My first encounter with the natural world occurred when, as a baby, I crawled, with loaded diaper in tow, from the kitchen to the backyard and ate my first bug. The experience could not have been too aversive because a keen interest in creatures great and small has been a constant throughout my life. During childhood I enjoyed the usual assortment of pets: a kitten, hamsters ( I always seemed to get the ones that bit ), a parakeet, goldfish in inadequately sized bowls, a baby turtle in a little plastic tub, and so on.
When I was five we moved to the suburbs where space allowed for a dog. But of greater concern to me was the woods across the street. My mind raced with enthusiasm as I tried to imagine the kinds of creatures such a dark, leafy habitat might conceal. The mystery soon dissipated as my gang and I began making regular sorties into our personal jungle collecting box turtles, green frogs, garter snakes, preying mantises, salamanders and anything else that either wasn't fast enough to get away or wouldn't bite or sting us. At age nine I was introduced to the hobby of keeping tropical fish and quickly got hooked.
My high school and college years were relatively lean pet-wise. There were a couple of dogs and a fish tank or two. But generally study, sports, and females of my own species garnered most of my attention. And, of course, occasionally someone would drag me to a keg party or force me to participate in a panty raid.
In my case, adulthood recapitulated childhood as far as my fascination with animals was concerned, only on a much grander scale. The pieces all fell into place. Now I had money, my own place, and nobody to tell me "no." I was off to the races. Garter snakes became Burmese pythons and fish bowels morphed into 135 gallon aquariums. I would like to share some of my pet-keeping experiences with you, gentle creatures of the blogosphere, and I hope you will do the same.
