Will Work for Food

I had a bonding moment with Rosita the other day. I bribed her to get into her pond - to drink or soak, either one would make me happy. Of course the one thing I can use to get her to do pretty much anything is FOOD. I put a piece of pear on the far edge of the pond so she would have to go in to reach it. It turns out that she doesn't have to get all four feet in the water to reach the other side. Her neck stretches further than I ever thought possible!

The problem was that instead of grabbing it with her mouth and eating it, she pushed it off the edge and into the crack between the pond and the wall. I felt too guilty to let her go without. Afterall, that was the whole reason she got in the water to begin with. So I put another piece on the edge, and once again she inadvertantly pushed it off. The space between was very narrow, and I could tell she was looking around wondering how to get down there. She did her neck stretch, but it was at such at angle that she couldn't reach it. When it comes to eating, she is very persistent. She was not going to give up. And it pained me to watch knowing that there was no physical way she could retrieve it. So I gave a little help. While she was extending her neck, I gently picked her up and lifted her hind half into the air at such an angle that she was able to reach it. I thought she might retreat when I picked her up, but she seemed to know exactly what I was doing. She opened her beak and grabbed that fruit like a pro!