[Sky Captain]

Alex the African Grey, dies at 31.

[Big Mac]

What a cool bird. It's sad he died, but he definitely made his mark on the world.

[irunat2am]

Poor Parrot.

[design219]

My uncle has an African Grey. He lives far away, so I've only met her a few times, but she is VERY smart. She also has a sense of humor. If they were microwaving something, she would wait a couple minutes and then do a perfect imitation of the microwave bell and laugh when they went to it to find it still had a minute or two left.

[Sky Captain]

May Alex's spirit fly free in the skies.

[MacosNerd]

Parrot the other white meat

[design219]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

Parrot the other white meat

There is something not right about eating a smart thing. I think that's part of the reason we (most of us) don't eat cats and dogs and monkeys.

Cows are delicious.

[RAILhead]

That's sad.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by design219 

There is something not right about eating a smart thing. I think that's part of the reason we (most of us) don't eat cats and dogs and monkeys.

Cows are delicious.

Cows are smarter than you'd think. And yes, they are delicious.

[angelmb]

Poor parrot, he was for sure one of my heroes… I read about this yesterday but of course it was in the NYTimes, over here people seems not to care about such stuff… on the other hand we had plenty of news about that silly super-bomb the russians got… cause yeah, a super-bomb is gonna make the world a better place…

As she put him into his cage for the night last Thursday, she recalled, Alex looked at her and said: “You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.”

He was found dead in his cage the next morning, Dr. Pepperberg said.

Brainy Parrot Dies, Emotive to the End - New York Times

There is something not right about eating a smart thing. I think that's part of the reason we (most of us) don't eat cats and dogs and monkeys.

Cows are delicious.

As Sir Winston Churchill used to say… "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."

[Nexus5]

Loved him. A cool bird.

nexus5.

[♥]

Yes, Gracie the Grey bids her cousin adieu.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by design219 

There is something not right about eating a smart thing. I think that's part of the reason we (most of us) don't eat cats and dogs and monkeys.

Our eating habits are not guided by how "smart" the animal we are eating are - but how much our culture has anthropomorphised that animal. Cats and dogs have long been domesticated as "pets", so they have a very long history of being anthropomorphised. The anthropomorphisation (I love that word) of cows and pigs are a fairly recent invention in our culture. I am theorising that's why we are seeing an increase in vegetarianism of late. Of course, that would be pretty hard to test for causation or correlation.

Of course anthropomorphisation is only part of it. A far stronger is based on need. Europe had luxurious amount of resources, and thus could afford animals as "companions" and we also developed animal husbandry. In Asia, where resources were more scarce, a larger variety of animals were harvested for food.

[::maroma::]

I heard a story about Alex on NPR yesterday. I had never heard of him, but listening to the story and his owner talk about him, really made me sad. Definitely an amazing animal. The world is probably a little bit less bright without him here.

[design219]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

Our eating habits are not guided by how "smart" the animal we are eating are - but how much our culture has anthropomorphised that animal.

Yes, I agree. I don't want to derail the thread. Some people get really touchy about the subject.

[Eriamjh]

My bird loves chicken.

[Nodnarb]

What a coincidence, my chickens love birds.

[design219]

[Timo]

sad news, Cap'n