Does a parrot's foot conduct electricity?

Feb 21, 2020 63 Replies

My pet parrot has a habit of chewing wires but never got a shock. I tested her feet with a multimeter and it was over 20Mohms. My own dry finger is 1Mohm. Are they safe from shocks due to scaly feet?


I'm going to need some evidence for that.

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** I read a story once about a couple of parrots ( him and her) who liked to roost in a high voltage transformer shack.

They would perch together on one of the 11kV cables, side by side and bill and coo.

One day they perched on two, adjacent cables while an engineer watched them.

Then what he dreaded finally happened.

They lent across to touch beaks.

..... Phil

11kV is probably enough to go through their feet, I was wondering if 240V would. Since my multimeter says ">20Mohm" on her foot (probes 1cm apart), yet my dry finger is 1Mohm.

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** Eerrr - yes.

** Some dark skinned races would show even higher readings than your bird.

However, AFAIK none are immune to 240V shocks.

.... Phil

How can skin colour reduce conductivity? A bird has scaly feet, no human does.

And 20Mohms means one hundredth of a milliamp will flow through it at 240V. You need 50mA to stop your heart.

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** Never said it did.

But other differences, common tt dark races do affect the conductivity of hands and fingers.

** Fish have scales, not birds.

** Massively stupid.

Skin conductivity is highly non-linear with voltage.

Your 1 Mohm skin ought to totally protect you from 240V - but you know dam well that is not the case.

FFS get real.

..... Phil

A bird's foot has the same texture. Thick dry skin that doesn't look like it would conduct much electricity.

Wet skin makes a bit of a difference. I've touched 240V with dry skin. It just gave me a jolt. Nothing painful or damaging.

I heard that sort of event created Kentucky Fried :-)

for useful measurements at such high resistances you really need to use an insulation tester. expect some discomfort.

Jasen.

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** How extraordinarily kind heated of you.

IMO, the retarded OP needs a number 12 boot up the arse.

..... Phil

And how do you know she was never shocked?

I'm using electricity to discourage a cat from scratching my window panes. She hops onto a rail on the deck and proceeds to destroy the rubber seals on the aluminum bay window...

I got one of those surplus cold-cathode lamp drivers used in early laptops and rigged a spray of stainless steel wires where she likes to stand. The shock is high frequency (will light a neon bulb with only one connection) and unpleasant (I know...) but not lethal. The cat has learned too. She does occasionally swipe a paw across the wires to check, but she hasn't touched the window again.

I'd rather eat a human.

It's over 20MOhms, that's good enough for me.

I would have heard a squawk and she would have flown off in panic.

ROFL! I've seen electric fences used to annoy cats - there's quite a few on youtube - the cat gets one hell of a fright.

A VOM is useless for a proper insulation test.

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** F*ck off you pathetic troll !!!!

Are you saying it somehow lies to me?

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