Talking Parrot Saves Toddler's Life

(Nov. 10) - Willie the parrot is no bird brain. He's being credited with helping save the life of a 2-year-old girl who was choking Friday at her Denver-area home while her babysitter was in the bathroom, according to CBS4Denver.com.

"While I was in the bathroom, Willie (the parrot) started screaming like I'd never heard him scream before and he started flapping his wings," said Meagan, the sitter who owns the bird. "Then he started saying 'mama baby' over and over and over again until I came out and looked at Hannah and Hannah's face was turning blue because she was choking on her pop tart."

Meagan quickly performed the Heimlich maneuver on the child, which dislodged the food.

"If (Willie) wouldn't have warned me, I probably wouldn't have come out of the bathroom in time because she was already turning blue, her lips were blue and everything," Meagan said.

http://news.aol.com/artic...ife/243378

Good bird.

I really believe animals understand more than we give them credit for, even if there is the obvious language barrier. But in this case, "mama baby" seems a pretty good thing to say.

meow85 said:

birds are very smart. my birds understand elementary english words, even though i've never tried to 'teach' them how to speak or understand.

for example, my cockatiel poppet is very independent and it bothers himm that i put him into his cage at night. he resists the process if i try to just pick him up and place him inside.

BUT, when i just look him in the eye and say "poppet, please go in the cage" he will go. not right away, but he knows what i mean and he will go in there, on his own.

XxAxX said:

My dog seems to understand a lot of what is said to him, and not just by me. A stranger could come into my place, tell my dog to find a specific toy, and he's able to find the right one even if it's in a different room.

It rains here a lot. If he wants to go outside, he knows that when I say "rain" it means there's a good reason he can't. He'll rush over to the window to look outside, like he's checking.

Pop Tarts are bad business!

meow85 said:

animals are way more intelligent than we give them credit for. it's pretty sad, imo. the way humans are searching space for other intelligent life forms. and all the while here is planet earth, teeming with intelligent life forms that we are extincting before we are able to fully appreciate them .....
[Edited 11/10/08 12:55pm]

superspaceboy said:

someone should sue

XxAxX said:

I think what we're really looking for is intelligent life whose language we can understand.

While it would be awesome to discover another inhabited planet, who's to say we could even communicate?

meow85 said:

Better than Baby Mama...then I would be worried.

meow85 said:

My son said yesterday he wished our dog could talk, and I did an impression of what I thought our dog would say if he could I had him in stitches. He was like "OK I'm glad he can't talk!"

wow

ZombieKitten said:

I think a lot of our pets are secretly making fun of us.

meow85 said:

I was sniffing his bum saying "mmmm fart" then licking his face "mmm leftovers!" our pets just love us for all the things we are embarassed about

amazing.

ZombieKitten said:

i get the impression cats could stand up on their two hind legs and run the country if they wanted but they've got us well trained to serve them so they sleep all day instead

XxAxX said:

:mumbled: I hate when she calls me poppet.

BlackAdder7 said:

ha! i am going to sign off right now and go smooch him (and the others). he's soft, and he smells good and i can rumple his feathers any which way. right up until he bites me on the nose. ta dearies!

XxAxX said:

I always said that of dolphins, well maybe not the standing up on the hind legs part. They have the life, eat, , swim, frolic etc