Critters and the children who love them

There is something warm and furry in my house. It has a pink nose and demonic red eyes that provide a counter balance to it's seemingly cute and cuddly nature. It runs in the night like a ghost passing through walls and it searches the dark recesses of it's lair for buried treasure. It has freakish hands that grip like mine as it opens pockets of treasure and reveals the morsel tuck within.

As often happens to a parent despite my best effort at strength I is was undermined by a vast array of elements poised against me.   These include the begging eyes of a child and the sympathetic support of a grandfather.  It is enough to make the strongest mountain cave in upon itself.  Grandfather's are in the unique position to support any desires of their beloved grand child while being able to walk away to the tranquility of their own home.  Ahh... what a luxury.  At the same time be careful of what you reap my mind reminds, as the very same child is filling himself with diabolical plots.  In this diatribe I shall avoid saying anything else and leave it to imagination of what the future may hold for grandpa.  He may be surrounded by more critters then he will know what to do with.  These ambitions could bring change to the quiet tranquil environment currently providing sanctuary should a certain child decide to attend college in his little Kentucky town.  I tried to be strong, I tried to resist.  I held out until the last moment but eventually failed.  I gave in and I am not proud of my weakness.

Children have a desire for animals even if they often don't know what to do with them when they get them.  I must buttress this comment however by saying that Noah has proven to be exceedingly competent in his animal management.  Of course this confidence is intertwined with the clever ruses utilized to obtain his ultimate desires but isn't that to be expected?

There is a natural cycle of life.  Babies are born, nurtured by their parents and released into the world.  It can be a baby duck or a lion cub, the process is always the same.  Of course as we all know through personal experience, the length of the human nurturing process often leads a child down the path of over nurture.  There is a fine line between what is enough and what is too much.

Perhaps if we look closely, there is a reflection of this same desire in the eyes of our children.  Sometimes we are so busy nurturing we forget to see the same desires within them.  When I was a child I had two rats, an aquarium filled with mice I had collected from the garage, four dogs, a number of temporary strays, a parrot named Menard, and God knows what else.  I am not sure how it made me grow but I am sure it did something.  Already in Noah's 13 years of life his own pet stable has endured the loss of his turtle Calypso that was run over by the neighbor and the first iteration of a hamster who lasted one day before rigor mortise set in and he was discovered as a stiff.  Noah attempted mouth to mouth resuscitation and with no success we decided it was a heart attack and forever named him Cardiac.  Things weren't easier with the pet frog that created such a stench in the kitchen I released him into my fish pond allowing him to determine his own fate.  Or perhaps, the fighting fish that keeled over when my southern town endured a four day winters stretch with no electricity.  In retrospect I suppose I should have put it by the fireplace and risked the potential of a fish fry.


Despite these setbacks life marched on as did Noah's love and humanity toward the creatures of the world.  Every page of research conducted and carefully recorded, every picture viewed and video watched, every visit to the pet store or reptile fair have opened new insights and new curiosities.  Maybe giving in on a little hamster wasn't so bad after all.  I still say however the tarantula is out.