Pet Memorials

Baby Doll, Chris Davis's 35 year old Blue & Gold Daughter

A little bit about Baby Doll & Chris Davis by Dr. Ted Lafeber, Chris's husband

Baby Doll & Chris flowed together as souls that had spent lifetimes together. Chris often mentioned she could not tell where Baby Doll ended and she began. If you saw Baby Doll and Chris interact, you would feel this in their relationship. Baby Doll was a daughter to Chris with the same intensity, love and concern that I have for my two daughters.

If Chris and I were talking, even if in a serious conversation, and Baby Doll began laughing, Chris would laugh and continue laughing until Baby Doll stopped. They were a constant source of Joy.

Baby Doll watched over the bird room for Chris. If another bird began misbehaving, such as climbing up another’s cage, Baby Doll would begin verbally chastising them. If that did not work, she would increase the volume of her call, so Mom would come in and correct the situation.

People who came into our home were amazed to learn that we had so many macaws and parrots, because they were so quiet. Well, Baby Doll took her job seriously of keeping everyone quiet. When our birds started getting too loud, you would hear Baby Doll yell out “Shut Up”, and she meant it. Usually everyone would quiet down again. When they did not, you would hear “Shut Up” with various inflections, until Baby Doll simply became exasperated.

Sometimes Baby Doll’s exasperation was rather humorous. One day, while I was cleaning the bird room, Baby Doll clearly looked at me and said “Banana”, which simply meant she wanted a banana. I explained to Baby Doll that I needed to finish cleaning first. A minute later, Baby Doll even more clearly and loudly said “Baanaanaa”. The vowel emphasis was in case I did not understand her the first time. I explained again that I needed to finish cleaning. A moment later came “BAAAAAAAANAAAAAAANAAAAAAAAA” from a very frustrated Baby Doll. Her intonation made it clear that she was sure my IQ was less that 40 that morning. Communication was never a problem for her.

Baby Doll was a profound teacher for all that she met. She is the inspiration behind Chris’s Heart to Heart column in Bird Talk. She is the reason Chris started the field of avian behavior modification back in the 70’s. Chris saw trainers wrongly starving birds to get them to perform. Such acts of cruelty were wrong. Chris knew from Baby Doll that you just had to listen to your bird, and learn to communicate with them, as they learned to communicate with you. With this knowledge and understanding, Chris helped more than 2000 people in their homes with their birds.

Chris Davis and I have dedicated LafeberWingsOfCompassion.com web site to Baby Doll, Beau and all the other animals that have so deeply touched the hearts of all of us in the animal community.

Ways We All Can Honor Baby Doll & Chris

Light a Candle (see above)

Sign the Guest Book (see above) and leave inspirational words for Chris, or a memory or story about Baby Doll

Make a donation to one of your favorite charities in Baby Doll's name or donate to a respected bird charity listed below:

Alex Foundation
Phoenix Landing
Gabriel Foundation
Best Friends Animal Society