African Grey Saves the Day! When you think of pets saving their family's lives, usually, it's the image of a labrador leaping into a burning building to save a baby, or a German Shephard snarling at would-be assaulters...

However, companion parrots can be quite devoted. And, they're smart.

From BBC:

A deaf man was saved from a fire at his home when his parrot ran up and down his legs to wake him after he failed to hear a smoke alarm in West Yorkshire.

Peter Taylor, of Mirfield, had taken his hearing aids out and was asleep when the fire broke out, so Merlin, his African Grey parrot, raised the alarm.

Mr Taylor said he owed his life to the bird who has also learnt to mimic the sound of the smoke alarm siren....

"Sometimes when I'm cooking he'll come out with the noise," said Mr Taylor.

"I have to tell him that there isn't a fire and he'll stop doing it then. But he's got it perfect."

That sounds like African Grey logic. The bird may have thought that since the fire alarm was on, the man should be up cooking something. But, I guess we'll never know.

Our parrot's learned to ring the phone, beep the microwave, and whistle the fire alarm -- with the result that I've learned to tune most of it out. The last time I took a nap with our African Gray outside his cage, he nipped my ear -- then laughed uproariously about it. In my husband's voice.

(above photo from BBC)  ¶ 8:00 AM