Pets Past and Present

	*Our Pets*

I have been an animal lover all my life. If someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up I would tell them "I want to live in the San Diego Zoo!" I came close and for about 10 years did have to opportunity to work with big cats. I and my husband do have some pets and probably would have more if we didn't live in an apartment. That's probably a good thing! Below are some pictures and information about our current menagerie.
	Here are our cat "Baby" (15 years old as of 2006) (left and below) He really knows how relax! he is tough to get good pictures of because he smokey colored coat acts like camouflage. Baby's mom was Koa (pictured right) who is no longer with us.

This is our newest cat "Citrino" ( below) This was a stray young adult that tried very very hard to get adopted by us and was rather successful. Baby at first would hiss at him anytime Citrino would come near but he doesn't try to fight at all and they even eat peacefully next to each other and slowly but surely they are finding a middle ground. I catch them napping together just a couple a feet away from each other more and more. The new guy will now act like he's going to jump on poor old Baby who hisses and complains but what Citrino actually does is run and jump over him and go away with a cat smirk on his face as if to say "Ha Ha! Fooled you!" Baby knows he can get lots of sympathy from Rus. Since he's got a pretty sensitive stomach his diet has been pretty much restricted to one particular dry cat food or else it's barf city! To help keep the new one satisfied we do treat both of them to alittle canned food at night before bedtime and Baby doesn't get sick anymore and has decided that having the new one around does have some actual positive benefits to it. It's taken alittle getting used to a younger more energetic feline in the house but his antics just endear him even more to us. We have discovered that he can open any inside door in our home, and usually only plays with the closed closet door if he wants to play and you ignore him. He also loves ambushing any feet that are walking by the bed. You walk by and suddenly you feel these paws tapping your feet in swift staccato whacks and the POOF! the attack is over and there's no one there. It's like having a mini Rambo in the house! I told my husband one day that it was a very good thing I used to work with big cats because this guy has the personality of a leopard cub! I am beginning to think one of my favorites has been reincarnated in this little fireball and I am loving every minute of it! he also likes to prowl around Rus's studio because he knows Rus is a catlover to the max who seems to speak their language. Who knew past experience with leopards would come in handy after all this time!
Citrino (also known as the BOC) Big Orange Cat!
Many years ago I purchased an African Gray parrot that was not hand-raised. Not a smart move for your first bird. I felt he needed to be in a more experienced home and found one for him. I knew that I would some day get another parrot. In 1995 I acquired a young hand-raised Sunday (hybrid Sun/Janday) Conure parrot that my son named El Fuego. His name "The Fire" truly matches his coloring and personality. He's very playful and friendly but not much of a talker. He is about the size of a cockatiel but has a much bigger beak and great dark eyes. His cage is behind me when I am at my computer. He's not real fond of things moving on the screen. Makes him screech and holler! Such a movie critic! BIG NEWS! After twelve years of bliss thinking we had a male bird our guy became rather moody and began some strange behavior. Low and Behold he started to lay eggs! El Fuego is really La Fuega! After the infertile clutch was laid and it was clear the bird was just as surprised as we were and wanted nothing to do with the eggs we discarded them. We read up on what was the best thing to do in such a situation and the opinions varied so much we chose to do what we felt worked best for out little friend. Mainly keep her well nourished and decrease the hours of light she was being exposed to. After she was done laying and the eggs gone she settled back down to normal behavior.	El Fuego (or La Fuega I guess) 12 years old in 2006
	There have been 4 clutches over the past 18 months and it was only the last batch that our poor girl showed any interest in caring for just one of the eggs. We though we'd let her just to see if it helped her settle down faster. It did not and discarding the eggs right away without her seeing us do it has been the best method. But what a shock to see the first one sitting in the cage!
I also like reptiles and currently have a beautiful cornsnake (pictured right) that I raised from about a 12" in length back in 1993 to his current size of almost five feet. I even brought him to the local college I was attending to film for part of an upcoming video short project. When I worked with the big cats I also took care of three 11' foot pythons. Since then I have a new rule..I don't take care of any snakes that are longer then I am tall! (and I'm only 5'4") HIs tank has always been next to the birds cage behind so they are quite used to each other. Besides he prefers mice. He sheds his skin quite often so he must be eating well. Time to get the old measuring stick out again and see for sure.	SWNN 13 years old in 2006
My husband and I love watching Discovery Channel's Animal Planet (gotta see who's eating who!) It has saddened me deeply as I am sure the rest of the world feels to have lost Steve irwin "The Croc Hunter" recently. We also enjoy Jeff Corwin's humorous wildlife adventures, and Animal Cops.

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