Wolfy Asked... - how many of you, had a couple of standard pets such as dogs or cats as children? I got a dog when I was nine....that was the most 'standard' pet I owned until I was 18 and had a cat. - how many of you had close contact with more unusual species of animals as children? My first pet was a cavy at age four, followed quicky by two snakes I discovered in my grandmother's back yard. In the years that followed, so did frogs, toads, tropical fish, newts, salamanders, assorted lizards, rabbits, more snakes, a tarantula (a 10th birthday present from my parents), ferrets (got my first when I was nine), parrots, scorpions, tortoises, assorted large insects, gerbils, and hamsters....it is not surprising that I became a zoologist, I suppose. Now that I am grown, I have snakes, lizards, newts, frogs, turtles, tortoises, fish, parrots, cats...and, of course, ferrets. I also now have a daughter who looks to be following in her fathers footsteps...at eight, she has a cat, hamster, fish, and a snake....and is quite fond of the ferrets. G. A. Christian Bilou, writer/zoologist. Director, Reptile Rescue Alberta (Est. 1994) http://members.shaw.ca/reptile.rescue/ Past-President, Calgary Aquarium Society http://www.calgaryaquariumsociety.com/ Legislative Co-ordinator, TARAS http://www.albertareptilesociety.org [Posted in FML issue 5272]