Back when I got Harley macaw, I was more intimidated by him. Mostly that big ass beak of his, which he is quite willing to use to get his way. Back then, he had a favorite game. “Dancing fat man” – he would charge my bare feet, smacking at them with his beak, while I danced from foot to foot staying out of his way.

Then I came to a realization. He’s mostly bluff. Sure he bites, on occasion, but its pretty rare. And he rarely does any degree of damage. Some redness, a minor bruise, etc. He’s really not capable of doing very much (especially since he isn’t allowed on my shoulder, and rarely in reach of my face). At his worst, he could break a finger.

So, I stopped the dancing. He would race at my bare feet, and grab a toe – then roll his eyes upward to make eye contact. With no response, he would proclaim OW! and wander off in a huff. Eventually he just took to ignoring my feet, for the most part. Though last summer, I was propped up on the railing of my back porch, watching the world go by. The door was open, and Harley was out (he is on the only one of my birds reasonably safe to be loose outdoors). I felt something grab my toe. While it scared me half to death (I had no idea he was around) I didn’t jump. I looked down, met the mischievous gaze, and with an annoyed harrumph, off he wandered.

I hadn’t really thought about this change until this morning. Harley was out, wandering around. I was standing in the hall trying to decide what to do first. Harley wandered down the hall, stepped on a toe as he was passing by, and went on down to see if the dogs had left any food in their dish. They had. He emptied it, and threw the food bowl down the stairs.

So, as some things change, others stay the same.