Childhood pets.

[hell2bwith76]

I remember we always had a Cat when i was a kid . Apart from that i had a few odd pets too .Perhaps one of the biggest influences on me from a pet was when i had a Pet Magpie .One of our gang was an expert climber and had climbed a tall tree to get to a nest with young .He asked me if i wanted a young Magpie and i couldn`t resist. Having fed it and nurtured it for a few weeks i felt it was ready to fly ,so i took it to our local Playing field which was close to where i lived and gave it it`s 1st lesson . Just threw it into the air and watched to see if it could fly ! We had many skills then .
A few times it just crashed back to the ground but then ,finally it flew ! From that day it was a real "pet". It lived outside ,free to fly and it would vanish around dusk and when i woke up it was perched on a dressing table mirror in my bedroom. One of it`s habits was to follow me to school . I cycled to school and often he would settle on my shoulder and hitch a ride . He never bothered with the Cats ,in fact they were more scared than he , lol .
Sometimes i would catch the bus and he would follow the bus as far as he dare . I didn`t really want him to be too exposed as most people don`t like Magpies. He did have a habit of dropping little shiny things ,such as ear rings etc ,on my dressing table . People left their windows open and he`d nick bright, shiny stuff .
There is more to the story but you my get bored . Now lets hear/see your childhood pets ?..

 

[hell2bwith76]

The forums are quiet lately ?

 

[LadyOnArooftop]

The forums are quiet lately ?

Possibly because the forum's being flooded by spam (imho), and all the truly great posts (usually mine) get swallowed up.
Returning to the OP...
We didn't have any childhood pets, which is fortunate because we were so poor we'd have ended up eating them. At the moment I do have a pet seagull... it's true. I feed it most days. You may very well ask why... and I'll tell you - because it's only got one leg! so it can't can't compete for food with other seagulls. The funny thing is, as soon as I pull into the beach car park, it swoops down, it knows the car! As a term of endearment and for obvious reasons, I've named him 'Pegleg'.

 

[Bad_Influence]

Possibly because the forum's being flooded by spam (imho), and all the truly great posts (usually mine) get swallowed up.
Returning to the OP...

Completely agree. But they wanted more forums, and that’s what they’ve got.

 

[Poco_Loco]

In Georgetown i had a Macaw named Disco and a Doberman named Bruto ,

They used to share meals out of the same bowl ,

Strangely , we didn't get many unplanned visitors .................

 

[hell2bwith76]

Strangely enough a friend of mine from birth and being neighbours always had even more pets than me ! He had 2 pet Crows ! They were probably "rescued" by the same kid who who got my Magpie. In the fields nearby ,which are where i now live since they built houses on them ,was a natural pond, quite large. The Crows would settle in the tall trees around the pond I wonder if they went on the mate and breed more Crows .

 

[Poco_Loco]

Strangely enough a friend of mine from birth and being neighbours always had even more pets than me ! He had 2 pet Crows ! They were probably "rescued" by the same kid who who got my Magpie. In the fields nearby ,which are where i now live since they built houses on them ,was a natural pond, quite large. The Crows would settle in the tall trees around the pond I wonder if they went on the mate and breed more Crows .

Crows are a bit spooky ... don'tcha think ?

 

[hell2bwith76]

Crows are a bit spooky ... don'tcha think ?

They are kinda scary and big too ! We have a couple of them raid our garden for food .

 

[Poco_Loco]

They are kinda scary and big too ! We have a couple of them raid our garden for food .

When i was a kid me and 2 mates tried to take out a crow with old school break barrel air rifles ,

It was so tough took enough pellets before it could even be arsed to fly away ...

Our "Mini Army" went home tropheeless .

Was OK tho cause when we got back my ma had prepared Milkshakes and Moby Dick was on the box

 

[hell2bwith76]

When i was a kid me and 2 mates tried to take out a crow with old school break barrel air rifles ,

It was so tough took enough pellets before it could even be arsed to fly away ...

Our "Mini Army" went home tropheeless .

Was OK tho cause when we got back my ma had prepared Milkshakes and Moby Dick was on the box

Strange how certain events stick in your brain eh ? If i try to remember something from an hour ago i can`t

 

[Snow]

Too funny. Younger days went fishing with my brother all the time. Was not pets of course..my bro would hook worms on for me as i didn't want to hurt them (now that I type this laughing as heck..food chain for fish) those night crawlers bite. Well..got truly a big fish while out. I begged my brother for over an hour to let it live. Pretty so forth..hour folks out of water! Lol..
He said o.k. never put in bucket of water as thought did as he going to eat him.. did I cry when tossed back in. Dead as door nail. Floated. Then a big snapping turtle snatched it up minutes later..omg did I cry for another hour calling turtle all kinds of names

 

[CrazyCatLady]

I love Magpies- such clever birds with a fascinating communication system.

We had 2 cats and a dog in my most stable childhood home, but the dog used to belong to a friend of my step-dad's and kept going back to his old house, so he ended up going back. The 2 cats, my step-dad had put down before we moved across the country.
Then, we had a whippet, but my parents had no idea how to handle him and he spent a lot of time in the back garden, until a guy who raced dogs took him off their hands.
From then and for a number of years, my parents let me have caged animals- rats, mice, hamsters. gerbils, a rabbit. They were easy to move and we did that a lot! Rats were my favourite- absolutely beautiful animals. Very clever, affectionate, very easy to train and surprisingly clean (as long as the owner is!).
Then, when we finally settled again; while sozzled (as per usual), my step-father brought a Jack Russell off a family we knew and she became the centre of my mother's world, when my step-dad died a month later. She got out of the garden, one day, came back pregnant by the dog up the road and we kept 2 of the pups. They were with us for over 16 years. Amazing, beautiful dogs who watched and helped my son grow up.

Since I've had homes of my own, I've had cats and at one time, we had a corn snake. I can't live without a pet. When I first moved out of home, I I spent a very miserable few months without a pet and had to keep going back to my mum's, because I missed the dogs.

 

[hell2bwith76]

I love Magpies- such clever birds with a fascinating communication system.

We had 2 cats and a dog in my most stable childhood home, but the dog used to belong to a friend of my step-dad's and kept going back to his old house, so he ended up going back. The 2 cats, my step-dad had put down before we moved across the country.
Then, we had a whippet, but my parents had no idea how to handle him and he spent a lot of time in the back garden, until a guy who raced dogs took him off their hands.
From then and for a number of years, my parents let me have caged animals- rats, mice, hamsters. gerbils, a rabbit. They were easy to move and we did that a lot! Rats were my favourite- absolutely beautiful animals. Very clever, affectionate, very easy to train and surprisingly clean (as long as the owner is!).
Then, when we finally settled again; while sozzled (as per usual), my step-father brought a Jack Russell off a family we knew and she became the centre of my mother's world, when my step-dad died a month later. She got out of the garden, one day, came back pregnant by the dog up the road and we kept 2 of the pups. They were with us for over 16 years. Amazing, beautiful dogs who watched and helped my son grow up.

Since I've had homes of my own, I've had cats and at one time, we had a corn snake. I can't live without a pet. When I first moved out of home, I I spent a very miserable few months without a pet and had to keep going back to my mum's, because I missed the dogs.

It sounds idylic . I wonder if you are aware about the dangers of rats ?( not much in pet Rats ,just wild ones ). As you say they are very clean and very intelligent animals .From what i have read though ( we have neighbours who just decided to keep 2 chickens 1) Rats are the most noted carrier of lethal diseases to man on the Planet . They spread their Urine as they search for food ,in order to find their way back to their home .Very clever eh ?.
Unfortunately if you or moreso a young child ,happens to rub their hands in the soil which is part of a rat trail they can catch nasty diseases .
Pet rats should be kept clean ,as you say ,and they should be safe enough .

 

[CrazyCatLady]

It sounds idylic . I wonder if you are aware about the dangers of rats ?( not much in pet Rats ,just wild ones ). As you say they are very clean and very intelligent animals .From what i have read though ( we have neighbours who just decided to keep 2 chickens 1) Rats are the most noted carrier of lethal diseases to man on the Planet . They spread their Urine as they search for food ,in order to find their way back to their home .Very clever eh ?.
Unfortunately if you or moreso a young child ,happens to rub their hands in the soil which is part of a rat trail they can catch nasty diseases .
Pet rats should be kept clean ,as you say ,and they should be safe enough .

Lmao. Ermmm...thank you for taking time out to make me aware of that. I did, indeed, know about their inability to hold their urine and with any animal (even the cats) I wash my hands after handling them and before I prepare or eat food. Please don't fret on that score.
As a child, I admit- perhaps I wasn't as fastidious as I am as an adult nor as I was as a parent with my own child (although my 'child' is now a healthy fully-grown adult), but fortunately (or unfortunately) I survived the many rats I kept as pets.

And the snake, which carried salmonella in its skin.

And the many other dangers I came into contact with, including humans.