The winner of Quaker Talk’s first photo contest is Mona, with a lovely picture of her Quaker JB!
Mona lives in the Midwest, and has three grown children – as well as grandchildren! She first got a Quaker when her kids were young and wanted to have a pet bird. Over time, the kids grew up and moved out, and that first Quaker passed away. A few years ago, Mona thought she wanted another Quaker, and started lurking around the QT board reading posts as part of her research in making her decision. After a while, she started posting questions, and then sharing her JB stories and photos with us. She‘s been involved with Quaker Talk for about two and a half years now.
JB is short for Jethro Bodine – of Beverly Hillbillies fame. (Mona’s husband is a big fan.) The grandkids couldn’t say Jethro Bodine, so it got shortened to JB for their benefit and it’s stuck!
JB is a big, big talker – and always in context. If you give him something he doesn’t want, he’ll tell you, “I don’t like that!” He will join the dogs in barking at things that might need barking at – but if he doesn’t like the barking, he’ll call the dogs in and tell them to be quiet – and they will! JB would call the dogs over to his cage and drop the food he didn’t want so they could eat it, so Mona ended up having to put a playpen around JB’s cage to stop him from doing that.
Her favorite thing about having JB? “He makes me laugh – every day. And every day he surprises me. He always tells me ‘Good morning!’ when I uncover him in the morning; the other day, he said ‘Good morning Sunshine!’ and I have no idea where he got that, because I’ve never said that to him!”
It’s easy to tell that JB is the light of Mona’s life; she owns a dog grooming shop and he even goes to work with her each day!
Her advice to new bird owners? Do your research, read, learn as much as you can, and ask a lot of questions – BEFORE you buy a bird. Make sure the bird will fit in with your family and your lifestyle. You’re making a commitment to that bird, so make sure it’s a good fit for everyone.
Mona says that her kids, grandkids, and animals are a big part of her life. She is very family oriented, which includes the animals, so if they can’t take the animals on a trip with them they just won’t go. Many of us will remember that Mona and her husband just bought a nice new fifth-wheel camper for traveling; Mona just got a travel cage for JB and she’s taking him out to the camper in it while she’s working in the RV, to get him used to the cage and the camper.
Congratulations to JB and Mona for being our first winners!
