Re: Pet supermarket

February 28, 2004

>Hi Sue,

How funny... I have never met a dog like this before Peanut... But I

must admit I really think it is pleasant... Although I do watch her

closely, because you never know... But the guinea pig would be in the

cage when they are alone together...

The guinea pig I had earlier, was the baby of my friends two guinea

pigs. So I was excitingly awaiting his arrival, and when he was born

I visited him every day until I could take him home. So he was so

tame and such a nice little fellow, called Knoette (Translation:

" Tiny " )...

Actually turtles and turtoises (sp?) are one exception from the rule

about tropic animals here. But the ones who are allowed to get them,

are first and foremost allergic children who can't have other pets.

But there are of course some people who have tropic animals anyway,

smuggling them into the country. Once in a while there's a piece in a

newspaper about some python or something like that found outside

after it has escaped from it's owner. The owner never turns up,

because they would be charged with a felony. The snakes most

normally end up at the zoo here where I live, because they have a

huge " troparium " . At times they have had trouble though, because they

get too many animals, more than they really can cope with. Also

rescue parrots and such end up there often.

You would have enjoyed being here last spring and the year before. We

have a huge forest bird here called a capercaillie hen according to

my dictionary. I don't know if you have them there? Anyway, when they

are in season and want to breed, they find a big space in the woods

where they " play " ... For some reason one has decided that the

playground outside here and the parking space outside our store, is a

good place to wait for her prince to show up. The scary thing is that

when they are in this state, they show no fear whatsoever against

humans. She lets the kids pet her etc. The first time she showed up,

I called the local ornitological foundation. They first asked me to

use the dog to scare her off, maybe making her go back to where she

belonged. But she just flew up in a tree, waited a little while and

came back. So they came here. They even tried to imitate a breeding

to see if she would be happy and go back into the forest, but she did

not want to do that. So they ring marked her, put her in a box and

drove away with her for release farther away. But the next year she

was here again. So I had to call them again. The reason why they

didn't want to let her stay here was #1, a neighbor has a Rottweiler

who he does not keep on a leash even if it is forbidden not to,

secondly the kids did not leave her alone. They thought it was so fun

and did not understand that it is not natural to pet such a bird. It

is not a good thing for her to get too familiar with humans... So

they had to driver her off again. I expect to see her again in a

couple of months or so... I should keep my camera ready this time...

She is a real beauty and huge...

It is amazing how your hamster lived happy days on the loose in the

house for so long... I can imagine that he had a large stash of nuts,

he-he... It is amazing how much they can fit into those cheeks...

I really can't understand how people can do things as just leave

their pets, like the owners of your turtle, or mistreat them in any

way... Here we don't have all the terrible problems you do in the US

and many other places, e.g. we don't have dogs on the loose. If a dog

is seen on the loose, it is soon taken in by someone who calls either

the owner or have the police come get them and take them to a kennel

which takes care of them until the owner shows up, which they

normally do. What is a problem though, is cats. It is so easy to get

a kitten for free, and every year somebody gets one for their summer

vacation and leave them somewhere when they go home. It is awful... I

guess that it in general is easier here, just because we are so few

people, only 4.4. Mill citizens in the whole country which is quite

large area wise... It is not so easy to hide things then...

How old is your daughter who takes small animal care in school? How

cool that they have that as a subject...

I used to have two cockatiels and a while I also had a big cockatoo

too. The cockatiels were so great. The first one I got, the female,

was fantastic and so tame. She laid eggs a lot though, so I had to

give her a hubby to make her happy. They weren't the perfect couple

though. He was so jealous of her, because she went to us to get her

head feathers touched up, he was too rough when he did it, and she

didn't like that... And he really wanted to get a cuddle too, but he

was such a chicken and not tame at all. The only thing he dared, was

stand in front of me while I blowed on his feathers, he loved that. I

was asked to take the cockatoo from somebody who could not give her

what she wanted, she did not have a good life there anymore, picked

her feathers etc. I can't remember what they are called, but she was

the kind that has pinkish/peach colored feathers on their chest and

head... She was so cute, talked a lot etc. But she had a thing with

women and was very difficult to deal with. Whenever she wanted

something, she yelled so loud the whole neighborhood could hear it.

But when a male friend of mine came over, she acted like a little

baby, laid down in his arms and had such a good time. So he took her

over and had her for years until the previous owners suddenly came

(!) demanding he paid a lot of money for her cage. He got so mad,

told them they could take the bird and they did... I hope she is

having a good life now... The cockatiels I never had in a cage. They

were free to fly around. But as I got more and more joint problems, I

had real problems taking care after them. Having birds loose, means a

lot of cleaning... I finally found them a good home in a town an hour

from here, a home where they could keep on living the way they liked.

I could never force them to stay in a cage all the time, it was just

not fair to them. I had such a hard time with it for a loooong

time... I missed them so much... I kept in touch with the new owner

for a long time, but finally I just could not take it anymore, I

missed them so much... Even today it is awful to think about the fact

that by now they have probably passed away... It was so awful having

to get them adopted, because when I get a pet, it is for life... I am

sure that you know exactly what I mean after your experience with the

turtle when you were sick...

BTW, about big birds... A pet store here had a big Ara Parrot when I

was a teenager. Actually I just heard that she still lives happily,

but in a private home now. At some point she started being unhappy

living in a store. Her name was Ari, and she was such a cutie, a huge

one... Once she sat on my shoulder and I suddenly realized that I had

to go because my bus was going soon. She did not like that a bit, she

wanted to sit on my shoulder. So she bit me on the ear, and actually

made a whole through the thickest part of the cartiledge on the side

of my ear... I screamed for her owner to get her off me, LOL... Can't

remember if I reached my bus though...

Good we have antihistamines, right??? I do react to some dogs too,

but luckily not Yorkies. They are among the dogs that are better for

allergic people, if you react to fur. Yorkies have hair like humans,

no fur... And they don't shed like most dogs either...

Aase Marit

February 28, 2004