Something is not adding up about this dude, in a "this might be a future lolcow way" and I say this having watched quite a few of his videos over the past few months. People who just want to own exotic pets can end up trying to justify it as "rescuing" animals that would otherwise be euthanized or "saving them from bad owners" to gain some moral credibility for just wanting to own a fucking toucan or hyacinth macaw or whatever.
I watch a fair amount of this guy. He's quite interesting to say the least. What's noteworthy is that if you look at his backlog of videos, he started out as a very benign, pretty soft-spoken guy who made quite factual videos on animal rescue and care. Then at some point he started to evolve into a hyper-whacky, high-energy comedic figure who explosively over-acts everything. I have a few theories as to his behavior;
1) He's autistic. This isn't really a theory so much as a blatantly obvious fact. If he's not on the spectrum I'll eat my hat. Several hats. In one sitting.
2) He has a substance abuse problem. This is
very very speculative but as I said above, he went from very down-to-earth, low-energy and calm to hyperactive circus showman within the span of a few videos. He could simply be playing a part, and I believe that's more likely than him being on drugs, but the complete 180 of his personality still gives me a lingering sense of suspicion.
That said, I do think his heart is in the right place. I should note that he
explicitly states a lot of animals that come to him with medical conditions are in a state that only a hail-mary would save them. In the video he got that Rhea and Emu chick, he said that if they stopped showing up in his regular videos, it was because he'd had to euthanize them for being too far gone. His main Youtube channel is mostly for kids (as if the incessant, endless stream of pop culture references wasn't hint enough) and he keeps more serious stuff on Patreon. I credit him for not milking their struggle endlessly for views and clinging on to a false hope that they could be saved.
On the subject of Kevin, he definitely milks the bird for content. On the other hand, I keep a lot of birds myself, and while I don't have Rheas, I have dealt with similar species and can safely say
violence is your only option. You can't reason with an angry, hormonal rooster or turkey. You beat the shit out of them and assert dominance, or resign yourself to the fact they will fling themselves at you with savage fury at every opportunity. If a bird was even
half as habitually violent as Kevin was in my area, it would be dinner immediately. While he does dramatize it a lot for views, I think Ben is actually perfectly in the right to knock Kevin around and keep asserting his dominance. Sweet reason and kindness absolutely, 100%
will not work with a bird that stupid. It's negative reinforcement or the shotgun.
I can't really defend him on much else, nor do I really want to. As I said before, I think his heart is in the right place and he genuinely knows a solid amount about animal care. But his personality is definitely unstable and I feel like something might snap sooner or later. Worth keeping an eye on him.
