Introduction to the Indoor Menagerie

Here are our house pets, in no particular order :c).

Photo 1 is M.J. (Merlot Junior) and Bella. M.J. came 1.5 years ago straight from her mom, Merlot, a stray at New Life Girls' Home. She is affectionate, adorable, and all that a good cat should be. Her favourite things to do are lay by the woodstove, and cuddle on laps :c). She was a wee tiny thing when she arrived, but immediately put Dickens in his place by hissing and scratching.

Bella arrived this past summer. She is a five-year old Quaker Parrot. She had been posted on an area message board, and I enquired. She had been both spoiled and neglected, eating foods that were not appropriate (for example, Chicken McNuggets and French Fries!!!) and left alone constantly. She had learned to call, which is a particularly piercing vocal habit that is difficult to live with. (Quakers call when they are lonely and searching for their flock; anyone giving a parrot a home, especially a Quaker, should know that they require inordinate amounts of companionship). She has come a long way, is tame with Alison and I, but rude to anyone else. She is fiercely protective of her cage (another Quaker trait), but once off quite an amusing companion. She is here only on a temporary basis, but has been an interesting learning experience.

Photo 2 is Dickens. He is 2.5 years old and is either a purebred Border Collie (according to our vet) or perhaps mixed with Australian Shepherd. He has the Border Collie eye and intelligence (within two days of his arrival at 10 weeks he was crate trained, house trained (day and night), and had learned to potty on command!), however he grew to 72 pounds as an adult which was a bit of a surprise! He was dumped in Benson Park, in Picton, at 9 weeks old, and we picked him up a week later when no one claimed him. He's a very smart boy, but requires constant reinforcement that he, in fact, does not run the house!

Photo 3 is Amadeo. He was our first cat, and he is quite nervous and aloof. He condescends to sit with both Alison and Claire, but will not give the time of day to anyone else. Most people who visit our home have never even met this cat because he has many hiding places and uses them well. He was completely terrified of our dog until our newer cat arrived. M.J. taught him how to hiss and scratch and get the dog to leave him alone.

These are the family pets; the kids also have their own projects. You've met Snickers already in this blog. Alison has a guppy tank and sells guppies to the local pet store as a side income. Iain has a community aquarium which also appears to be making guppies at a mad rate.

Kevin just pointed out to me that I have not yet posted family pictures; this was intentional since initially this was a public blog and I was not comfortable with posting names, photos and personal information. So I'll be updating in these other areas soon!