Man Has Surgery To Cut Off His Ears So He Can Transform Into His Favorite Animal

58-year-old Ted Parrotman (yes, that's his legal surname) has performed quite a list of body modifications over the years. The current tally: 110 tattoos, 50 piercings, seven implants, three horns, dyed eyeballs, a magnet inside each of his hands, a split tongue — and a partridge in a pear tree. Or a parrot, rather. But the most extreme modification — and indeed the most life-threatening — was his recent decision to have both ears removed. Why? So he could more closely resemble a parrot, of course.

He says he loves being unique and "always wanted to be different." And with the completion of his most recent surgery, he can certainly say 'mission accomplished.' Check out his stunning transformation below.


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This is Ted Parrotman, pre-modifications. 

The retired shoe factory worker is estranged from his family and hasn't seen any of them for years. "For me," he says, "my real family are my parrots."

The Bristol, England native has five birds — Ellie, Teaka, Timneh, Jake and Bubi — not to mention a green iguana named Iggy, and a pit bull terrier named Candy. But his parrots obviously carry favor.

Tattooing over the whites of the eyes is called scleral tattooing, a process with obvious and significant risks.

According to modification artist Russ Foxx, there's a chance you could end up with long headaches, light sensitivity, staining of surrounding tissue, and in worst case scenarios, blindness or total loss of the eye.

Since getting his first tattoo in 1976, he hasn't looked back. Oh — and we almost forgot — he has also been branded. Mr. Parrotman has a peace sign burned onto one shoulder with a 750-degree hot iron.

But what about his post-surgery, ear-less look?

The operation took six hours and he couldn't be more pleased with the results. 

"I am so happy, it's unreal," he says. "I can't stop looking in the mirror."

And getting his ears removed won't be the last step in his parrot transformation process — Ted is now looking for a surgeon to turn his nose into a beak.

"Obviously, I'm not going to look exactly like them," he concedes. "They have their eyes on the side of their head. But if I could have my eyes moved I would."

Historically, having your ears removed, or "cropped," was a criminal punishment.

The Essex Gazette out of Rhode Island reported on a man caught using counterfeit money in 1771, and he was sentenced "to have both ears cropped, to be branded on both cheeks with the Letter R (for Rogue), and to pay a fine of One Hundred Dollars and Cost of Prosecution."

The only repercussion from the surgery was no longer being able to keep his glasses in place.

To compensate, Ted had metal pins inserted on each side of his head. "I went to the supermarket the other day," he jokes, "and when I went in I said 'blimey, it's so windy out there it blew my ears off' and everybody had a chuckle."

Parrotman isn't the only person to undergo such alarming body modifications.

Erik "The Lizardman" Sprague was one of the first to have extreme work done, and he now even performs stunts in what he has termed "modern sideshows."

Or there's Caim Mortis, currently working as a DJ, who has spent over 11 years to look like the devil. Or some such scary being.

And while Ted has no contact with his parents or siblings and keeps few friends, he does have a girlfriend named Suzannah, who embraces his look.

"She loves it as she is into body modification as well. She is going to get a lot more done." 

Check out his video where he explains some of the motivation behind his look.

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