u/Hutchess28

Image 1 — Ruby enjoying some fresh air on the porch today! ☀️
Image 2 — Ruby enjoying some fresh air on the porch today! ☀️
Image 3 — Ruby enjoying some fresh air on the porch today! ☀️

Ruby enjoying some fresh air on the porch today! ☀️

Just wanted to share a few pictures of Ruby absolutely going to town on her toy while enjoying the weather outside. She’s been so content just hanging out and getting some sunshine.
Disclaimer right up front: this is strictly her outdoor-only cage and not her everyday setup! Since she's an older lady, we are really working on getting her comfortable with going into a smaller space so that future vet visits aren't such a stressful ordeal.
Using it for fun patio time seems to be doing the trick. She just happily chews on her blocks and watches the world go by!

u/Hutchess28 — 1 day ago

Looking for tree stand recommendations for my African Grey! (Central Texas / Online)

Hey everyone,
I’m looking for a good tree stand for my Ruby. I’m out in West, Texas, so I can definitely drive to a store if anyone knows a great place in the Central Texas area. I'm also totally fine ordering online if there's a specific site or builder you all highly recommend.
What kind of wood do your Greys seem to like best? I want to make sure the branches are the right thickness for her grip. (And a base that's easy to clean is a huge plus!)
Let me know where you got yours, and if you have pictures of your setups, I'd love to see them. Thanks!

reddit.com
u/Hutchess28 — 2 days ago

Did my great-grandmother get away with murder? The highly suspicious 1955 "suicide" of my great-grandfather.

(Note: I originally posted this with the real names, but it was taken down by the mods for including personal identifying information. I’ve re-uploaded it with all the names blurred out to respect the subreddit's rules! This sub also doesn't allow photo uploads, so I will be posting the links to the redacted newspaper clippings in the comments below.)
I’ve been digging deep into my family’s genealogy, and I’ve uncovered a dark mystery from 1955 that my family has whispered about for years. While pulling old newspaper records, I found articles that make me almost certain my great-grandmother murdered my great-grandfather, and completely got away with it.
Here is the story according to the local papers and the initial police investigation.
**The Setup:**
My great-grandfather was a 62-year-old farmer living in Florida. On the night of May 31, 1955, he and his wife were supposedly sitting in their living room listening to the radio around 9:00 p.m.
**The "Official" Story:**
According to my great-grandmother, she left the living room to go to another part of the house. A short time later, she heard a "loud noise" and returned to find her husband missing. She claimed she searched the house and eventually found him out on the screened-in back porch with a gunshot wound to the head, but still alive. Since they didn't have a telephone, she ran to a neighbor's house for help. By the time the neighbor arrived, my great-grandfather was dead.
The authorities initially ruled it a suicide (or possibly an accident). But when you look at the details the State Attorney released, the red flags are absolutely everywhere.
**The Red Flags:**
• **The Physics of the Shot:** The weapon was a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle. The bullet entered his head **behind his right ear** (being right-handed makes this even more awkward). The local State Attorney went on the record saying it "would have been difficult for \[him\] to shoot himself from this angle." How do you accidentally—or intentionally—shoot yourself behind the ear with a long bolt-action rifle?
• **The Location:** If they were in the living room listening to the radio, why did he take a bolt-action rifle out to the back porch to shoot himself the exact moment she left the room?
• **The Convenient "Illness":** This is the part that really convinces me. An inquest into the death was scheduled with a coroner's jury to investigate the fatal shooting. Right before the inquest—which she was the primary witness for—my great-grandmother conveniently "collapsed." She was admitted to the hospital and was completely unable to attend the inquest or even her own husband's funeral. The judge and State Attorney had to indefinitely postpone the probe. Her condition at the hospital was ironically listed as "good."
It seems like she bought herself time, avoided testifying under oath while the heat was on, and the authorities eventually just let it go.
I’m convinced she shot him from behind while he was on the porch, dropped the rifle near the body, and made up the radio story.
What do you guys think? Have you ever seen a case where someone managed to shoot themselves behind the ear with a rifle? I'd love to hear your theories on how she managed to pull this off and get the cops to drop the probe!
**(Check the comments for the links to the newspaper clippings!)**
As far as a link. This occurred in 1955 and there was discussion of it not being a suicide in newspapers. My posts have been taken down :( hopefully this works

reddit.com
u/Hutchess28 — 3 days ago
▲ 7 r/InternetMysteries+1 crossposts

Uncovered a 1955 family mystery in old newspapers. How do I find coroner or police records for my great-grandfather, Lee Reeves, when the inquest was "postponed indefinitely"?

[deleted]

u/Hutchess28 — 3 days ago

Big victory today with Ruby! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

My husband (who is firmly Ruby’s favorite person 🤪) goes into the office once a week. Usually, when her man leaves, she becomes quite the challenge for me to wrangle. Today, though, was entirely different. She was completely responsive to my guidance, and we had absolutely zero bites!
Here’s the win: I make a weekly batch of Bird Street Bistro for the flock. I usually try to do it early before the birds are up, but I was running behind today. Around lunchtime, I figured I'd better make it so it's ready for tomorrow morning. I showed Ruby the package and asked, "Do you want me to make some?" She made her excited lip-smacking sounds! I told her, "Well, you gotta get into your condo so you're safe while I cook." She just made a little kiss sound and promptly climbed right into her cage!
I was so happy and proud. She’s really making progress and learning that the cage doesn’t mean forever, and that she will always get to come back out to play.
She was of course rewarded with some once it cooled down.

u/Hutchess28 — 7 days ago

Behold Ruby’s cardboard shanty town. She's a visionary architect

She really went for that "post-apocalyptic Amazon warehouse" vibe here. I'm pretty sure the structural integrity of the main wing relies entirely on one stressed-out piece of blue Prime tape and sheer bird spite.
Notice the custom, jagged "open concept" walls. It took her hours of meticulous beak-work to get those entryways just right (and by that, I mean hours of ripping and spitting wet cardboard chunks directly onto the floor I literally just swept).
The interior is fully furnished with a mountain of shredded crinkle paper—perfect for hiding from her responsibilities. And if you look closely at the last pic, you'll see she added a stunning, deconstructed patio buffet of scattered seeds and whatever that mess is on the green tray.
I tried to cite her for HOA and zoning violations, but she just made dinosaur noises at me and went back to structural demolition. 10/10 craftsmanship.

u/Hutchess28 — 9 days ago

African grey and cockatiels

We have had Ruby for 2 months now and today is the first time I’ve let my cockatiels hang out outside of their cage with her out, in the same room. It’s going great! We put on a record and let the babies (Nadine and Donovan Sunshine) out after Ruby had some lavender herbal tea😂
Ruby could care less about them which is what I want. We will only let them all out together when we can supervise.

u/Hutchess28 — 10 days ago

Ruby’s morning jam

Avicakes and Baby Einstein
We are working on veggies. Anyone got any irresistible chop recipes?

u/Hutchess28 — 13 days ago

Hello fellow bird lovers!
Meet Ruby! She is a 20 year old African Grey who came to live with me a couple months ago. We’ve been taking things at her pace as she adjusts to a new environment and learns to trust me.
She's doing great, but her beak definitely needs some shaping. It looks a bit crooked and long. I've loaded up her environment with bird blocks and plenty of foraging toys and foods, but I think we are past the point where she can fix the shape entirely on her own.
I know an avian vet needs to handle this, but I'm worried about setting back the progress we've made bonding if I have to towel her or put her through a stressful appointment. She won’t go into a travel cage right now. We are working on it daily.
Does anyone have experience with getting beak work done on a bird that is still relatively new to your home? I'd love to know what the vet process entails so I can prepare myself, and any tips you might have for keeping her calm before and after.
Thank you!

u/Hutchess28 — 16 days ago