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Bird Phobia - Seeking destinations with few or no birds

Bird Phobia - Seeking destinations with few or no birds

Old Jan 1, 2018, 8:57 pm
  #46  
 
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
My wife categorically will not go near a mouse. She's made us go multiple blocks around to avoid passing a caged one. (Strangely, though, she loves squirrels.)
Have you tried to explain to her that rats are squirrels with bad PR (or other way around)?
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Old Jan 1, 2018, 9:18 pm
  #47  
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Originally Posted by invisible
Have you tried to explain to her that rats are squirrels with bad PR (or other way around)?
I don't know if she has a problem with rats or not--I don't believe we have ever encountered one. A mouse gave her quite a scare when she was young.

I still curse the camera-shy squirrel I encountered some years ago. I was walking from the parking lot to the trailhead and didn't have my camera out--and came across this squirrel picking a huge mushroom--the squirrel could barely get it's arms around the edges to grip it. I froze, he froze. I slowly pulled out my camera trying not to frighten it--but he took off when he saw the camera. My wife would have loved the picture.
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Old Jan 9, 2018, 12:35 pm
  #48  
 
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Smile

I would assume that all psychiatrist's offices are free of any wild life. Some time spent there may award you with a host of destinations to visit ...without fear.
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Old Jan 9, 2018, 12:56 pm
  #49  
 
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Originally Posted by Ifti Khan
I would assume that all psychiatrist's offices are free of any wild life. Some time spent there may award you with a host of destinations to visit ...without fear.
Telling your wife to see a shrink might have unintended consequences. Even more so if she agrees.
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Old Jan 9, 2018, 2:30 pm
  #50  
 
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Java, Indonesia

My husband likes to photograph birds, even your everyday birds. When we were on the island of Java, Indonesia, he was really frustrated that there were no birds anywhere. I started noticing and he was right-no birds!
When we were in Antarctica, he had a ball photographing all the penguins and shorebirds. So don't go there.
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Old Jan 9, 2018, 3:34 pm
  #51  
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Originally Posted by celle
There are no penguins in the Arctic.
Polar bears eat seals. Seals eat penguins. But polar bears *never* eat penguins... @:-)

Since the penguins don't fly, I would think that the fear of being attacked by them from the air wouldn't be a problem (?). Doubt there's any serious danger of being mobbed by them while observing from a sensible distance. Although that sounds kind of funny and almost cute. (OK, maybe not if you're really afraid of birds...)

I've only been on one cruise, but you definitely have to deal with the gulls going in and out of ports and they can be aggressive. I didn't have any personal issue with them, but a friend of ours lost a croissant to one.

Love it how someone 'shopped a 380 into that Punta Cana photo...
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Old Jan 9, 2018, 5:24 pm
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The OP flew the coupe .... hasn't posted here in forever.
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Old Jan 9, 2018, 10:56 pm
  #53  
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Originally Posted by KenTarmac
The OP flew the coupe .... hasn't posted here in forever.
What indication do you have that he ever had a small car?
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Old Jan 10, 2018, 6:40 am
  #54  
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Does Dubai have lots of birds?
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 7:14 pm
  #55  
 
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
What indication do you have that he ever had a small car?
... Because he'd never drive a Buick Skylark, Eagle Talon, Ford Falcon or Thunderbird, Pontiac Firebird, Phoenix or Sunbird or the like ...
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 9:46 pm
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I get a chuckle every time I see this thread because I've taken at least a dozen trips specifically to see birds, particularly birds of prey-- the kind that literally can injure people badly if they decide they want to. OP wouldn't want to go to half the places I find interesting.
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Old Jan 16, 2018, 7:19 am
  #57  
 
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Originally Posted by darthbimmer
I get a chuckle every time I see this thread because I've taken at least a dozen trips specifically to see birds, particularly birds of prey-- the kind that literally can injure people badly if they decide they want to. OP wouldn't want to go to half the places I find interesting.
This is OT but can you mention your top 5 places? I'm curious.
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Old Jan 16, 2018, 8:12 am
  #58  
 
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Originally Posted by mmff
This is OT but can you mention your top 5 places? I'm curious.
Alaska for bald eagles for sure.
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Old Jan 16, 2018, 9:01 am
  #59  
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Originally Posted by darthbimmer
I get a chuckle every time I see this thread because I've taken at least a dozen trips specifically to see birds, particularly birds of prey-- the kind that literally can injure people badly if they decide they want to. OP wouldn't want to go to half the places I find interesting.
My backyard has a red shouldered hawk nest and they're seriously protective of their young. After being dive bombed by worried bird parents, with a talon injury to the scalp, my neighbor wears a deflection hat on her walks. Sort of a big cardboard box thing. We joke that it's her birth control hat. The birds won't bother her, and neither will anyone else. They've never been close to me, but those birds are scary. I don't go down there in early summer. And I like them and want them to stay.

I really feel for the OP's wife. A phobia of birds must be difficult to cope with. I hope, for her sake, that this is not a defining personality trait, rather just a preference of choices in vacationing destinations that will be more relaxing. The supermarket parking lot, the beach, the park, school yards, many or most people's front or back yards, much of the outside world-- all have birds. Maybe you live in an urban setting that is less hospitable to wildlife. Still, there are a lot of birds in this world. Does it matter if they are big or little? Sparrows vs. swans? For instance, there are a lot less eagles, and usually they are far away, than seagulls, who will snatch a burger right out of your hand, or pigeons, which tend to have large flocks in urban settings that are looking for a handout. What destinations have you chosen for your travels?
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Old Jan 16, 2018, 10:55 pm
  #60  
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Just out of curiosity, what deep seated biological / mammalian fear does a bird tap into? Snakes, spiders, insects, etc. I get. Birds?
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