Ferrets, fish not ideal pets
Elizabeth St. John, Contributing Columnist
Issue date: 10/19/05 Section: Lifestyles
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Being the sensitive person that I am, I tenderly patted her on the shoulder and said, "I'm sure you were very close, but how long did you have the fish before you had to flush it?"
"Three years," she responded. I was astonished. How in the world could a fish live that long? As far as I'm concerned, pet fish are only supposed to live a couple of weeks. The only reasons fish in the wild live longer are because they have to get big enough for us to eat them, and because they probably aren't so "harmless" and naïve as the fish we're allowed to keep in the dorm. So I asked the girl if she was going to get a replacement fish.
"I can't," she cried. "I'm not ready yet. I have to mourn for this fish and learn to deal with my loss before I can even think about getting another one."
You have to admire her, or anyone else that can fight the urge to overfeed a fish. They also deserve credit for making a commitment to the type of pet that rarely lasts the gestation period of a mosquito. I wanted to suggest another kind of pet, like a ferret, but it probably explains more about my short comings than hers. You can't over -feed a ferret, and they might last longer than your dorm contract.
Elizabeth St. John is a contributing columnist.
"Three years," she responded. I was astonished. How in the world could a fish live that long? As far as I'm concerned, pet fish are only supposed to live a couple of weeks. The only reasons fish in the wild live longer are because they have to get big enough for us to eat them, and because they probably aren't so "harmless" and naïve as the fish we're allowed to keep in the dorm. So I asked the girl if she was going to get a replacement fish.
"I can't," she cried. "I'm not ready yet. I have to mourn for this fish and learn to deal with my loss before I can even think about getting another one."
You have to admire her, or anyone else that can fight the urge to overfeed a fish. They also deserve credit for making a commitment to the type of pet that rarely lasts the gestation period of a mosquito. I wanted to suggest another kind of pet, like a ferret, but it probably explains more about my short comings than hers. You can't over -feed a ferret, and they might last longer than your dorm contract.
Elizabeth St. John is a contributing columnist.
