Will Fire Alarm Scare My Pair Off Their Eggs??!!!

franny · Post by **franny** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:21 pm

Does anyone have experience with this? My apartment building just notified us that on Tuesday they will be doing the annual fire alarm check. Alarms will be going off intermitantly all day that day.

I never had this happen that I had a pair nesting when this happened years ago with my Societies. And I never stayed home when they were testing. So I have no idea what they thought of it!

My sister will be home because we worry that when they come in our suite they might accidentally let the dog out, (she's elderly and may be upset by the alarm. My Tody was always terrified). But since I got this pair of finches it's the first time they've done the alarm testing.

It's not like I can do anything about it. I have no car, or friends I can take them to for the day... so they will hopefully not be too upset!

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:38 pm

Do you have any idea how loud it will be in your appt. ,I don't think they will pay much attention to it but who knows mine stop setting at the drop of a hat .Think positive franny they will be fine

franny · Post by **franny** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:51 pm

It's pretty loud, short but loud bursts. Plus they will come in and hold a lighter to our heat detector INSIDE the SUITE! It just goes for a second, but it's really loud.

I don't even think putting the cage in the bedroom will make much difference, because it's such a small apartment. And moving their cage may just stress them even more, on top of the noise.

Keep your fingers crossed for me on Tuesday. Maybe they will be OK. They seem pretty good about sitting tight. Last time I kept up my routine of moving the cage to vacuum, changing the paper in the cage, etc. And they sat tight. Sure hope they aren't too freaked out by the noise.

My cat just comes to me when the alarm goes off. She doesn't seem too worried by it, but she's used to me grabbing her and putting her in her carrier and going outside, when the alarm goes off.... (we used to have a lot of false alarms in the building)...so I guess when they test she expects me to scoop her up and take her out!

I'm glad she's like that, because we have had a fire here a couple of times, and lots of cat owners had to leave their cats, cause the cats just ran into a closet or under the dresser and they couldn't get them out. Fortunately that would never be my problem with Sadie.

BillD · Post by **BillD** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:15 am

Sorry I don't know how sensitive finches are to sound. I would bet they would just 'hunker' down and when it stops, everything will be fine. They have an instinct about things like that.

where is the alarm that sounds off? Close to the finches?

My house alarm goes off sometimes and my finches don't seem too bothered by it.

My cats stand 'frozen' when it goes off and just look at me. Guess that's a good thing.

I think they'll be fine.

franny · Post by **franny** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:37 am

The heat detector is right inside the front door, so they just open the door, hold the lighter - it hopefully goes off - and they leave. The actual bell is in the hall (my apartment), about 6 feet to the left of the door, the cage is about 15 feet across the living room from the front door. So you can imagine that there's no way to really get away from the noise.

Well folks, I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I'll let you know how it goes. At least my sister will be home and can call and let me know when the testing is done, and let me know how they seem. I don't have to wait 11 hours until I get home!

BillD, glad your cats are not too fazed by the alarm.

BillD · Post by **BillD** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:36 am

Sounds like you have nothing to worry about (no pun intended).

My siren is inside my house and is quite loud. I won't tell you how my cats react as I don't want to worry you. They all survive it and forget about it in a few minutes.

Some hugs and pets, and they forget all about it..

Your 'kids' will be fine..

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:39 am

I 'think' they should be fine but I have no experience with that. Will keep all crossed for you and your GB's. Do keep us posted.

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:11 am

Franny.....you might consider fighting Noise with Noise. When my kids were little I always ran a box fan in their rooms to block out the noises I made while they were napping....it worked great as the fan seemed to neutralize the other noises.

I would try putting the finches in the bedroom away from the fire alarm and turning on a radio in the bedroom. Have it loud enough so the sudden noise of the fire alarm won't jolt them being there is noise going on already. It might soften the blow when the alarm goes off.

I know when I had a cockatiel he would always take off flying when the phone rang! But when I happen to have music playing and then then phone rang....he didn't startle then.

Does this make sense?

GOULDYGIRL · Post by **GOULDYGIRL** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:30 am

Hi Franny,

My poor birds have to deal with a lot of construction noise sometimes. My husband is doing a lot of renovations around the home and he makes some aweful noises sometimes and I always think my birds are going to keel over from fright. So far they seem to be very tough little birds. Between the Gouldians and Societies and my cockatiel they don't seem that bothered by it. Nothing stopped my societies from taking care of their eggs and babies.

Not to mention my daughter crying and screaming sometimes too

I think they'll be fine and maybe be startled for a few minutes but it won't be for long.

Good luck,
Renee

franny · Post by **franny** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:22 pm

FeatherHarp,
I know what you mean about fighting noise with noise. I have tinitis in one ear, so sleep with a soundmaker that sounds like crickets chirping all night. Makes it feel like summertime all winter long, and distracts from the damn noise in my head. Good idea. I will ask my sister to leave the tv on to a music channel, as it's pretty near the cage. It may be enough to help.

We do often leave it on anyway, just to keep the dog company, since my dog passed away. The lone dog was very stressed out when her life-long roommate "disappeared". She developed a serious twitch, a couple of days after Tody died. And it didn't stop for about a month. I mean continuous! Poor thing! It gradually stopped, and she has adjusted to being an only dog. At 13 she mostly sleeps all day. But the TV on, and my sister being there, may be enough to keep everyone calm.

The birdcage will "just" squeek into the bedroom, if I move the dressers, so it's a very big deal to move it. First I have to move a hall table out of the way, then take drawers out of the dressers so they aren't too heavy to be moved. I've only done it twice - when I had to catch the birds to have their nails trimmed. They were a bit overgrown when I got them. Now that they are trimmed up, and have their cement perch, I hope not to have to do that again any time soon! And in fact the bell is closer to the bedroom door, than to the birdcage in the livingroom.

Gouldygirl,
Thanks, I would think that anyone who can put up with crying kids is pretty much immune to noise! I don't have kids, as you can probably guess.

If yours are not too stressed out by construction noise, there may be hope for my brood yet.

Post by **Sally** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:55 pm

I would think they would be more likely to come off their nest with the cage being moved, then moved back again, than from any noise. With the alarms, they may come off the nest for a minute or two, but should go back in when they realize that all is OK. With the cage being moved, they will think something is wrong, as their outside environment will have changed.

franny · Post by **franny** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:57 pm

Sally,
Thanks for confirming what I had suspected. Best not to move the cage. I'll hope that tv noise will also distract from the other racket.

Thanks everyone. I feel a little less worried now. Kind of pointless to worry, I know, when there isn't much can be done but hope for the best anyway.

franny · Post by **franny** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:10 pm

Well I worried for nothing.

The birds are fine. The male called out a warning shrill a couple of times, cause he happened to be the one out of the nest when the alarm went off the first time. By the time they got to our suite, they were so used to it they pretty much ignored it! All the suites were tested by about 11 am, so that wasn't as long as some years.

Even the dog wasn't bothered because she's pretty much deaf now. Sadie the cat when under the bed and waited it out, but came out to say she was fine in a very loud voice, just before my sister left for lunch.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:20 pm

Well thats good news ,would hate to see you loss GB eggs

Finch Fry · Post by **Finch Fry** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:53 pm

Cool! We all worry too much. HAHAHA