Keas!

if you like cats you’ll like keas. These native New Zealand parrots are smart, mischievous, and beak-equipped wrecking crews. Want to see some? Head high up in the Southern Alps. Sadly, they are much harder to find than they were a few decades ago.

Any New Zealander who has tramped in the bush will have kea stories. They love to attack rubber wherever they find it. A mate returning from several days in the bush got in his pickup and drove off only to have the windscreen fall out because keas had removed the entire seal holding it in place. When I checked into the Arthur’s Pass Youth Hostel, the first thing they told me was put my bike in their kea-proof shed. The birds love shredding tyres and leather saddles.

Sound terrible don’t they? Not at all. It’s a pleasure to sit and watch these intelligent animals going about their business.