I'm always looking for more, and Joe always dissuades me. Rightly so, because we don't have the room or the money.
We have fish. Two fish. Pink fish. Big gray sucker fish-thing beast.
We have guinea pigs. Both with long, luxurious hair. The red one is Jameson, and the B&W one is Griffin. And they are groovy. Aside from monthly butthair trimming (it's long...it makes butt dreadlocks).
We have a five-foot-long gopher snake. Sammy. He is kind and affectionate. IT'S TRUE. Sammy, unfortunately, eats mice. Live ones. I do not look at the mouse. I take the mouse home, put it in the feeding tank, lower Sammy into the tank, and leave the room. Five minutes later, Sammy is fat and happy.
It was feeding time last week. Get mouse, put mouse in tank, go to grab Sammy, and he freaks out. Hissing and rattling and all pissy. Eyes clouded over...he's getting ready to shed. Hence, his vision is shot. Hence...no eating. For me, this is the mouse's ticket outta here. "YOU'RE FREE!" I exclaim as I set him outside in the garden. He just sits there, thoroughly confused and scared shitless.
"OK...I'll go inside, get the critter box, come out and if he's still here, I'm keeping him."
Happy mouse:
Pissy snake: