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Past Time BearsSo glad you posted, Jean, and welcome!! We'd love for you to post more! 
I REALLY like that sign on your door . . . it expresses a lot of my opinions, too! All of my pets have been strays, Humane Society orphans, or furry ones that have just adopted us. We've had dogs, cats, fish, turtles, bunnies, guinea pigs, parakeets, and a ferret. Now that the kids have grown up and out of the house, we're down to 5 cats. A beloved Spitz dog, Cissie, died last year and we're still missing her. I am SO elated to read all of the wonderful animal stories here . . . they warm my soul!
I forgot to mention Fuzzy Ann. As a small child, I had a day-long companion that I loved fiercely . . . one of those big, hairy caterpillars that I named Fuzzy Ann. I built a little sand playhouse for her in my sandbox, so when I had to go indoors at the end of the day, I knew she would be waiting for me the next day in her house. NOT!! I was SO disappointed that she was gone, I cried all day . . . another sign to my parents that I definitely needed a real pet!! 
LuxembearsJean I love your story too. Especially the part about the "fur"niture!!!;)
The reason I think I love animals so much is that they never criticize, they don't care if you are not all fixed up, and they love you back unconditionally (a lot like my husband). He's a gem.
Sue Ann, I really like those fuzzy catterpillars too. In fact, I have even stopped the car on our counrty road, to pick up a fuzzy bear caterpillar(you can see them crossing the road they are so big) for my kids to hold. One time my daughter was holding a catepillar in the house and she lost him. WELL...I was drying myself off after a shower and felt something prickley on my back...her caterpillar was on the towel!!! I was excited to tell her we had found "fuzzy".
I can't tell you how many funerals we have had for lost loved critters...even birds that have flown into our windows and have died, and a stick bug that my daughter adored. I always encourage my children to enjoy the creatures around us and let then be...except if a spider is in the house...sorry...that has to be squashed...arachnaphbioa here. I leave them alone if they are outside though.
Past Time BearsYeah, Judi, I know what you mean about spiders - except in my case, it's just one kind of spider. I got bitten on the arm by a brown recluse and that was totally NOT fun. Thought my arm was going to rot off, among other horrid things I won't mention!! 
So . . . if I see one indoors or out . . . they go to their reward in spidey heaven. Everything else I will leave alone, however. 
LuxembearsOh Sue Ann...how aweful! I have heard how terrible a bite can be from those kinds of spiders. Glad you're okay.
Most bugs don't bother me but I really HATE spiders. I heard in your average lifetime you will eat something like 6 spiders a year. Nice... NOT!
I was cutting out a bear while sitting outside on a quilt...just enjoying being with my children and in the sun. WELL......a fastard ( fast ***tard spider) quickly crawled on to my leg just above my left foot. My daughter shrieked, "MOM!!!!!! A SPIDER!!!!!" and with scissors in hand I reacted with lightning speed to brush it away......scissors in hand, mind you. I thought I was going to need stitches. I gashed open my leg and it bled on and off for the rest of the day. Boy , did I feel dumb!
Past Time BearsOh gosh, Judi . . . I guess in that case, getting rid of the spider did more damage than letting it crawl on your foot!! 
Jean, Welcome! Love your door sign.
Thought I'd share a picture and a story about one of my wee animal lovers.
When Toby (now 11) was about five, we were visiting my sister Chanda in San Diego where she used to be stationed with the Navy JAG Corps. Her apartment complex had a swimming pool and although Toby had barely learned to swim, we were eager to jump in and cool off after a hot day down south.
Before he could even get toe in water, though, Toby spotted a large moth that appeared to be in major distress, drowning in the pool. Quick as a flash, this little tiny kid -- who himself could barely swim! -- crossed an entire ocean (or so it seemed to his mother) of water to rescue the moth, whom Toby later named, "BOB."
Toby held BOB for some time and we even had a small box in which to rest him as he dried off. I was pretty sure chlorine-saturated BOB was a total goner, but a few hours later he flitted off into the night.
Toby, bless his sweet little heart, was absolutely distraught at BOB's departure, and bellowed his cries loudly into the night after his rescued moth. Inconsolable at first, he came around after I told him what a hero he was, to have given "BOB the moth" another shot at life, which would never have been possible if Toby hadn't rescued him.
Here's a picture I was lucky to snap of Toby holding BOB. He was just as fascinated and happy as he looks here!
Past Time BearsLove that story, Shelli . . . and adorable picture!!:D
Posts: 8,574Yayyyy Jean-I burst out laughing at 'that's why they call it furniture-my honey just looks over and shakes his head....he doesn't ask anymore.
I'm so glad you decided to come out and play. I hope you stay. We have an awfully good time here, and there is always room for more furlovers.
Dilu
Posts: 8,574Judi- sorry 'bout your leg.....ouch! :(
Sue Ann, I have seen what brown recluses can do to a human body-I think you are very lucky and paranoia is a healthy thing....they scare me to death....but I don't think we have them here at our new home.
Jean you kind of remind me of my old Auntie Temple. She made peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches every single day. Cut off the crusts, cut them diagonally and left them on one of her Limoges plates on a stump on her back porch in the old Hollywood Hills- Then we would sit by the window and watch the racoons come out to play.....it was great fun watching them eat their sandwhiches. She convinced me that they only liked certain jams and certain peanut butters. (She was a little nutty herself in a perfectly wonderful way) but I have since learned Racoons will eat just about anything, and they too will knock at the door if you are late with the daily aperitif. :D
What a fun topic, and it does sort of explain a certain obsession some folks have for mohair.
Dilu
Past Time BearsSpeaking of raccoons!!! We have had one come into the house through the cat door and enjoy the kitty buffet in the pet room (enclosed patio)!! 
Also, possums have done the same thing . . . sooooo, I have started putting out a bowl of food for the little freeloaders at night and they seem to appreciate it. It's always gone by the next morning.
AAARGH! I hate raccoons. When my marriage was evaporating I spent too much time sleeping on the sofa and those little buggers would come in through our dog door. One night I awoke to the tiniest of noises to find this enormous, lumbering, bandit-masked beast staring at me with green-lit, beady eyes. It swayed back and forth... back and forth... just LOOKING at me, helpless in my flannel jammies on the couch. I shooed it away and it just looked at me. I sat up and bolted toward it and it hardly flinched. I actually had to get to within a foot of it and stomp my feet to get it to ever-so-slowly return to the dog door and make its way back out of the house.
And then, it turned slightly to the right and just stood there for what seemed like an ETERNITY, balefully staring at me through the divided glass of our French doors.
I swear, in that moment I was certain they were the spawn of Satan himself.
A few weeks later, I awoke to hear the most surreal and tinkling laughter coming from the backyard. I walked to the French doors and looked out, expecting to see a party over the fence.
Instead, what I saw was about ten raccoons having a raccoon party in my backyard! They were pulling at the net of the kiddie basketball hoop; they were swimming in the plastic pool. There were two of them rolling left, right, left, right, all over each other, on the grass. One of them was on the deck banging tiny sand toys together.
I figured I was either hallucinating or dreaming and for the first time in my life pulled of those "pinch-myself-I-must-be-dreaming" moves, but I was dead awake, and stood there for fully fifteen minutes watching these crazed rodents have an absolute ball of a time in the yard in which my beloved children played.
It took me about two hours to get back to sleep. I thought they might come in.
In the end, we resorted to competely blocking off the dog door. They would come to it and scritch/scratch... scritch/scratch... over and over again for the first few nights. They liked the catfood in the kitchen, you see, which I discovered when they left their pawprints behind all over my new porcelain tile countertops.
And ever since then, I have found them sweet-faced -- yes -- but literally, just about the scariest creatures on earth. I'd seriously rather pick up a scorpion with bare hands than ever face a raccoon in the dark again.
EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
Fool's Gold Bears....And then there was the time that I bit into my peanut butter and homemade Blackberry jam sandwich, to find that one of the berries had a peculiar taste, and oddly rough texture....When I spit it out to investigate, it was the body of what we call a "Punkin' Back" spider!! Ptooey!!! 
Ptooey!!! Ptooey!!! --Never found the legs. I always washed the berries really good after that...EWWW!!!
DoodlebearsYou Girls and your storys...I just hate spiders. I got up one morning very early to get ready to go off to a bear fair in London where I was to exhibit my bears. I came down the stairs very quietly trying not to waken the family. I was carrying my clothes over my arm so I should dress in the lounge and not waken my husband... then all hell let loose...there was a huge big beastie on my forearm...yikes!!!! I thought I would die. I screamed so loud and so much that even my neighbours were awake. I am such a coward with spiders. I showered again but all day I kept checking my clothes for that nasty little beasty even when I had travelled miles from home to the fair. When I returned from the bear fair I refused to go into the lounge as I didn't know where I had flicked it to. Unconvinced that my son had got rid of it I spent ages searching for any sign of it over the next few weeks...daft as a brush...that's me!
Now back to searching through my mohair stash for the perfect piece of fabric for my latest design. More fluff to block up my cleaner with!
Jane.
website:
http://www.doodlebears.co.uk
http://www.craftyfolksads.co.uk
Winneybears and FriendsWhat great stories...Shelli I can feel how you must have felt meeting a racoon in the dark !Scary and Spooky! That's a funny story about them playing in the back yard. Racoons are such funny critters. I don't much like spiders ...ewww, Laura you ate a black beery spider? They are huge and so gross looking...I see them all the time guarding the best side of a black berry bush. If you even touch their side of the bush near their web they will pounce on you...Scared my city slicker sister in law to death ...she ran all the way back to the house grossed out with only a few berries in her bucket.Her remark was " You didn't tell me they were that big !".
One early Fall morning my husband went out to warm the car up and happen to look over at our neighbors front yard where they had raked up a huge pile of leaves. What caught his attention was some movement...a skunk was on top the pile as was jumping straight up and straight down with stiff legs, toes splayed pouncing on that pile over and over again . It was the funniest thing you could imagine ever seeing . Another morning that skunk was playing with the neighbors cat..they rolled over and over eack other and played chase back and forth all over the lawn.
Living in Oregon for many years I have seen a lot of wild animals playing just like cats and dogs do....Winney
Oh my gosh these stories are a hoot! (Well except when some of you got hurt!!! I'm so sorry and glad you're OK now!!)
Fortunately I don't have a problem with spiders...(course, if I had ever been bitten by a brown recluse, I'd be TERRIFIED!) cause hubby and I travelled to the Amazon jungle in Brazil. You talk about big spiders!! I grew up watching "Wild Kingdom" and "Jacques Cousteau" specials...and LOVED them.. always wanted to do that! We had an opportunity to travel down the Amazon on a river boat (my old boss said it looked like the "African Queen" LOL!) It was SO cool! Course, I am terrified of SNAKES and there were definitely snakes there! But I didn't want that to stop me from the dream of a lifetime! I've been twice now,... hubby 4 times.
But yes, I'm an animal lover too! We now have 3 whippet dogs! We have 2 aquariums too... one 55 gallon tank and one 125 gallon tank. (We used to have 25 aquariums till I needed a room for an office
The whippet girls are just like our kids... even my daughter thinks of them that way Growing up we always had a dog...and I always brought home stray dogs so I could find their owners. Had parakeets, mice (although wild mice scare me) hamsters, fish...
C.W. Huggley BearsWelcome Jean!
Love your sign so much I had to copy it for my fridge! Hope you don't mind...I just love it.
I have four furry cats, one a 20 lb Himalayan, and a Schnoodle (dog). So, although I vacuum constantly, you will find a hair or two or three at any particular time. Oh well. They are indeed my children. So I certainly know what you mean. My husband works for the humane society here in Nebraska and all of our little family members have been rescued from the shelter. It's a no kill shelter and some of the horror stories that I hear about how the animals are treated before they are rescued just makes me ill and then I give my little ones and extra hug. I finally had to tell him that I did not want to hear any more of the stories because I would probably have a lot more four legged family members than I do now.:)
I have a friend that was bitten by a brown recluse about 10 years ago and that poor man has been in and out of the hospital frequently ever since due to that spidey bite and its complications! They are terrible!!
As far as racoons..they are cute from a distance but they are mean animals and not the friendly little creatures that they appear to be. Possums are the oily little critters that I cannot tolerate. We had an infestation of them a few years ago in our back yard and they were horrible, ugly, and slimy rodents. They would eat out of the dog bowl and leave a slimy mess. UGH! :mad:
Well, enough rambling. Just wanted to say welcome to the group!:D
Past Time BearsWHAT A HOOT!!! All of these stories are SO wonderful and I laughed out loud at some of them!! Shelli, your description of the raccoon party was hilarious! Actually, I find the 'coons and 'possums to be really cute . . . until they get destructive. Also, I DO NOT think the 'possums are cute when they show those awful teeth!! However, we try to get along with most of the wildlife around here. Habitats are being destroyed by all the building (I don't like it either!) going on, and every now and then someone reports seeing a coyote strolling down the middle of the road at night. Anyway - just wanted to let you guys know how much I'm enjoying your posts . . . keep 'em coming!
Posts: 8,574Here's my spider story
The Peta Prince collected all sorts of live and rubber creepy clawlies.
He had a rubber tarantula that was on a long tube so that when you squeezed the rubber ball AT the end it would jump.
Bear in mind I am blind as a bat without glasses.
I was taking a shower and when I finished I reached out to pull the towel of the hook.....and you guessed it, out of the towel jumped this HUGE ICKY SPIDER.....or so I thought.....really just the rubber tarantula. :o
He was sitting outside the door, waiting for the reaction and rolling on the floor holding his tummy and laughing so hard when I came out.
Hmmmm I think I owe him one for that stunt....don't you?:rolleyes:
Dilu
Posts: 3,177OH MY GOD!
SPIDER STORIES! What are you trying to do to me girls - give me the heebie jeebies?
LAURE - YOUR STORY MADE ME WANT TO PUKE :o:o
Promise no more spidery tales girls - i'm gonna put a sticking plaster over my mouth tonight in case anything tries to sneak in while i'm sleeping - have you ever noticed how when you hear a story about a spider one turns up in your livingroom!
I've got a spidery story - but i need more therapy sessions before i can relive it here
Penny
Just Us BearsHi Girls,
Joined the board a week or so ago but it has taken me that long to read through the posts from the past few weeks! I really wanted to catch up on what goes on around here before jumping in, and I feel like I know you all really well already! I know quite a few of you from the Edinburgh board too...but couldn't help but wonder what I may be missing out on by not being on this one too! I decided to make the pet subject the topic for my 'debut' post...as I am real animal lover too. I have soooo loved all your stories (excluding the spider ones eeeeukk) and was particularly moved by Millie's before and after pics of her draft horse. I showed them to my daughter who is horse mad and she was gobsmacked that someone could treat a horse that way.:mad:Thank goodness for angels like you Millie. x
I laughed out loud at Shelli's post about the racoons! Has anybody seen the movie 'Gremlins'??? There is a scene in there where the gremlins are behaving very similarly to Shelli's raccons...and I had fits picturing it all!!
I am a veterinary nurse by 'trade' and always have had loads of animals, but recently have started to cut back (as in not getting more when the ones we have pass to the bridge) as we are finding it's too tying when we want to go away. It's a major thing here just to want a weekend away. My mum will have my Silky Terrier "Holly" and the guinea pig, but we also have pet rats too and they can't quite come at that. In fact, rats are amongst the friendliset, most loyal pets you can have, but when you tell people you have rats,the disgust on their faces is plain to see. There is a huge difference between wild rats and the domestic type (they aren't even the same species) but to most people, rats are rats,period!
Anyway, it's good to be here, and I look forward to participating when I can...although I doubt I'll be able to keep up with you guys..you sure talk alot!;)
Hayley
Past Time BearsHayley . . . a big welcome to this board . . . and so glad that you posted on the animal topic. I'm beginning to think that my theory - that bear people ARE animal lovers - is not far from the actual fact!!
PottersHouse BearsHello Hayley and welcome. Since there have been several comments about my draft horse, Captain, I thought I would update everyone. Today Captain weighs in at about 2,000 lbs. He is a great big ton of fun. He is so happy and it shows. He will cut a shine across the pasture and romp and play with the others. He also is a big spoiled baby. He loves to be brushed and kissed. I absolutely love having him around. So the real question is who has helped who?
Delartful BearsWelcome Hayley!! Great to have you hear! I won't be pulling a face at your rats at all!! When I was young, my sister and I had a couple, then when we got older, my sister got really itno rats, and bred and showed them. They are great little animals. Just sad that they get old sooo quickly!
Hayley... so glad to see you here; welcome! Millie, your Captain is so majestic. I showed your before and after pictures to my husband and he was moved to near tears. We have a cable channel here in the US -- Animal Planet; do you have it too? -- and they often have shows on about animal cruelty (the shows are about the Humane Society in various US cities, and what they deal with day-to-day.) Anyway, it was lovely to 'know' someone who had taken on one of these neglect/rescue cases for themselves, with such astounding success!
Back Road BearsOh Judi, I'll admit I laughed out loud at your spider/scissor incident today because that's EXACTLY something I would do!!! Along with some screeching and serious running, far and fast. THEN I'd realize I was bleeding all over the place! I hope you heal quick!!!
Hayley, my hooded rat, Molly, was the sweetest little thing. I had one boyfriend she didn't like and would try to bite - he was one who couldn't understand why anyone in their right mind would have a rat for a pet. Molly had her own bowl of cheerios she'd eat on the table with me at breakfast and she'd go anywhere with me. She loved to preen my hair as she sat on my shoulder watching TV at night. She also liked to play hide and seek amongst the couch pillows too.
As for these spider stories.... there ought to be a warning at the beginning of this thread for all with aracnaphobia to read at own risk. I , for one, am going to bed now and will have nightmares for sure!
Daphne
