Going to the pet store has been a family treat for several years.  We have a pet, a cat.  She is a calico cat.  She was born in a cardboard box in a neighbor’s garage.  Now I wish I took two or three or more of these darling kittens.

     So, we do go to the pet store at least once a year to soak up the pet possibilities. Recently, we went to that pet store. My husband and our son who is visiting from L.A. headed to the largest glass enclosure.  I sat down on the ledge in front of the glass. “It’s a Monitor Lizard.” he said. We lived where this animal came from in Florida, so I tapped on the glass.  It turned and faced me without malice.  It was a pet for some time and then came to the pet store when it was big enough to eat the family dog.  I liked the lizard. It was not for sale.  We moved on.

     I avoided the large spider’s container.  I was glad it did not move at all.  I will never like any size spider. The employees were opening cages and putting animals into travelling containers.  Little girls were bending over boxes of baby bunnies.  Some employees were taking bunnies with them.  Three employees were taking the full length of a Burmese Python and putting it into a long container to travel.  My son overheard that they were taking certain animals to a nearby yacht club for a visit.

      A woman came up to me with a medium sized parrot on her shoulder.  As a child, I had ducks.  My mother had turkeys and geese… I had raised a nestling bird one summer to adulthood.  I have had a positive time with birds.  We have geese and ducks in a pond at our home now.  The woman asked me if I wanted to hold her parrot. Hesitant, I said “Yes.” It hopped onto my index finger.

     I think I did something wrong.  It bit me as hard as it could on my index finger.  I gave the bird back to its owner.  My husband, my son, and I left the store. “That hurt” I said.  It did not bleed. I called my daughter that night to tell her about my finger.  She took the bird’s side and said that all birds are wild and need socialization. I responded that the Python went to the party and the parrot did not.