Shoulder shrug.

This puts the responsibility on the tenants shoulders. 

With your father's death, you have a lot on your plate (probate, etc.) and though it's already been a few months, it seems that you are uncertain whether you'd like to be a landlord across the country (and manage a PM once you've shopped around and find one that you like and deem competent) versus selling the property (and taking that emotional burden off your shoulders in a way).

For the bird, I'd say yes, as long as it's caged or on someone's shoulder and under control when it's not in the cage - and put it in writing.  

I would install a quiet fan connected to the light switch, hard wire it with a shouldered connection and inform the tenant that tampering with the fan is a health and safety issue.

I'm sure the stress in your life has been lifted from your shoulders.

Rats run with their shoulder to a wall, so if they find a box with hole whilst running along, they'll investigate the box. 

- Shoulders slump, eyes drop, he starts to stammer a little at this point, "Uh, well, there might be something I in the process of taking care of".Me - "Great, you get that taken care of and then we will get started on the application, also we don't take cash you will need to convert that to a cashier's check or money order".Never heard back from him.  

It was hard to save the money but it was such a weight off my shoulders that last year so I could put my focus to my studies.

Not to bring unnecessary emotional baggage to a business thread, but there is a higher weight on my shoulders to take care of a property that my family worked very hard to get, which is why I cam to this site in the first place.