Irene Pepperburg randomly purchased Alex from a pet shop in Chicago in
1977,
I think. She was told that Alex was a year old. Was Alex hand raised or
wild
caught? We don't know. If he was wild caught he could have been much older
that one year. Once the eye turns from grey to yellow at about a year it
is
almost impossible to distinguish a one-year-old from a ten-year-old.
I seriously doubt that Alex was worked from 8 to 10 hours every day.
