Bird toys as an American collectible? Why not. As a collectible, there is the destruction angle. Most of the bird toys made are going to be used, and punctured, shredded, pooped on and/or otherwise marred. Your collection of bird toys, new and in the package, may be the only large collection that remains when all the used toys are thrown out. The same principle holds for cat toys and dog toys as collectibles.
Why collect bird toys? Well, apparently there has been a large increase in the toys available for bird since the last time I looked. There used to be the belled mirror for the budgie cage, a toy bird bath, a ladder, a swing, and a few bells and plastic beads to hang around the cage. Now there are plastic chains, plastic beads and toys, sisal rope, wood blocks and bits, leather for stringing and more bells, all to be strung as you or the toy manufacturer desires.
Wood blocks, beads and bits are for chewing. Plastic toys, beads, tubes and chain are to add color as well as movable parts the bird can play with. Hide-a-treat toys let the bird manipulate the toy until it can get the morsel out. Natural materials like sisal, corn husks, woven bamboo and coconut fibers give the bird something to shred besides its own or its fellow’s feathers. All arranged in imaginative ways to produce a plethora of bird toys.
Objects to hang so the bird can swing on them are also available, as well as a heap of “foot” toys, wood or plastic toys, alone or tied together, to let the bird work with his foot as he would in nature. Ever wonder what happened to the old wooden blocks, or those cheap flimsy plastic shaped toys? Well, they have had holes drilled in them and now they are parts for bird toys. So are the plastic whiffle golf balls, the ones with the holes in them. String some on leather thongs with spaces in between so the bird can move them from one end to the other, and your have a bird toy.
With a concern about the birds health, all materials for bird toys are now (or should be) guaranteed free of chemicals. They use food colors instead of dies, and nothing is added to natural materials, like oil, wax or other preservatives. Bird toys sure have changed. Check out the bird aisle at your neighborhood pet chain store sometime. The mirrors and bells are still there, but a lot more can be found there as well.
As an American collectible, bird toys, or those for cats and dogs or any other animals we keep as pets, say a lot about how we see our pets, and how much we care for them. No doubt other people care as much for their pets, but we tend to go overboard, as we do in most things, like working, playing, eating, drinking and even collecting. So, perhaps a bird toy collection is a very American collection to have. I’m starting mine the next time I go shopping.
* * * Read about collecting dog toys. * * *
* * * Read about collecting cat toys. * * *
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