# There is a parrot that attacks full grown sheep and eats them alive! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 11, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005 "2010-05-11T03:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/21 "2010-05-12T00:50:00Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I still don’t understand why Apple created its own version that disassembles furniture. > > Yes. > > It’s called the “iKea”. :: slaps **Smeghead** with wet trout :: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/22 "2010-05-12T00:55:12Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Competition, plus a fear of blowing cover. The jungle must continue to appear harmless. Time to step up the Disney propaganda. So, Sunspace, thule, come on over for dinner, we’re having long pig. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/23 "2010-05-12T00:57:57Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > To be fair, it could also be Australia. Except the Kea is not native to Australia. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/24 "2010-05-12T01:14:58Z")
Thanks for the invite CP, but my metabolish reacts badly to chianti. On the Big Island cockatoos, particularly the white sulphur crested, either as individuals of in flocks of hundreds, can be just as destructive as keas, but not being protected and having some natural predators, they don’t have the chutzpah. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/25 "2010-05-12T01:24:25Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Thanks for the invite CP, but my metabolish reacts badly to chianti. How about fava beans and RC cola? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/26 "2010-05-12T01:48:16Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > So, Sunspace, thule, come on over for dinner, we’re having long pig. So sorry, I …um, just converted to vegetarianism. Yeah, that’s it. Vegetarianism. Also, I’m a long way from you, several thousand kilometres, and, um, I’m away on work, and, um, ifanythinghappenstomemycrazywhackogunowningfriendswillcomelookingforme[sub]ihope[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/27 "2010-05-12T01:51:03Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > So sorry, I …um, just converted to vegetarianism. Yeah, that’s it. Vegetarianism. Also, I’m a long way from you, several thousand kilometres, and, um, I’m away on work, and, um, ifanythinghappenstomemycrazywhackogunowningfriendswillcomelookingforme[sub]ihope[/sub] dammit. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/28 "2010-05-12T01:55:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > How about fava beans and RC cola? Well I was sort of hoping your metabolism reacted badly to RC Cola. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/29 "2010-05-12T01:58:31Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Well I was sort of hoping your metabolism reacted badly to RC Cola. Is this like that Mentos and Diet Coke thing? ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/30 "2010-05-13T03:22:02Z")
I can’t find a cite, but the kea hunters used to use a specially designed weapon known as a kea gun. Apparently it resembled a sawn off shotgun. Widely used until the NZ authorities realized that it made a wonderful concealed robbery device and was then banned. IIRC the kea is now protected. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/31 "2010-05-13T03:29:20Z")
They’ve got a taste for blood! Run for the hills! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/32 "2010-05-13T09:04:27Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > They’ve got a taste for blood! Run for the hills! They _live in the hills_, genius.:rolleyes::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/33 "2010-05-13T09:09:50Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > They _live in the hills_, genius.:rolleyes::smack: AAAH!! Run away from the hills! If you see hills, run the other way! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/34 "2010-05-13T12:46:52Z")
I encountered a kea in New Zealand. I’d parked up to take some photos near Milford Sound, and when I turned back to my rental car, there was a bloody huge green parrot perched on the wing mirror trying to eat the rubber seal around the passenger-side window. I knew enough about them to recognise what it was, but at the time I wasn’t familiar with their reputation. If I had been, I’d have been less concerned about taking loads of parrot photos and more worried that it was about to carry my car off into the mountains and eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/35 "2010-05-13T15:48:02Z")
[Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMLpPoOeays) a bunch of them eating a car. **Broomstick** is right about all parrots being like this to some extent. When I first got him, my little conure chewed all the rubbery buttons off a remote control before I figured out what he was up to. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/36 "2010-05-13T15:54:31Z")
“Paulie wants ta killya!” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/37 "2010-05-13T17:30:06Z")
One of the amazing things is how _methodical_ parrots can be when intent on dismantling something. I give mine stuff like old boxes just to watch them go at it. And to distract them from more valuable items. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/38 "2010-05-13T19:31:27Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > One of the amazing things is how _methodical_ parrots can be when intent on dismantling something. I give mine stuff like old boxes just to watch them go at it. And to distract them from more valuable items. Absolutely! Mine once ate the sides of his Happy Hut bit by bit. He did the front side last, so I didn’t notice it until then. Do you give yours toilet paper tubes, or bottles and cans? Mine is convinced that he has to save the world from those things. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/39 "2010-05-13T19:50:07Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMLpPoOeays) a bunch of them eating a car. > > **Broomstick** is right about all parrots being like this to some extent. When I first got him, my little conure chewed all the rubbery buttons off a remote control before I figured out what he was up to. Sweet Jumping Jebus, did you see the 3 towards the end of the video coming over and chewing on the guys BOOTS :eek: I take it the insurance comapanies over there are not disturbed by claims … A flock of birds ate my car …?! And I take it you dont take a nap with a kea in the room … they would nosh on your body :eek: and god help you if you died, there wouldn’t be a body left for CSI … ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005/40 "2010-05-13T19:56:39Z")
I believe the kea is also called the “mutton bird”. There was an NZ band named The Mutton Birds that a lady whom I dated from that country liked listening to, and she explained in gory detail what a mutton bird was and did. I just want to know how the keas figured out that sheep kidney fat was tasty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-a-parrot-that-attacks-full-grown-sheep-and-eats-them-alive/539005.md?page=3)