“Good morning, Squeaks,” said Momanita. “How are you this morning?”
Momanita tugged the blue cover off my rolly cage, but instead of tucking the folded cloth in the drawer she bundled it under her arm. “Time to wash this. It’s a bit dusty.”
“Nothing wrong with dusty. Put it in the drawer, please.”
To other hootmans this sounded like squeals and whistles, but not to Momanita. She MOSTLY understood cockatiel speak. I MOSTLY understood hootman talk.
“Maybe I should buy a new cover,” said Momanita. “One with green stripes or red flowers would be different. We could redecorate.”
“Stripes make me dizzy and I’m NOT a hummingbird. Red flowers are out!”
My blue cover kept me comfortable and calm and safe. When I gazed up, it looked like my own piece of sky.
“Humans aren’t the only ones that like to decorate,” said Momanita. “There was a nature show about animals decorating. I missed it. I wonder which animals were featured.”
When Momanita wondered, she thought of questions.
When she thought of questions, she looked for answers.
When she looked for answers, she needed my help.
I climbed out of my rolly cage into my writing nest. Momanita climbed the stairs to HER writing nest. She detoured to the laundry room. Then she tossed my blue cover into the washing machine and poured in the detergent. After twisting knobs and pushing buttons, water gushed into the tub. I already missed my cover. Finally, she scooted her chair to the computer and tapped the keyboard. I perched on top the writing nest and hoped she wouldn’t order a green striped or red flowered or ANY new cover.
Outfitted Octopuses and Clad Crabs
“An octopus escaped a shark attack by covering itself with shell bits,” said Momanita.
Shark! My blue cover wouldn’t stop a shark! My blue cover didn’t even keep away ping pong balls. Ping pong balls scared me.
“When the shark swam towards it, the octopus shoved its tentacles into its gills so it couldn’t breathe. While it backed away, the octopus disguised itself with shells. The shark couldn’t find it and the octopus swam away.”
That quick thinking octopus escaped because it decorated itself. I spied the lake through the window from my writing nest. I didn’t think sharks lived in lakes.
“Sharks eat crabs, too,” said Momanita. “For camouflage, decorator crabs cover themselves with algae, stones, and shells they find on the ocean floor. Bristles hold it all on their bodies.”
I didn’t think shells would keep away ping pong balls.
“Some crabs use sea anemones as part of their cover. Anemones sting so fish avoid them. If a crab has one on its back the fish avoid the crab, too.”
Ping pong balls avoided Momanita’s paddle when she played table tennis with Mike. Momanita didn’t like that. Maybe I should have a paddle in my rolly nest.
Sneaky Spiders
“Spiders decorate their homes, too,” said Momanita.
“The spiders I see on the ledge decorate their homes with flies. If they can decorate their webs with flies, maybe I can decorate my rolly nest with millet. Spiders eat flies and cockatiels eat millet.”
“Tiny spiders in Peru and the Philippines weave a design into their web that looks like a much larger spider. It’s called a decoy. That keeps their predators away.”
“The spiders are safe from me! I wouldn’t eat spiders OR flies.”
“The tiny spiders build the decoy from twigs and leaves. Then it hides in the decoy’s pocket.”
“I like to hide under my blue cover.”
Black Kite Builders
“Scientists observed black kites building their nests. Some of the birds wove plastic throughout their nests. The puzzled scientists wanted to know why some of the kites used plastic and others didn’t,” said Momanita.
“The scientists probably didn’t understand black kite speak and the kites didn’t understand hootman talk. Otherwise, the scientists could have asked them about their nests.”
“They left different colored plastic near the kites and watched what would happen,” said Momanita.
“Sometimes watching and listening are better than talking.”
“The scientists found that only the strongest black kites chose the white plastic for their nests,” said Momanita. “The younger and weaker ones avoided the plastic.”
“The scientists should have offered them a blue cover. Every bird wants a blue cover.”
I heard the washing machine stop and Momanita tossed my blue cover into the dryer. Then she returned to the computer.
“From this experiment scientists thought that the white plastic decorated nests warned predators to stay away. That those nests belonged to the bravest and strongest kites.”
I wasn’t strong or brave. I had other skills.
“Squeaky, maybe we should write about how it’s important that our homes keep us comfortable and calm and safe,” said Momanita.
I climbed down the side of my writing nest and up Momanita’s arm that rested on her desk. I made my way up her arm onto her shoulder. I fluffed a bit and nibbled her earring. The dryer stopped turning and I thought about my blue cover. I chattered into her ear.
“Let’s write about how we’re thankful for a comfortable and calm and safe home where we’re loved.”
To other hootmans this sounded like squeals and whistles, but not to Momanita. She MOSTLY understood cockatiel speak. I MOSTLY understood hootman talk.
Check out Momanita’s book OPERATION HOPPER.
Momanita and I read about black kites. You might want to read about them, too.
Anita Borgo 