Man Makes Submarine for Pet Parrot
Steven Lawyer spends a lot of time with his pet parrot, Bebe. They’ve been on 500-mile bike rides together, gone skydiving (Bebe strapped to a backpack), and lately, scuba diving in the Bahamas.
Lawyer (who happens to be a lawyer) built a submersible tube the size of a large thermos for his pet, using a hard plastic food container affixed to an air tank from a paintball gun. Valves control airflow in and out, and there’s a meter that displays oxygen levels and will set off an alarm if they drop.
The man and bird went to the Bahamas together to investigate a coral reef, Lawyer snorkeling and Bebe riding inside the tube. They swam in a few feet of calm water for about 15 minutes, recording their exploits for Instagram, where they’ve attracted more than four million views. Some commenters thought a stunt that puts a bird in a very unnatural environment constituted “animal abuse.” But Lawyer says Bebe’s demeanor during the underwater adventure was just as calm and curious as when he rides on a shoulder, which is often.
“He was fed and watered before he went in. He went in willingly,” Lawyer says in a follow-up video. “He likes doing these kinds of adventurous things with us. He was not stressed — we know what our bird looks like when he's stressed.”
When he’s above water, Bebe flies freely almost every day, and he always returns to Lawyer, who only fears that the little bird might cross flightpaths with a hawk – or that he’ll be taken by another human. For their next trick, Lawyer will take Bebe “power paragliding,” which should give the bird an inkling of how humans fly when they can.
The white-winged parakeet (Brotogeris versicolurus) is a small parrot native to the Amazon River basin. They must be comfortable around humans because descendants of released birds have established populations in Lima, Los Angeles, and Miami. In fact they are known for forming close relationships with their human handlers, according to Wikipedia. “They are not the strongest talkers, but are adept whistlers.”
Photo credit: @BebeBirdParrot via Instagram
