Re: cont. Parrot worked to Death?

"M.J." <M.J.@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:2rPTi.36706$eY.17842@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> "DebbieK" <dkrug@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
> news:471f67b9$0$7477$88260bb3@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> M.J. wrote:
>>> "Dave Bugg" <davebugg2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
>>> news:ZkRSi.139$dy4.60@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>
>>>>> It looked as though he had
>>>>> been plucking his feathers. Could this have been from an illness or
>>>>> stress?
>>>> This was a habit picked up long ago, when Pepperberg was seperated
from 
>>>> him for a while. It had nothing to do with his environment.
>>>
>>> Prove it.
>>>
>>> M.J.
>>>
>> http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/3_ask/archive/qna/3293_pepperberg.html
>> Scroll down to question and answer 5.
>
>
> Thanks for the link, I enjoyed reading all the questions and answers.
>
> Unfortunately there is little there to change my beliefs.
>
> A lot of anthropomorphising is going on with respect to ALEX
> as many people assume a birds brain handles mental exercise as
> easily as humans'.  That may not be true and what looks to us
> like play, may in reality be hard and stressful labor for another
> species brain.
>
> With respect to ALEXes plucking ONLY while Dr.Pepperberg
> is traveling, or gone, there may be another grave error being
> commited.
>
> That of mistaking correlation with causation!
>
> It may not be that Alex pluckrd because Dr.Pepperberg was
> gone, presumably the CAUSE being that he missed her, but
> it might be that this was the only time he had to engage in this
> activity.
>
> It is very likely that being engaged and subject to mental
> exercises for 8-12 hours a day ALEX might have simply
> had not time left during the day to engage in plucking.
> (Dr.Pepperberg clearly states that this was his usual workday
> load/routine, during his entire life, i.e.8-12 hours.).
>
> Only when she was gone he had more free time to pluck,
> and what we think is Causation, in reality might be just
> Correlation, with free time for him to pluck (!).
>
> Endless military drills and constant marching exercises
> keep the troops busy and not complaining- everyone who has
> been in the military knows that.  ALEXes 8-12 hour days might
> have had the same effect!


In other words, they might have purposely kept him
busy, 8-12 hours per day, so to accelerate research
and prevent him from having free time, during which he
would pluck.  It is a possibility, as he might have been
to valuable to be retired.  Alternatively, showing off
publicly, with a bad plucker would be terrible PR, as
this video:

 http://youtube.com/watch?v=R6KvPN_Wt8I

M.J.