Family Pets

Cats, Dogs, Snakes, Etc.

Many creatures have scampered, swum, slithered, prowled,flown,and crept through our lives.We don't have pictures of them all, or even a clear memory of all of them.In fact, were it not for Aaron, this would be a much shorter list, and would consist of Dog 1, Dog 2, Cat 1, Cat 2. But Aaron brought variety and volume into the creature category. Not everyone was completely cool with this, for instance, his Mom. But in retrospect, these creatures each contributed something to our life(in addition to the mess and turds) and we thank them for it. Blessings on you, little creatures! This page is in your honor, and it has been a lot of fun to work on it.

This is a picture of Pete, my mother Florence's beloved dog. Pete obviously was a patient good creature.He doesn't technically belong with our animals, but I think we can, as it were, grandmother him in.

These are the dogs of my youth. There was Mephi the poodle (named after the demon Mephistopheles, who as we all know,transformed himself into a poodle the better to fool Faust). My dad loved Mefi, calling him "my little black hairy child". And then there Lydia, who had an unfortunate habit of biting small children and pregnant ladies. Aside from that, a fine dog. Bentley came in between them, but I found no pictures of him. Another poodle.

The Robbins' family first pet was Gabriel, the kindly poodle, born in 1973, and gathered to his forepoodles in 1986. Gabriel was a smart and elegant creature, but with an unfortunate penchant for garbage, chocolate, cakes--in fact, anything available for snatching when no one was looking. The day he ate the WHOLE Christmas gingerbread house was a particularly black day for the Robbins children.

The Robbins' family first cat was NOT a good cat. He (she?) only emerged from under the bureau in order to pee on the upholstery. His stay with us was brief. Beatrice named him Ebony, and wept at his departure. I was dry-eyed.

The REALLY first cats. Sugar and Spice arrived in 1986, Sugar disappeared at some point, never to be seen again, but Spicey lived to the ripe old age of 18.She was a mighty hunter in her younger days.

	Begins the parade of pets. Squadrons of goldfish--names forgotten, alas--made their way from bowl to tiny grave in the front yard.
	And then the anoles. Aaron's desk was littered with the macabre momentoes of their horrid feasts: piles of cricket legs. The singing of the crickets kept the boy awake, and so rather than deprive the anoles of their tasty treats, Aaron removed the singing devices.
	Hodge the hedgehog SEEMED like a good idea at the time, but wasn't. His habits were uncleanly, and he was not affectionate. Also, he grunted in an unseemly fashion.

The acquisition of Charlie was a brave gesture--the twins just starting first grade and all. How the children loved him! He was not as you might say the Albert Einstein of dogs. Still--affectionate, loveable,and an important part of the family.

Charlie looking sad

	Igliz the iguana was tiny when he first appeared in our midst, but became a huge and heavy beast before he had to be given to the animal shelter upon our move to Bethesda. His successful growth only happened because Aaron insisted on taking him to the vet when he failed to thrive, which is where we learned that iguanas need calcium to survive--a nutrient singularly lacking in lettuce, which was all he was getting at that point. Aaron did very well by Igliz.
	I did NOT welcome Eddie with any enthusiasm, but grew to like the little fellow. Though perhaps not the cleanliest of creatures, ferrets are engaging and cheery, always bustling about in a spirit of peace on earth, good will to all. Alas, Eddie was not a healthy speciman. He had pancreatic tumors, which the vet said was common with his ferret patients, attributing the problem to overbreeding. When I told this to Allan Janus, he thoughtfully suggested cold showers. Aaron had to mow a lot of lawns to pay for Eddie's medical treatments.Eddie had some grand times with--DESTINY! Destiny was a winsome LADY ferret.
	Destiny joined us sometime after Eddie did--she was Quite a Card. Often, when she was feeling frisky (and ferrets ALWAYS feel frisky, unless actually asleep), she would tease the dog by nipping his toes (the only part of him she could reach) and darting around shrieking with laughter, as the dog, (who could have swallowed her whole) skittered about in an agony of irritation, trying not to step on her. I am shamed to report that instead of rescuing poor Charlie, we would be snortling in heartless mirth.

Heroic Ferrets on the Silver Screen

Note that an account of HEROIC ferrets can be seen in that fine film, BEASTMASTER. The mighty Dar(AKA Beastmaster) pursues fiendish evil-doers with the help of a hawk, a panther...and TWO ATTACK TRAINED FERRETS! At the climax of the movie, the VALIANT FERRET leaps out of Beastmaster's back pack onto the villain and BITES HIS THROAT! Thus, the villain pitches into the flames, and Good prevails.I am sorry to add that the ferret perishes with the villain--but to assuage our grief, we are given to understand that the other ferret will be having babies shortly.See clip at right--get ready for a thrill packed ferret adventure!

Snakes

We had a bunch.

They were always sneaking out of their cages and appearing where one would least expect a snake to be. Like as when you were sitting on the can, for instance, gazing into the middle distance, and a slithering sound on the floor would announce that a snake was reappearing in our midst.The star was Clyde, the ball python.

Clyde moved in with us as a little guy, but grew ever more stout and handsome, lithe coils of burnished gold, twining about Aaron's arm like a living bracelet.However, Clyde's burgeoning appetite for cute little mice--two and three a week he devoured, and asked for more--was not only distressing, but also, expensive! So, one day in June 1996, Aaron took Clyde to the Animal Hut, where the snake was instantly installed in a new home with a plump $100 price tag on him, and Aaron was generously given a bag of ferret food in exchange. They also kindly gave him a discount on a waterfall device for the iguana cage, so for a time Igliz enjoyed a Versailles like splendour. The smell in Aaron's room was another story altogether, but at least it was no longer augmented by the pungent mouse odour that once added its piquant note to the others.

Hawks. What can I say.

In high school, Aaron decided that HAWKING was his new avocation. He apprenticed himself to a hawking master, and trapped a hawk a year for a couple years. Such creatures! They would stand on the perch in the back yard, and the local crows would go nuts, hurling insults, shrieking. The hawk would stand there, staring into infinity with cold golden eyes, motionless, majestic, ignoring the vile rabble. The cats cowered about, nipping into the yard as far away as possible from the hawk's circle of power. Particularly difficult for them were the evenings--Aaron would bring in the lordly creatures to watch Simpsons with him. Pausing only to shoot a stream of hawk pee into the air, the birds would focus on those plump little meals AKA cats. The cats were not loving this strange freak of Aaron's. Each year, the hawk would be released back into the wild after hunting with Aaron for a season.

Cats, cats, more cats

Beatrice first introduced us to Oskar in the Christmas of 95. After graduating, she decided to do the Grand Tour. Naturally, we offered to take care of Oscar. Well, we didn't actually OFFER, but she assumed we would, so she just dropped him off and took off for parts unknown.Oskar was the inspiration for MUCH artistic production, see link. And of course, he himself is an artist--see Oscar Artiste.

	Having only 1 dog and 1 cat when we moved to Bethesda--obviously inadequte-- we quickly got two new kittens, Caleb and Aubrey. But in a devastating accident, Caleb was killed--accidentally--by Charlie. We were shattered.
	Aubrey was so lost and alone after Caleb's death.So, we instantly got another kitten-- In came Pepper (AKA NutCase)!The two kitties did very well together--until Aubrey also died, of kidney disease. We were again devastated, and I personally vowed to never get another male cat.

Except, Bertie

So, we went shopping for a FEMALE kitten who wouldn't die so quickly.There was a particularly winsome marmalade one at the Montgomery County Humane Society pet page. We visited, to acquire the creature. But there was Bertie, ankle high, gazing up thoughtfully at Lawrence every time he paused in his pursuit of the elusive marmalade--who nipped under the bed, into the closet, always out of reach. When I sat down, Bertie climbed into my lap. Kismet! We signed the papers, and brought him home. BEST CAT EVER.Also the inspiration of many movies, see link.

And then, good lord, the SKUNK

In 2003 Aaron returned home (to reculer pour mieux sauter, as they say), accompanied by Rasputin, a young skunk. The two older cats were aghast, but Bertie frisked about with the creature, who appeared to enjoy it. When Aaron departed for Europe, Rasputin decided to get an eddication with Joy in Vermont.After which, we could leave trash cans on the floor without fear of tippage. Also, no more skunk doodoo strewn about the place: a Good Thing. Rasputin was eventually done in by peanut butter. I don't want to talk about it. Enough already.

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