Wolfy Asked... - how many of you, had no close pets as children, but later in life became animal and ferret people? - how many of you, had a couple of standard pets such as dogs or cats as children? - how many of you had close contact with more unusual species of animals as children? My mother was too anal-retentive with her cleanliness and wouldn't allow us to have any pets, even though she had rabbits and a dog growing up. I won a goldfish at a fair in 3rd grade and had to beg her to let me keep it. Darn thing didn't survive the summer and I was still stuck doing extra chores long after! Once I moved out, I began surrounding myself with any kind of animal I could. My roommates had quite a Noah's Ark: 2 cats, 2 pythons and 2 guinea pigs. Then an irresponsible friend "rescued" a very handsome cinnamon ferret from the pet store and left him at our place. I was the only one who cared for the little bugger and I had never even seen a ferret before. Louie was my first real pet and now that I have my own house, I have a husband, 3 ferrets, and 2 cats...for now. I'd say that I was definitely born an animal lover, but was forced to wait to act on it. Although, I was always the kid with the sick/found wild animal in the garage, at least until my mom found out! [Posted in FML issue 5269]