Re: Parrot worked to death?

In article <zDHGi.26846$eY.6692@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 "M.J." <M.J.@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> I'll repeat once more!
> 
> Is this what you did to the poor creature, Ms Irene Pepperberg?
> 
> Have him worked to death by your research?
> 8-12 hours a day, every day, of gruelling mental exercise, just to
> find out where the limits of avian intelligence exist!  No wonder
> Alex died so young.

What you are describing is a death due to prolonged mental stress.  fine.

Typically, when an animal, human or otherwise, is under chronic mental 
stress, we observe manifestations selected from several dimensions of 
measurable behavior and condition.  A trivial and incomplete list might 
include significant weight change, diet selection change,  blood chemistry

changes, sleep disorders, hair (or feather) pulling, self mutilation, 
violence,  copraphagy etc.

Given that Alex was, in fact, one of -- quite possibly _the_ -- most
studied 
parrot in all of history, one might reasonably expect to have seen
evidence 
of some sort of stress disorders.   

Where is your evidence of such stress?  I've seen the same films as
everyone 
else of Alex (some presented by Dr. Pepperberg herself, in fact) and i've 
never seen as much as the hint of a scintilla of evidence of any 
stress-related pathology, mental or physical, in the bird.  

So what is your secret evidence?   


Grueling mental exercise, my aunt fannie.  

..max
more like the best care and play time a parrot could ever hope for.