Beane
Do bird owners travel? The answer is a resounding YES! Only six percent of our respondents said they do not take vacations because of their birds.
Family and friends are the overwhelming choice (68 percent) to take care of birds while owners travel. Other options are in-home bird sitter (12 percent), pet store (10 percent) and veterinarian (4 percent).
The pet sitter is chosen, 58 percent of the time, based on experience--sometimes experience with this particular bird or birds, and sometimes with birds in general. After that, availability accounted for 12 percent of the choice. If you are getting suspicious because these numbers don't add up to 100 percent, read on: Lots of people take their birds with them. Jim and Renee Updyke, Michigan, put it simply: "She is one of the kids. She would miss us just like our other children."
The questions about leaving instructions and lists of phone numbers, and shopping for food and toys were just a stupid waste of space. Everybody said yes. Of course, anyone who cares enough to visit our website and fill out a survey is going to do all the right things before they leave their birds.
Sixty-four percent of our respondents have traveled with their birds. Isn't that amazing? Of those, 60 percent have traveled by car, 14 percent on an airplane, six percent in a motor home and two percent on a train. Of these travellers, only 28 percent have stayed with their birds in a hotel or motel. As Gloria Chow, British Columbia, says, "It's very difficult to find lodging which allows pets. We mostly just sneak my bird in."
"We love to travel with our red-bellied Poicephalus!,"
wrote Felicia Dale and William Pint of Washington.
"Ranzo has done well over 15,000 miles with us in the US, and seems
to actively enjoy not only being with us, but seeing new people and new
places."
Some bird owners feel bad about being gone for a day; others are comfortable traveling for as long as five weeks. The majority can handle being away from their birds for a week or two.
If you are planning to travel, Carol Lee Hong, Hawaii, offers some good advice. To condition Oscar, their Meyer's, to his new birdsitter, "...we broke him in by leaving him for two or three days on several occasions before we left on our first 10-day trip, and there was no perceptible change in his behavior, except for the better: He readily steps up on our birdsitter's hand while ignoring my step-up command at least half of the time. We have had Oscar for two and one-half years, and have left him with his sitter for as long as five weeks with no adverse reaction from the bird. Although we had not taken a trip for the past year, we still took Oscar [to the sitter] for two or three day stays so he remained accustomed to his sitter even though we had no immediate travel plans. We are thankful we did this now that we are planning a three-week trip to the Orient.
"We take Oscar between our homes on two islands--Oahu and Maui--generally once a month, and he is required to travel in a pet kennel as baggage (due to the carrier's constraints). Oscar seems to enjoy traveling because when we put out his kennel in the morning of our inter-island trip, he hovers around the kennel, and once inside, vocalizes a lot (which he tends to do only when comfortable). I think Oscar enjoys the change of scene."
Some birds have better vacations than most people!© 2002 African Parrot Society
Last updated: May 29, 2002