My mother was horrified when I brought the newt home from a visit to a friends farm.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
We have split up the publishing duties, but we welcome everyone in IAN to do daily diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
Ok, we have a current diary schedule. If you would like to fill in, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMom a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FSNMom is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday: BadKitties
Tuesday: bigjacbigjacbigjac
Wednesday: Caedy
Thursday: weck
Friday: FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:broths
Sunday: loggersbrat
If you'd like to be part of the Itzl Alert Network, please leave a comment asking to join, or send us a message asking to join. We'd love to have you. The bigger our network, the less likely someone will be stranded all alone.
My dad wasn't concerned at all. He told me to keep the turtle bowl clean with rainwater or melted snow added as needed, and to provide natural habitat in the bowl, too. My newt had sticks and rocks and leaves and algae to use for food and hiding, and it was a matter of pride for us to not allow my mom to discourage me. My newt lived with me all through out the winter, but in the spring I decided to take him down to our local creek and release him.
Because we had moved to a more rural area, my dad encouraged his girls to explore the natural world more. In the suburbs we kept snakes and big moths and caterpillars, but we had more room and more range in the country, so we found more critters to keep. We had baby turtles from the ponds and chickens living in the garage. We had a bunny, dogs and of course, more snakes and bugs. It turns out crayfish don't revive from being frozen, and that you have to check white mice carefully is you want two of the same gender. Make a mistake with that, and you will learn that baby mice can squeeze through the bars of a mouse cage!
Have you ever enjoyed keeping a wild critter for a pet ? What was your most unusual pet ?