7 Quick Takes Friday, Meet our Pets Edition!

1

We’re heading off to spend a long weekend in Atlanta soon, so instead of writing a full post, I’ll use my takes to introduce you to our family menagerie. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do :D

2

This is Hecate, our “free” cat. She showed up on our doorstep as a starving stray and proceeded to claim us as her own just as soon as we guaranteed her a lifetime supply of FancyFeast. Among her favorite pursuits are drinking from the fish tank, kindly opening up our house to wayward rodents, and hanging out with her BFF, the Pope Emeritus.

3

Next up are the bees. They are gracious enough to provide us with honey and wax as well as keeping my dad up to date in his marathon running skills. Move over, zombie run, it’s time for the bees to get their turn in the spotlight!

4

Our chickens are the next addition to our happy family, supplying us with eggs, and, um, fertilizer. We like to pretend they‘re our devoted companions, even though their actions clearly state that they’re more inclined to regard us as potential snacks.

5

My fish are my babies. The advantage of having live bearers is that they are, in the words of Charles Dickens, “always presenting me with tokens of their affections.” This makes it remarkably easy to spend an obscene amount of time tending to their well-being. They just look at me with their little eyes, and before I know it I’m feeding them five times a day, cleaning their tank once a week, and vigilantly watching them for signs of new progeny.

6

The turkey, Richard, was given to us in an unfortunate switch-up of chicken and turkey eggs. By the time we discovered this deception, Richard was already a member of the family, so our chicken coop is now home to 26 chickens and one turkey. One of the outstanding traits of domestic turkeys is their profound lack of intelligence; flocks have been known to drown in the rain simply because they wouldn’t stop looking up at the sky. Ours wallows around miserably in the rain but hasn’t seen the need to commit ritual suicide quite yet, though I’m not holding my breath.

7

Our koi pond. Don’t be entranced by its pretty exterior and the colorful fish; their favorite pastime is consuming their own offspring. When the ill-fated babies aren’t meeting their doom at the hands of Kronos-inspired parents, they are placed in a tank and proceed to devour each other until one or two of the most powerful are left. It’s like organic voodoo!

Thanks to Conversion Diary for hosting!