To the Editor:

As a member of the responsible faction of monk parakeets who choose to nest in trees where we belong — not perched on spindly utility poles — I want to make a couple of points about my colleagues' dispute with the United Illuminating Co. and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

What you humans do not realize is that some of us monks (despite the name we are not particularly religious) have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to settle this dispute amicably.

Look, however misguided my fellow monks were in choosing utility poles to build their nests, they had no idea they might cause power failures and fires — or that they risked something far worse: messing up people's cable TV reception.

It was not like they did it on purpose. So what's with the strong-arm tactics?

True, talks between us tree monks and the so-called pole monks broke down last winter, partly because we were all so cold and hungry we couldn't concentrate. Still, that's no reason to jump to the conclusion that negotiations were irrevocably stalled. Birds of good faith can surmount these obstacles.

After all, the monk parakeet story is, in a way, the story of America. A warm-climate creature is carried to this country against its will, then freed, left to fend for itself in a hostile environment. Instead of crumbling under hardships, the bird perseveres. Indeed, it thrives. If animals were eligible for the Horatio Alger award, the monk

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parakeet would have had one years ago.

Have we made a few mistakes along the way? Absolutely. Do we deserve to be rudely ousted from our homes in the middle of the night to face some hideous fate? Absolutely not.

Rushing to drastic solutions such as euthanasia makes little sense. While English is my second language, my understanding is that euthanasia means "easy death." If it's so easy, let's see the UI and Department of Environmental Protection people get in that gas chamber.

And another thing, we responsible monks would very much appreciate it if the Friends of Animals people would BUTT OUT. We know you mean well, guys, but you're only making the delicate efforts to restart talks more difficult. The only noise more annoying than your squawking is our squawking. Stick with the circus elephants.

When this problem has cropped up in other areas, our negotiators have successfully worked out compromises with the utilities and state officials. We lost a few nests and gained a few refugees, but reasonable birds and people were able to find a common ground, or common trees.

The pole-keets are reasonable birds. They are willing to forget the unfortunate loss of their gassed compatriots if UI and DEP are willing to meet a few simple demands:

l A fair reparations package for all displaced birds. This has to include alternate nest sites and a supply of rose hips and beach plums to get them through the winter.

l An end to all anti-parakeet rhetoric.

l Repatriation to Central or South America (or wherever we came from) for all the birds requesting it.

In conclusion, I just want to say that in the long run, monk parakeets and humans can and will learn to coexist. The alternative is too terrible to contemplate.

Charles Walsh's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can reach him by phone at 330-6217 or by e-mail at cwalsh@ctpost.com.