Iggy the Iguana
Dad welded a cage for him and placed inside a
piece of driftwood we had found on a
previous beach combing outing. We were
told that they like to eat the red double hybiscus
flowers, which we had quite a few. He did well
for the few days we had him, but one morning
when we went to check his cage we found he had
escaped during the night, not to be seen again.
Ralphie Raccoon didn't belong to us,
but to one of mom and dad's best friends. I
was visiting every chance I got. He really
did bond with me and we had a great
time of playing!
I'll never forget when I would come in the yard
and he would see me. He would come running
at full speed. His fur would roll like that of a bear
as he galloped across the yard toward me. If he didn't
jump-spring into my lap, he would stop and
step up to reach with his nose to greet me.
After rumble, tumble playing in the picture
below, Ralph would let you hold and hug all
over him. He really did love the attention.
Our friends found Ralph and his sister where
they had fallen out of their palm tree nest. His
sister didn't survive the fall. His eyes were
still closed. His mother had gotten killed
on the highway, so our friends raised him
from before his eyes opened. I guess our
human love implanted on him and he
didn't know he was a raccoon!
When Ralph was two, he had a "birthday" party.
He loved playing in his tub of water and the hose!
We also had fish. One special pet was a French
Angel fish dad had caught when it was very
small. He found it under a bridge piling
in a couple of feet of water. She was about
an inch wide. We named her "Frenchy."
In this picture, she had grown to about
four inches. It is amazing how smart fish
can be. She would play hide and seek with
us when we came in the room. She would
go behind the coral rock and roll her big
eyes up at us and when we made our lips
do a kiss motion, she would come out
and swiftly swim up and down the tank.
Frenchy would eat from our fingers and would
let us rub her side and fins with our fingers.
She knew us from strangers. When "strangers"
would come in, she would hide and not come out.
Once she got larger, she would go behind the
coral rock and lay low to the tank bottom.
Our hearts were broken when we lost her to
death some years later.
These are my fish after we moved from
Key West. This is a fresh water tank
whereas the other was a salt water tank
we had in ther keys. Goldy belonged to
a friend of mine who didn't want her
anymore. She had had Goldy for five years.
I took her and placed her in a big tank
with 2 new friends, Amber and Oranche.
I had them for five years which made
Goldy 10 years old!!
