Current mood:

contemplative

Mulling over car transport options
So when I take my birds in the car, they go into a suitable smaller carry-cage with a perch or two, and that is then strapped into the car with the seatbelts. Despite that, I drive carefully, knowing that a sudden stop will likely send them off their perch and into the side of the carrier - just like would happen to us if we were in our seat in a box without a seatbelt on (oh wait, that's what driving in a car without a seatbelt is!) I also worry about an accident and not being able to get the cage open to get the birds out ... and this matters most with Greenbean whose travel cage is well built and would not come apart easily, nor be easy to "ease" out of a smaller opening if the car were crunched.

Then, I remembered this video and this video that were shared on one of the email lists I'm on: a green cheek conure in a flightsuit who rides to work with Dad on the modified top of the passenger seat.

So I've been thinking about this more, especially since I want to take Greenbean out and about with us more when we go places, and the more they are in the car the more likely they are to be with me when there is an accident (I've been in two since I started driving, one minor fender bender, one serious rear-ending that destroyed the car that hit me). So my thought was maybe to create a low perch (from PVC piping wrapped with vet tape for his feet to get some purchase) that would sit on the seat (backseat middle, away from any airbags!) and be strapped in like a carseat or booster seat, and then having him in his Aviator Harness with a non-stretchy lead attached to it and attached to the perch. This would mean he could hold on while we're moving, be attached to the car and with a harness on his middle (which is the safest type of restaint for humans too, hence it's use in miltary planes, etc - just too awkward for the convenience of most of us!) rather than "free" inside the box which stops, and would be easier to get out of the car quickly in an emergency (with scissors stored in the "stuff" box between the two front seats).

I've been thinking about this for a while, I want him to be safe, and I don't want him being able to get around in the car (my kids are buckled in, my birds will be too!). I can put down a blanket or something under the perch to deal with poops, so I'm not concerned about "messes" or possible damage to the seat (he's already figured out how to gnaw on the seatbelt that straps in his cage) and I can hang a toy-thingie down the back of the seat for him to play with from perch level. I know in a bad crash that there is no guarantee - be he in a small cage, carrier, or otherwise, but I want him as safe as reasonable - and I think this may work. Plus it would make it possible to travel with him and humans in the other four seats (currently doing that means taking the SUV because his carrycage is too big for the center seat of the hybrid).

So, I am asking for constructive input here (please don't flame me - I know we all have different ideas of the best way to manage our birds). Help me think this through - give me other ideas for making travelling with him safer in case of a sudden stop or a rear-end hit that will send him off his perch, point out things that might make my idea above a safer one, point out issues that I may not have considered so I can take them into consideration, etc.

Thanks!