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Old 04-11-2012, 08:39   #31
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Re: Taming Seabirds

Seen it & smelled it...and a whole lot of other things as well. Don't worry, have no intentions of becoming a guano farmer. Some work cleaning up after the pet is a given...
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Old 04-11-2012, 10:21   #32
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Re: Taming Seabirds

To tame is to enslave!

Freedom to ALL creatures!

Go small, get nowhere! ;-)

;-)
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Old 04-11-2012, 12:28   #33
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Re: Taming Seabirds

I tamed a booby to some extent once. After hanging out on our solar panels for two days I had to do something. So I used a length of PVC pipe (the outboard tiller extension) to whack him when he landed on the panels and to shoo him forward when he landed on the cabin top. I wanted him to hang out at the bow where I could use the salt water wash-down every morning without raining crap into our living area. It took a couple of days and he could never land directly on the bow because he was afraid of the jib sheet but for the rest of the time he spent with us (11 days) he landed on the cabin top and then slid down the sloped windows, then walked forward to the exact same spot on the windward bow. He would take off twice a day and pick off the flying fish midair that we scared up with our movement through the water.
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Old 04-11-2012, 12:56   #34
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Re: Taming Seabirds

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Originally Posted by Dave852 View Post
I tamed a booby to some extent once.
Booby birds are incredibly tolerant of humans. I was once anchored on the Great Barrier Reef and a booby bird decided our pulpit was a nice resting place. I felt but sorry for him / her, but after a couple of days with the associated mess I was felling less charitable.
I could pick the bird up, throw him in air and he would come back

I guess the message is after all these years I have forgotten the time scrubbing the mess off the foredeck and remember the bird that seem to say, but this is only resting place within 50 miles. Lets share it.
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Old 04-11-2012, 17:16   #35
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Re: Taming Seabirds

Possibly, we had a visit from the same booby!

'Ours' landed on the fore deck that night, mid-Indian ocean. Man I was so scared and wrapped a blanket round my hands to fetch it from the fore deck to the cockpit. Then I woke up the Admiral to show her my catch.

To our surprise, the bird did not bother to defend itself nor to attack our hands. An amazing experience!

Do not try this with a gull though ...

;-)
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Old 04-11-2012, 18:14   #36
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Re: Taming Seabirds

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Agreed. I'm thinking of getting a cockatiel while I'm forced by external circumstances to remain dogless and landlocked, but that is a captivity-bred bird far from its natural habitat. If I do get one, it would have a well-engineered perch but no cage. Screens on the windows to stop him flying out into the European cold and wet, and if the little scoundrel eats the wallpaper I can fix that easy.

I'd adopt a seabird if it chanced to come aboard or I found a perishing one, but I wouldn't go seeking to capture one out of its freedom. Seducing one with food to entice it to stick around is stopping short of birdnapping it.
You could always stitch a set of wings onto your cat and pretend........
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Old 04-11-2012, 18:21   #37
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We had a hermit/hoarder liveaboard guy in our marina that fed the ducks. his dock and especially his finger were covered in poop. you couldn't really walk the dog on that end of the marina cuz he went apesh*t over the twenty or so ducks covering that boat.

I think I saw three or four ducks turn up dead in a year... It's really just an all around bad idea all around.
Eww...why did he have poop on his finger ?
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Old 04-11-2012, 19:04   #38
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Re: Taming Seabirds

I'd rather take my dog along but even that is a paperwork pain.

A domesticated wild duck might imprint on you as a chick and follow you indefinitely. Just try to convince authorities it isn't your pet.
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Old 06-11-2012, 19:15   #39
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Re: Taming Seabirds

Well had a few friends of the seabird kind. First there was Bert and Ernie a pair of seagulls that would come to the boat every day to mooch a bit of bread. They found me a few times when I anchored out too.

Then there was Mallard Fillmore who would walk up to me and take bread from my hand.

Mr. Timmy was not amused by my handouts to the riff raff...
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Old 06-11-2012, 21:57   #40
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Re: Taming Seabirds

I vote for penguins. A recent documentary shows a particular breed surfing, I forget which. Plus, they can only peck your eyes out when you're sleeping. Other than that, I'd forgiiit abatit.
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Old 08-11-2012, 13:35   #41
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Re: Taming Seabirds

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Eww...why did he have poop on his finger ?
Nice one, LaS2011, well spotted! The mind boggles....perhaps he was a former TSA goon that wanted to keep his skillset up to date.

Nice hearing about the friendly Boobies visiting your boats....that sort of experience would make my day.

I don't see why taming a seabird is such a heinous crime...first, I'll state I'm no supporter of cages for flying animals, anymore than I support chopping the legs off groundbased pets. The falconers have fully functional avians, and so do the Chinese fishermen with their stinky cormorants. Shoving a formerly free soaring bird into a tiny prison would be a crime, I agree...even keeping budgies and such in small cages is pushing it, in my opinion, even if they are bred in captivity. It isn't that hard to make the cage of a size that permits the bird to fly about, and even if you live in a tiny place you can let your little feathery friend out to share your airspace. Our budgie used to love sitting on the rim of cups and washing his feet in them. Quite the artist, he was, making those amazing budgie-tracks across the tablecloth in coffee or hot chocolate. We had to ban him from beer, a drunken budgie is amusing for a little while but can wear the nerves. They're two-sip screamers, can't hold their liquor. Not sure if he got hungover, but he hung under his perch when he was on a binge...

How to go about having a freerange seabird pet on a boat, I'm not so sure...and I'm keen to hear more about people's experiences with them to learn more about them. I reckon the best way to find such a pet would be adopt an injured or orphaned bird, but to permit it to fly free if it wants to and if it is reasonable to assume it would have a fighting chance of surviving. Of course, if you hand-reared it and it bonded with you (still ignorant if they even can....?), it might want to stay. Though it might have some uncomfortable questions for you if it could talk; "Mummy, why have your feathers fallen out, and why are your wings so grotesquely deformed, and why is your beak so flabby and flat, and why do your knees bend the wrong way, and why did you get upset when I stuck my beak down your throat when I was hungry, etc...". The things children say....

How about migratory birds? Anyone have them pass over and take a pitstop on the boat out at sea?
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Old 08-11-2012, 13:58   #42
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Re: Taming Seabirds

Personally, I would never have an animal tame or otherwise on board unless I planned to use them for emergency rations. As for Seagulls better watch your electronic devices:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: BOATERS BEWARE OF THIEVES IN THE NIGHT
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Old 08-11-2012, 14:24   #43
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Re: Taming Seabirds

Captain Mike...that gullcam is brilliant. How did you ever get that thing back?
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Old 14-08-2015, 15:23   #44
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Re: Taming Seabirds

One for:

Confused seagull that thinks he's a cat: Bird sleeps in pet's bed and eats their food | Daily Mail Online

and definitely one against!

Yorkshire Terrier dog is pecked to death by seagulls in Cornwall, St Columb Minor | Metro News



It seems as though Mr Cameron has even weighed in on this vital matter of state. If only the gulls would rid us of a few politicians, but well, even omnivorous scavengers have standards. Note that the dog owner is prohibited from touching the protected gulls nesting on the roof....would that the Yorkie nesting underneath was also protected. Jeopardy Q:.....What is a place you pay a fortune for others to tell you how to run ? A: private property.
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Old 14-08-2015, 16:16   #45
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Re: Taming Seabirds

We had boobies that played 100% tame. We petted them and sent them overboard - no gloves on !!!! Never try this with seagulls though!

In Cairns I have seen a proper gray goose that lived on the poop deck of a local yacht. It was very cute.

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