I’ve never had what would be considered exotic pets like snakes or marmots. I would imagine feeding said exotic pets would be unpleasant. I have no fondness for mice, but I would not want to drop a live one into a tank with a snake either.
Growing up, we had cows and pigs and geese and hunting dogs. I know some have bonded with their livestock, but we never did. The closest we came to affection was a giant sow we named Petunia. I’m sure we chose that name because of a Porky Pig cartoon we had seen. The hunting dogs we had were never treated as pets, and they were so high-strung that the minute you took them off the chain, they would run, and you’d spend the next two hours trying to catch them. The geese we had were horrible. I remember an incident where I was in the barn, and for no reason, one of the geese went into attack mode, chased me into a stall, and would not let me leave. The whole time it was hissing and flapping its wings while running at me. Nasty creatures.
I’ve had plenty of dogs. I love dogs, but now they feel like work. At this point in my life, cats are the ways to go. Cats are so easy, and unlike dogs, if we need to be gone for several hours, there’s no guilt about being away. They keep each other entertained, no need to dash home to let them out, and we leave plenty of food and water out.
A little over a year ago, we adopted two black cats, Starsky and Hutch. It’s the first time I’ve had two cats at the same time, and we’re so glad we took home two instead of one.
