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The Mammals
This is a picture of the mighty Joe Dog II. We picked him up from the local pound
about twelve years ago when he was a puppy. He appears to be a cross between a Jack
Russell terrier and a beagle. Joe is seventeen pounds of lean and mean.
Actually, he's not mean at all; he's neurotic as heck, and that's why he fits in here so
well. Since we have never seen any of his siblings, we like to think of him as best of
breed.
There has never been a Joe Dog I. The name came about when we were discussing who
would take him for a walk ("Your dog needs to take a walk." "What do you
mean my dog, he's yo' dog, too!") . Joe is a good friend, and does
everything that we  ask of him. Fortunately for him, we rarely ask him to sit,
stay, heel, etc.
Betty takes no prisoners. Well, hardly any. She seems to think (assuming house cats
think about anything) that we are guests in her house, and rather inconvenient guests at
that. But we're on to her. Though she often growls when someone attempts to pet her, she
insists on following family members around as if she were a dog.
Betty joined our entourage about four years ago. Our long time cat, Kate, had died
of feline leukemia, and we decided we needed a cuddly kitten for our house. We picked her
up from our local animal shelter, and excitedly brought her home. One of her first acts as
the new six week old kitten on the block was to transform into Satanic Betty and attack
the dog. Joe was rather taken aback by the hissing, pound-and-a-half ball of fuzz.
Their relationship hasn't improved much since then.
This slightly less than intelligent looking creature is the  newest
small mammal addition to our family, Mabel. We got her from the local Humane Society
almost three years ago. Her job description includes playing cat games with Betty the
Fierce so that Betty stops hunting Joe Dog (who at his advanced age regards the activity
as a major irritation and chronic interruption of his napping). As it turned out, Mabel is
quite good at serving as a foil for her grouchy cat companion, so Joe gets to sleep.
Mabel is a remarkably tolerant cat, almost as friendly as Fluffy, or Snowball, or
whatever that cat's name is in first grade readers. She doesn't seem to mind being carried
around like an infant, but she draws the line when it comes to having some young visitor
try to swaddle her with a towel. We don't blame her a bit. Although she's sort of a cute
cat, she's one ugly baby in desperate need of a shave.
The Fish
We never had any intention of getting fish, it just sort of happened. No, it didn't
just  happen, we were out-maneuvered. Our three sons, for no
apparent reason, were each given a 25¢ goldfish at daycare in early 1994. Our oldest boy
was five at the time, and he said something like, "Mom, dad, look what we got! I
named mine Goldy. I think we need to put it in a glass of water." His two-year-old
twin brothers just stood there grinning and nodding, proudly holding their goldfish bags.
What could we do? The fish had names. Goldy and
friends couldn't take that final dip in the swirling swimming pool. So, we
found a used 10 gallon aquarium with all of the accoutrements for about $25. What a deal.
Twenty-five dollars to support free fish.
If you are a goldfish fancier, please do not read the rest of this paragraph. We
quickly found out that we believe goldfish to be the dirtiest, ugliest fish that someone
could keep at home. We live near the Mississippi River, and can recognize carp. Why keep
mini rough fish in the family room? However, we took care of them for the children's
sake.Our problem was solved when some sort of plague descended and the goldfish were gone
After an appropriate mourning period (the length of time to clean the tank and  condition
the water), we converted to fresh water tropical fish. In particular, we specialize in
tetras. They have everything we look for in fish. Many varieties of tetras are available
at almost any pet store, they are inexpensive, and are relatively indestructible.
We have taken such a fancy to these fish that we had to replace our 10 gallon tank
with a 30 gallon tank.  Our
equilibrium fish population is around 50. Even though tetras are relatively
indestructible, we still end up with the occasional floater. We have learned from our
earlier mistakes, and refuse to allow our children to name particular fish. This greatly
simplifies funeral services.
There is one additional benefit to keeping tropical fish that we did not foresee.
Our aquarium has two aerator lift tubes, a heater, and two fluorescent strip lights to
support the live plants we keep. Which means the top of the tank is Betty's preferred
sleeping spot. Not only does she command the high ground from there, her napping spot is
warm, hums and smells like fish. We think it has marginally improved her disposition. Life
is good. |
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