The Wooly, The Prickly, The Creepy, and The Snuggly

This week we’re talking about unusual pets. I’ve certainly had my share. For as long as I can remember animals have been a large part of my life. Growing up we always had cats and dogs. My first unusual pet was a lamb. My grandparents had a farm. On that farm they had sheep. We were at the farm quite often as my dad helped grandpa with the farming. Every year there was always one lamb that would be abandoned by its mother for one reason or another. My grandma would then bottle feed these lambs. One year there were three lambs that needed cared for. Grandma and Grandpa allowed me to have the one that Grandma had named Homer. I fed Homer from a glass Pepsi bottle that Grandma had attached a nipple to. Grandpa built a little pen by the apple trees for the three lambs. When they no longer needed milk Grandpa turned them out to the pasture with all the other sheep. Homer never forgot me. I was out in that pasture with him every time I went to see my grandparents. As soon as I went through the gate and called for him, Homer would run toward me, bleating. I would rub his head and then the two of us would walk through the pasture, down to the creek or up to my tree. Should I climb the tree he would wait for me at the bottom. He was my baby, I adored him!

 

Then my sister bought herself a hedgehog. She named him Willie. I loved going into my sister’s room to feed Willie. He was adorable and so soft! Well as long as you pet him the proper way. If you stroked him with the quills he was the softest creature, however if you accidentally pet him against the quills you got pricked! His belly was so soft and he enjoyed laying on his back and allowing you to rub his belly. Willie only lived a few years which is typical for an African pigmy hedgehog. We didn’t know that at the time.

 

 

My ex-husband bought a tarantula on a whim. He didn’t think I would like him at all. While I never named the spider I did care for it. I wouldn’t let him out of the cage but I did make sure to feed him. The spider scared my children and my ex would take him out of the cage to hold it while the kids hid behind me. He ended up taking it to his parents house to keep there one of the many times he moved out. The spider didn’t last long in their care, nobody would feed him. I cried for him. I told them that if they didn’t want him I would care for him but I guess they didn’t want me to have him at all.

 

The last unusual pet I had was a ferret. I was given him on Valentine’s Day. He was a lovey little thing who I called Valentine. He loved his baths! I would take him to the bathroom sink where he would splash for a bit before I would use the baby shampoo on him. After his baths he would curl up on my lap for a nap. Occasionally he would try to nap on my shoulder so he could snuggle into my hair. He didn’t care for my kids who were a little too rough for him (they were two and four at the time). But when he was placed in a hamster ball he would chase them around the living room, causing them to squeal in delight. Valentine was my sweetheart. We didn’t know that it was illegal to own a ferret inside city limits so Valentine was taken away from us. Jess still talks about him. Someday we plan to move to the country and hope to find another ferret as lovey as Valentine was.

Have you had any unusual pets? If not is there one that you have always wanted?

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