A down in the dumps parrot who refused to speak after his owner died has started talking again - telling his new owners to ‘f**k off’. So that’s… erm, nice?
African grey Jesse was devastated when his previous owner died, so much so that he began to pluck out his feathers and stopped speaking.
But now animal rescue workers have got Jesse a brand-new loving home and he’s settled right in - alongside dropping the f-word, Jesse also makes rude sounds.
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Owner Rachel Leather, from Wales, said: “Within 24 hours of being home he was nattering away to himself.
“His personality is really coming out. He loves to make fart noises, make jokes and swear. His language is awful."
But fortunately his foul language doesn’t upset Rachel, who finds the whole thing pretty hilarious.
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She added: “He just makes us roar with laughter.”
Jesse had previously been under the care of staff at Ashley Heath Animal Centre, who soon realised that he was feeling stressed out and was grieving.
Usually parrots can pull together a fairly large vocabulary of words - by listening and mimicking them, but poor Jesse refused to speak other than to whisper ‘goodbye’ at staff.
Is someone chopping onions in here or what?
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RSPCA welfare advisor Hannah Hawkins said: “He’d come into us after the death of his owner and we believe he’d been in the same home for his whole life and was much-loved so it’s not surprising he was struggling after such a sudden change. He seemed lonely and depressed after such a loss.”
Thankfully, nine-year-old Jesse is now flourishing in his new home and getting up to all kinds of mischief.
Jesse, who also lives with two dogs and five cats, quickly picked up on the fact that owner Rachel’s partner calls her ‘babe’ so has started doing the same. While that sounds quite sweet, once he’s got her attention Jesse will then tell her to ‘f**k off’. Charming.
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Rachel went on: “When I tell Jesse he’s funny he responds: ‘Yes, f**king hilarious!’.
“He even watches my partner play PlayStation and laughs when his character has died.”
Rachel said she’s looking forward to Jesse showing off even more of his personality as he grows in confidence.
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“We absolutely love him,” she said.
The RSPCA is urging anyone who might fancy getting their own pet bird to consider adopting one and giving them another crack at a happy life - like Jesse has had.
You can visit www.rspca.org.uk/findapet for more information, or donate to the charity online.
Topics: Animals
Claire Reid