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"Ok, whose turn is it to take out now?" Melissa asked. "Kyle and Cody?"
"Yep, you get Kyle, I'll get Cody?" I asked.
"Sounds great!" Melissa said.
I was really glad that I was partnered with Melissa, as she was always really easy to get along with. There weren't too many of us Animal Specialists at Rainforest Cafe, but it was cool being part of a small and truly animal loving team. Melissa was on fish and birds, meaning she often SCUBA dived in our large aquariums to clean them. I was certified on CPR, so stood by to spot the divers during tank cleanings. I also helped clean up aquarium filters at the end of the day. I was on birds - weighing them, feeding them, making enrichment toys, following the enrichment schedule, training the birds, and cleaning all the cages. There were other people on fish and/or birds, too. Melissa was also very well versed in shows and bird care, so joined me in shows when she wasn't diving in the tanks. The shows are more interactive and interesting to the audience when there's more than one speaker, and of course, more than one bird!
"Come on, Cody, wanna go do a show?" I asked the blue and gold macaw in my friendly high pitched voice, as I reached into her cage. "Step up?"
"Step up," said Cody.
"Ok, yes, I know you know you know how to say it, can you just step up?"
"Hel-looo," said Cody, not moving any closer to me.
"Step up, Cody, come on," I said.
She let out a SQUAAAAAWKKKKK that reverberated off the cement brick walls of the bird room. (I imagined my show-voice saying, "Did you know that macaws' squawks can be heard from two miles away??") "Goddamnit, I hate when you do that..." I whispered under my breath. "Cody," I said, feeling my patience strain. "Come on, already, girl, come here. Step up!" I said. At least it was the last show of the day, and then we could ALL get some rest afterwards, humans and birds alike.
"I mean, if she's not coming..?" Melissa said.
Cody looked at me sideways and lifted one foot in the air.
"No, she's coming. Cody, let's go," I said. "Step up." And Cody stepped up onto my arm, and I gently got her out of the cage. Melissa got her sister*, Kyle, so we were all set.
{*And yes, they were both girls - macaws look exactly alike, and someone had named them all boys' names years before a blood test confirmed they were all female. But the names were kept, because why not? One had been named Maraca, which is pretty gender neutral. Oliver and Elmo were also females with traditionally "boy" names. We always got comments on it at shows, but to us, those names just became normal "girl" names too! But gender socialization and perception is probably a topic for another entry!}
The way Melissa and I had designed the shows was to write a few short scripts, memorize them, or at least know the main talking points, and then label them. So for our 15 minute shows, we were able to say to each other, "Ok, you want to do Rainforests, Flight, and Foot Shape adaptations?" And we'd know what the plan was, and all that mattered was deciding who went first, and then we'd take turns.
"These birds can be so nutballs to get out of their cages sometimes," I said as Melissa and I walked with the birds.
"Oh my god, I know," she agreed. "We'll need to work more on stepping up with them, so they really know and get it."
"Totally," I said.
"Ok here we go," she said.
We pushed open the wooden door, the one with the sign that read, "From this point forward, you are ON STAGE." Smiles on, professional appearance. Lights, camera, action! (Except for us, it was more like microphone headsets on, treat pouches adjusted on belts, action!)
We stepped onto the stage with the birds, and Melissa began. "Hello, and welcome to Rainforest Cafe here at Downtown Disney," she said in her best professional show voice. "This is our Rainforest Bird Show, in which we'll share all kinds of fun facts about the birds and rainforests around the world." The people standing near by the stage turned to look at us, and gathered closer. A few more people joined until a small crowd had formed. She went on to speak about the four layers of a rainforest, and where macaws live in the rainforest. (The canopy layer, in case you were interested!)
"And the way they get around the rainforest is by flying, usually in large flocks," Melissa said and nodded at me.
"Macaws can fly miles a day. Do you know what makes birds so good at flying?" I asked in my own show-voice.
"Feathews!" a sweet tiny child shouted excitedly.
"WINGS!" said another near by kid.
"Yes, they use their wings that are covered in feathers. Would you like to see Cody's wings?"
"Yeah!" the kids cheered.
I gave Cody the hand signal to show her wings, and she spread them out to oohs and ahhs from the crowd.
"Good girl!" I said and handed her a nut. She ate it quickly and reached for another nut from my treat pouch, almost losing her balance. I transferred her over to my left arm, closer to the treat pouch, thinking she'd feel appeased being slightly closer to the good stuff!
I nodded to Melissa, who took the cue and began talking about how Cody and Kyle were both eating nuts using their feet and then shared cool facts about their toes, such as the fact that their "X" toe formation, two toes forward, two toes backward, is called being Zygodactyl, and helps them hold securely onto branches in trees, where as more ground dwelling birds like emus and penguins, have three toes forward and one toe backward.
As she spoke, my left arm got tired, and I moved Cody toward my right arm. She didn't step over. I pulled my arm back to the left and then swung it back very gently toward my right. Sometimes the momentum of that lets them know what I'm asking, and the birds know to step over. This stubborn girl refused. She dove her head down quickly toward my treat pouch. I sighed, but only a little. I turned and stood up straight and continued smiling at the audience as Melissa began her wrap-up shpiel, complete with instructions on how to take photos with us and the birds.
One last time, I moved my arm to tell Cody to step over. "Come on, girl, step up," I said gently, and confidently held my arms together, my right arm slightly higher so that she'd step up onto it.
Instead, as I smiled at the crowd, who were all beginning to applaud, Cody lunged for my other arm with her beak, and nailed me hard, her beak wrapped around my wrist like a carpenter's clamp. I almost reactively pulled away, but realized almost as quickly that that could cause a ton of bleeding, and instead moved my arm more towards her mouth, expecting her to let go when I did that. But she was not having it. Cody clamped harder, pain searing through my arm, through my elbow up toward my shoulder. I plastered a stupid grin on my face and didn't look at her, as I rolled my wrist toward her and after another second or two, she finally released her grip.
Fast as I could, I threw my right arm behind my back, no idea if I was bleeding or not. I just held my arms in a quite formal position, like I was about to take a bow or something.
A boy, maybe ten years old asked, "Did that bird just bite you?"
"Uh, a little, but it's fine. Birds!" I said, and gave a small chuckle. Was he really the only one who noticed even a little?? That was lucky!
Melissa was already on her side of the stage beginning to pose for photos with people. I took a step back, then slowly kept backing away. An audience member asked me, "Can we take photos with that one?"
"You know, I'm so sorry, but not tonight," I said as calmly and friendly as possible, arm throbbing painfully behind my back. "Cody seems really tired, so I gotta get her back inside. I'm sure Melissa and Kyle would love to take a photo with you. Thanks so much, goodnight!"
Melissa saw me beginning to leave and raised an eyebrow at me.
"See you inside!" I said to her in an almost too-friendly, strained tone.
Now Melissa's expression toward me was one of complete and utter confusion. But as quickly as that happened, a bright performance-ready smile returned to her face as she turned back to the crowd. "Well, I've got Kyle for a few photos over on this side, come on over!" I heard her say, as Kyle squawked loudly, and I went back through the wooden door that lead to the backstage area.
I exhaled the minute I walked through the door, and pulled my arm back in front of me to inspect the damage. I wasn't bleeding. Thank god. But oh JEEZ was my arm swelling fast.
When I entered the bird room, my boss, Marcy, and other coworker Harry, were sitting and talking about fish stuff. I came in quickly, swept through their conversation and got Cody immediately back into her cage. She gladly walked off my arm into her cage, and I closed the door shut behind her.
"That was fast!" Marcy said. "Did the show end early?"
"Uh, well, Cody bit me," I said.
"Oh jeez, yeah these birds can be kind of-"
I stuck my arm out to show them my wrist.
At the same time they both said, "WHOA!!"
There was a black and purple bruise rising up under the beak mark that was still firmly showing on my skin.
"CODY DID THAT?" Marcy asked. "Just now??"
"Yeah at the end of the show-" I said, as the door to the bird room opened quickly.
It was Melissa with Kyle, who was still squawking. "What happened??" she asked.
"Cody bit me," I said.
"Like HARD," Marcy said. "Look at this!"
Melissa looked and said, "Oh god, wow!"
"I'm getting you ice!" Marcy said, and hopped up and ran out of the room.
Melissa said she knew something must've really been wrong for me to leave like that, but she couldn't think of what it was. "I just needed to come in though, anyway, because Kyle was freaking OUT without Cody there."
"Oh jeez, yeah," I said, remembering that Kyle does not like to be without her sister at all.
Marcy ran back in and had me apply the ice. And I filled out an accident report with the even more senior boss. Icing and paperwork - an exciting way to end a shift. All part of working with wild animals, though. Crazy stuff happens sometimes. And you can't really ever let on if stuff goes awry. After all, it's like they say, the show must go on!
* * *
Epilogue ~ After this incident, I worked a lot more with Cody. It was terrifying the first day back with her (about a week after she bit me)! But we got her to a point where she was very good at switching arms, and she even improved on a lot of her other trained behaviors too. She really is a very good girl, and I'm glad I got to work with her. Even if she did give me a scar that lasted the better part of a year, though has faded by now, she was a character, a sweet soul, and a privilege to work with. Sometimes, I kind of miss that job!
[Human names changed for privacy reasons]
"Yep, you get Kyle, I'll get Cody?" I asked.
"Sounds great!" Melissa said.
I was really glad that I was partnered with Melissa, as she was always really easy to get along with. There weren't too many of us Animal Specialists at Rainforest Cafe, but it was cool being part of a small and truly animal loving team. Melissa was on fish and birds, meaning she often SCUBA dived in our large aquariums to clean them. I was certified on CPR, so stood by to spot the divers during tank cleanings. I also helped clean up aquarium filters at the end of the day. I was on birds - weighing them, feeding them, making enrichment toys, following the enrichment schedule, training the birds, and cleaning all the cages. There were other people on fish and/or birds, too. Melissa was also very well versed in shows and bird care, so joined me in shows when she wasn't diving in the tanks. The shows are more interactive and interesting to the audience when there's more than one speaker, and of course, more than one bird!
"Come on, Cody, wanna go do a show?" I asked the blue and gold macaw in my friendly high pitched voice, as I reached into her cage. "Step up?"
"Step up," said Cody.
"Ok, yes, I know you know you know how to say it, can you just step up?"
"Hel-looo," said Cody, not moving any closer to me.
"Step up, Cody, come on," I said.
She let out a SQUAAAAAWKKKKK that reverberated off the cement brick walls of the bird room. (I imagined my show-voice saying, "Did you know that macaws' squawks can be heard from two miles away??") "Goddamnit, I hate when you do that..." I whispered under my breath. "Cody," I said, feeling my patience strain. "Come on, already, girl, come here. Step up!" I said. At least it was the last show of the day, and then we could ALL get some rest afterwards, humans and birds alike.
"I mean, if she's not coming..?" Melissa said.
Cody looked at me sideways and lifted one foot in the air.
"No, she's coming. Cody, let's go," I said. "Step up." And Cody stepped up onto my arm, and I gently got her out of the cage. Melissa got her sister*, Kyle, so we were all set.
{*And yes, they were both girls - macaws look exactly alike, and someone had named them all boys' names years before a blood test confirmed they were all female. But the names were kept, because why not? One had been named Maraca, which is pretty gender neutral. Oliver and Elmo were also females with traditionally "boy" names. We always got comments on it at shows, but to us, those names just became normal "girl" names too! But gender socialization and perception is probably a topic for another entry!}
The way Melissa and I had designed the shows was to write a few short scripts, memorize them, or at least know the main talking points, and then label them. So for our 15 minute shows, we were able to say to each other, "Ok, you want to do Rainforests, Flight, and Foot Shape adaptations?" And we'd know what the plan was, and all that mattered was deciding who went first, and then we'd take turns.
"These birds can be so nutballs to get out of their cages sometimes," I said as Melissa and I walked with the birds.
"Oh my god, I know," she agreed. "We'll need to work more on stepping up with them, so they really know and get it."
"Totally," I said.
"Ok here we go," she said.
We pushed open the wooden door, the one with the sign that read, "From this point forward, you are ON STAGE." Smiles on, professional appearance. Lights, camera, action! (Except for us, it was more like microphone headsets on, treat pouches adjusted on belts, action!)
We stepped onto the stage with the birds, and Melissa began. "Hello, and welcome to Rainforest Cafe here at Downtown Disney," she said in her best professional show voice. "This is our Rainforest Bird Show, in which we'll share all kinds of fun facts about the birds and rainforests around the world." The people standing near by the stage turned to look at us, and gathered closer. A few more people joined until a small crowd had formed. She went on to speak about the four layers of a rainforest, and where macaws live in the rainforest. (The canopy layer, in case you were interested!)
"And the way they get around the rainforest is by flying, usually in large flocks," Melissa said and nodded at me.
"Macaws can fly miles a day. Do you know what makes birds so good at flying?" I asked in my own show-voice.
"Feathews!" a sweet tiny child shouted excitedly.
"WINGS!" said another near by kid.
"Yes, they use their wings that are covered in feathers. Would you like to see Cody's wings?"
"Yeah!" the kids cheered.
I gave Cody the hand signal to show her wings, and she spread them out to oohs and ahhs from the crowd.
"Good girl!" I said and handed her a nut. She ate it quickly and reached for another nut from my treat pouch, almost losing her balance. I transferred her over to my left arm, closer to the treat pouch, thinking she'd feel appeased being slightly closer to the good stuff!
I nodded to Melissa, who took the cue and began talking about how Cody and Kyle were both eating nuts using their feet and then shared cool facts about their toes, such as the fact that their "X" toe formation, two toes forward, two toes backward, is called being Zygodactyl, and helps them hold securely onto branches in trees, where as more ground dwelling birds like emus and penguins, have three toes forward and one toe backward.
As she spoke, my left arm got tired, and I moved Cody toward my right arm. She didn't step over. I pulled my arm back to the left and then swung it back very gently toward my right. Sometimes the momentum of that lets them know what I'm asking, and the birds know to step over. This stubborn girl refused. She dove her head down quickly toward my treat pouch. I sighed, but only a little. I turned and stood up straight and continued smiling at the audience as Melissa began her wrap-up shpiel, complete with instructions on how to take photos with us and the birds.
One last time, I moved my arm to tell Cody to step over. "Come on, girl, step up," I said gently, and confidently held my arms together, my right arm slightly higher so that she'd step up onto it.
Instead, as I smiled at the crowd, who were all beginning to applaud, Cody lunged for my other arm with her beak, and nailed me hard, her beak wrapped around my wrist like a carpenter's clamp. I almost reactively pulled away, but realized almost as quickly that that could cause a ton of bleeding, and instead moved my arm more towards her mouth, expecting her to let go when I did that. But she was not having it. Cody clamped harder, pain searing through my arm, through my elbow up toward my shoulder. I plastered a stupid grin on my face and didn't look at her, as I rolled my wrist toward her and after another second or two, she finally released her grip.
Fast as I could, I threw my right arm behind my back, no idea if I was bleeding or not. I just held my arms in a quite formal position, like I was about to take a bow or something.
A boy, maybe ten years old asked, "Did that bird just bite you?"
"Uh, a little, but it's fine. Birds!" I said, and gave a small chuckle. Was he really the only one who noticed even a little?? That was lucky!
Melissa was already on her side of the stage beginning to pose for photos with people. I took a step back, then slowly kept backing away. An audience member asked me, "Can we take photos with that one?"
"You know, I'm so sorry, but not tonight," I said as calmly and friendly as possible, arm throbbing painfully behind my back. "Cody seems really tired, so I gotta get her back inside. I'm sure Melissa and Kyle would love to take a photo with you. Thanks so much, goodnight!"
Melissa saw me beginning to leave and raised an eyebrow at me.
"See you inside!" I said to her in an almost too-friendly, strained tone.
Now Melissa's expression toward me was one of complete and utter confusion. But as quickly as that happened, a bright performance-ready smile returned to her face as she turned back to the crowd. "Well, I've got Kyle for a few photos over on this side, come on over!" I heard her say, as Kyle squawked loudly, and I went back through the wooden door that lead to the backstage area.
I exhaled the minute I walked through the door, and pulled my arm back in front of me to inspect the damage. I wasn't bleeding. Thank god. But oh JEEZ was my arm swelling fast.
When I entered the bird room, my boss, Marcy, and other coworker Harry, were sitting and talking about fish stuff. I came in quickly, swept through their conversation and got Cody immediately back into her cage. She gladly walked off my arm into her cage, and I closed the door shut behind her.
"That was fast!" Marcy said. "Did the show end early?"
"Uh, well, Cody bit me," I said.
"Oh jeez, yeah these birds can be kind of-"
I stuck my arm out to show them my wrist.
At the same time they both said, "WHOA!!"
There was a black and purple bruise rising up under the beak mark that was still firmly showing on my skin.
"CODY DID THAT?" Marcy asked. "Just now??"
"Yeah at the end of the show-" I said, as the door to the bird room opened quickly.
It was Melissa with Kyle, who was still squawking. "What happened??" she asked.
"Cody bit me," I said.
"Like HARD," Marcy said. "Look at this!"
Melissa looked and said, "Oh god, wow!"
"I'm getting you ice!" Marcy said, and hopped up and ran out of the room.
Melissa said she knew something must've really been wrong for me to leave like that, but she couldn't think of what it was. "I just needed to come in though, anyway, because Kyle was freaking OUT without Cody there."
"Oh jeez, yeah," I said, remembering that Kyle does not like to be without her sister at all.
Marcy ran back in and had me apply the ice. And I filled out an accident report with the even more senior boss. Icing and paperwork - an exciting way to end a shift. All part of working with wild animals, though. Crazy stuff happens sometimes. And you can't really ever let on if stuff goes awry. After all, it's like they say, the show must go on!
* * *
Epilogue ~ After this incident, I worked a lot more with Cody. It was terrifying the first day back with her (about a week after she bit me)! But we got her to a point where she was very good at switching arms, and she even improved on a lot of her other trained behaviors too. She really is a very good girl, and I'm glad I got to work with her. Even if she did give me a scar that lasted the better part of a year, though has faded by now, she was a character, a sweet soul, and a privilege to work with. Sometimes, I kind of miss that job!
[Human names changed for privacy reasons]
