I've probably posted about this before but it still gets me that Ripley (my parrot) has a special nickname for my spouse, Tev. Like he knows and uses the names of everyone in his flock (me, Tev, Steve, and Cheese. also a couple of our friends and my mom's dog) but because Tev calls him "Ripley buddy," a couple years ago Ripley started calling him "Tev buddy" instead of just Tev. He doesn't call anybody else buddy. He knows that 'buddy' is a special suffix for him and Tev to use with each other's names because they love each other. Doesn't that just melt your fucking heart
They love each other
#don't wild parrots have special calls for family members too#they know what love is! they know what nicknames are! they know when affection is being communicated!#I'm gonna throw up!#human/non-human bonds make me feel some kinda way. I spent half an hour playing(!!!) with a young sea lion at the zoo(!!!)#bc she was trying to get the adults to play and do spins in the water with her and they weren't having it. i was watching and saw her spin#so i spun around outside the glass just because#and she noticed! and immediately swam over to the glass right in front of me and rotated! so i spun around too! and she did it again!#so i did it again! and then she dove down to the bottom which i obvs couldn't do but i crouched down and then she went shooting up to breach#so i jumped up as high as i could too#and then she did a backflip underwater and looked at me#and while i was trying to figure out how to mirror that she clearly thought i wasn't sure what she did so she did another one#and then waited for me#i think i ended up getting on the ground and doing a back roll?? bc it was the closest thing#and we just? kept mirroring each other?#at one point she was waiting for me to do something#like swam at the glass to indicate me and then backed up#so i crouched and jumped again#and she did her dive and splash thing again#it was great#sea lions 🤝🏽 dogs#'here human let's play copying games!'#anyway. human/non-human interactions are precious and wonderful and we are so so lucky to live on a planet where love transcends species @mankillercalledbunny


















