Growing up, my family had several unconventional pets, as well as plenty of conventional pets with unusual tendencies.
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Growing up, my family had several unconventional pets, as well as plenty of conventional pets with unusual tendencies. There was the dog that loved (or hated) fireworks – so much so that she would bite fountains, artillery shell tubes and more as they sat with fuses sparking and send flaming, colorful bursts into the crowd.
This same dog nursed a litter of kittens, including a cat we called “Fido” – who had his own identity issues.
My brother’s turtle was afraid of mice. At least, that’s what a first glance at a strange situation suggested. The turtle lived in a large plastic tote for much of its life, and my brother once went upstairs to his room to find the turtle slowly trudging across the floor … with a mouse in the tote. We finally concluded the cat must have temporarily tipped over the tote chasing a mouse, at which point the turtle fell out and the mouse stayed in? We still really aren’t sure what happened.
And I can’t forget Louie, my mom’s Doberman pinscher. Well, actually, I barely remember Louie – he was around when I was very young, but the stories of his prancing through the woods after butterflies are favorites in our family.
As far as unconventional pets, we had our share: wild snakes, lizards, raccoons, a cooler full of crawdads, and the occasional jar housing a hideously gigantic spider or batch of tadpoles.