Re: [Freeflight] Freeflying philosophy?

[Nate Waddoups <thoughts@...>]

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005, barrie lynn wrote:

> > > The thread about why to freefly has been extremely interesting to
> > > read. The question that I haven't seen asked is, "what gives you the
> > > RIGHT to let your bird roam free in your neighborhood?"
> > 
> > To be fair one must also ask the opposite: what gives anyone the right to
> > confine a bird to the indoors? :-)
> 
> You're missing a step, why are we going from being confined to a life
> inside in a cage to flying loose all over the neighborhood. There was
> a whole conversation beyond this further elaborting that point and
> various idea of when and where it is appropriate to let a bird free
> fly.

I was careful to write "confine a bird to the indoors" rather than
"confine a bird to cage" as Phoebe is presently confined to the
indoors. Actually right this minute she's confined to cage but that's a
very temporary thing. :-)

My point was mostly that neither indoors nor outdoors are inherently
better; neither requires special permission ("what gives you the right"). 
They're just different tradeoffs between risk and reward. The question of
"what gives one the right to put your bird at risk by ____" must be
weighed simultaneously with "what gives one the right to deny it ____." 
To insist on safety above all else is only marginally better than taking
any risk that comes along. I don't think that a longer life with limited
experience is necessarily better than a shorter life with richer
experience. If I felt otherwise I'd give up a few sports and save a lot
of money. :-)

The decision definitely has to be made on a per-bird and per-owner basis. 
I am hoping that my next bird will be able to fly outdoors without flying
off, but that depends on how things go indoors. I know what happens when
Phoebe gets loose outdoors (she loses her head), so the risk for her is
too great. The next bird... we'll see. If I have confidence, based on
how things go indoors, and outdoors under controlled circumstances (cage,
tether) that things will go well, I will choose differently.

-- 

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA
http://www.natew.com/
http://www.featherforum.com/ <== free photo albums for birds