Established
in 1937

 

Bob's Corner

All this talk about our current home menagerie has put me in a mind mode of memories about pets through the years. Back in the Olden Days, my family lived on Hyatt Street in the Linda Vista section of San Diego, and I recall having a gold fish and a hamster, although not simultaneously.

Unfortunately (for the fish), I was too young to understand about the need for gilled critters to stay underwater. My experimenting with “fish out of water” was fatal (for poor Goldie). The hamster, who was unnamed, escaped from his cage, and then darted outside when my Mom opened the back door, eliciting several shrieks (from my Mom, not the hamster.) Some time later, my Dad recaptured the rodent, and I think he (the hamster) was given to a neighbor.

A few years later, we acquired a bow-legged, oddly shaped Chow. He was the runt of the litter, and I named him Yankee Clover, having stolen the name from my Mom’s perfume bottle. Yankee and I had some great adventures in the canyons that then existed in Linda Vista. He used to follow me to Chesterton Elementary School too, and my Mom would have to trudge there to get the pet. The canyons are all filled now and covered with houses and stuff. After we moved to Dunlop Street, some nasty person made up stories about Yankee, and we had to take him to the Humane Society. Too bad. I loved that little guy.

On Dunlop, maybe to make up for the loss of Yankee, my Dad got me a white rabbit. That was a mistake, as all he wanted (the rabbit) was to get outside. We had little room in the house, so the bunny was relegated to a small space between the refrigerator and the kitchen counter. Mr. Bunny was not happy, and kept crashing against the chunk of plywood that served as his cell door. I don’t remember what happened to the carrot chomper. Maybe he was given to a neighbor?

We’ve had a Google number of cats and dogs, especially when we lived in rural Poway. Uncaring folks would dump unwanted felines and canines nearby, and quite a few managed to escape becoming coyote entrees; then live with us.

Also in Poway, we had a terrific Standard Poodle named “Sheba,” several other dogs that were mostly insane, plus a donkey and two Shetlands; and we raised rabbits, chickens, and a milk goat. We also had a white rat and a tarantula. Fortunately, as I have herpetophobia, none of our children or their friends brought us any snakes. But we did have some lizards as temporary guests. I don’t mind them; it’s snakes that creep me out.

If you have pets, you’ll need vets, which can lead to debts and sometimes nets. But the happiness they bring lessens the sting. And that’s enough rhyming and alliteration for this week, except to say that we enjoy the features of our creatures. Sorry.

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