Parrots are amazing animals with a unique ability to repeat words, but be careful what you say around them — you might end up with a bird like Pepper, who picked up the habit of cursing like a sailor.
Last month, the parrot went up for adoption as a shelter searched for a family who wouldn’t be scandalized by his vocabulary — and now, there’s been an update to the story…
Pepper, a white-fronted amazon, was recently surrendered to the Niagara SPCA in Niagara Falls, New York. Shelter staff quickly realized that Pepper had picked up some not-so-family-friendly phrases, and had a real habit of repeating them.
“If you think Pepper’s feathers are colorful, you should hear his language,” the Niagara SPCA wrote on Facebook. “Forget does Polly wanna cracker? Does Pepper wanna kick your a$$?! is the real question.”
While not everyone would enjoy a cursing parrot, they hoped that there was a “humor-loving home” out there willing to take him in.
“Bringing home a cursing conure might seem like a fun idea until Pepper offends grandma’s Tuesday night knitting group,” the SPCA wrote. “On the bright side, if you want to keep unannounced company from dropping in, adopt Pepper. They’ll think twice after being cussed out by your new foul-mouthed feathered friend.”
The post went viral — it turned out that Pepper’s bad language didn’t turn people off, but only made them want him more.
“I’ve never wanted a bird until reading this post,” one Facebook comment reads.
“I want him even more because he swears I love that!!!” another wrote. “What a honest sweetheart he is.”
The SPCA said that they had received over 400 applicants to adopt Pepper, including a saloon owner and an ex-Navy sailor.
While their description was humorous and attracted a lot of attention, the SPCA stressed that they were only considering serious inquiries from experienced bird owners with proper housing. They also considered whether adopters “would be able to age with Pepper or had plans for Pepper if he outlived them” — the species has a long life expectancy averaging about 40-50 years.
Weeks later, the Niagara SPCA announced that Pepper had been adopted by a perfect family — who already have a foul-mouthed parrot of their own.
Pepper’s new owners Tiffany Turner and Tim Sage, an engaged couple from nearby Olean, New York, own an African Grey parrot named Shelby who “makes Pepper look like ‘a saint,'” the Niagara SPCA wrote on Facebook.
“They had a lot of knowledge about parrots, and their home is like a regular truck stop with another swearing bird,” shelter director Amy Lewis told the Washington Post. “It seemed like a perfect fit.”
“Shelby is also foul, so we’re happy to have another swear bird,” Tiffany said. “We’d wanted another parrot for years, but we didn’t want a young one because they live for so long. When we heard about Pepper, we thought he’d be perfect.”
The couple are in their 30s, so they’ll likely be able to care for Pepper, who is in his mid-20s, for life.
The new owners said that they hadn’t heard Pepper swear yet, and described him as “really sweet” and a “ladies’ man.” But they suspect the bad language might start soon, and he might even pick up a few new phrases from his new sibling Shelby.
“It’s probably a good thing that we don’t have kids,” Tiffany told the Post.
Pepper is one unique parrot, and we’re so glad he found a perfect family who don’t might his colorful vocabulary!
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