# Stupid mistakes with animals



## JohnEDove (Jan 2, 2009)

Okay kids, let’s compare notes here on our failures as pet keepers when we were young.
Since I am likely the oldest one here I’ll start.

Age 5, we lived in Alaska, my parents kept and bred tropical fish. One day I caught a coffee can full of Needle Fish under the Juneau Douglas Bridge. Being a brilliant child I knew they needed filtered water and air so I dumped them in the aquarium with my parent’s fresh water Angel Fish water and all. 
Result, a total loss of all Needlefish, a couple dead Angels and one VERY sore backside on a little boy.

Age 6, we moved out on Glacier Road to a bigger place, it is spring and the snow has left the ground but the ponds are still freezing over at night, I get up about 0400 and take my dog for a walk a couple of miles down to the Glacier Flats. While there I spot all these neat frogs on the bottom of the flats ponds. I proceeded to gather as many as I can fit into a burlap sack I found on the site. They were sooo easy to catch, since they were still hibernating which I did not know. It takes me a couple more hours to get home where my parents rip into me for going down to the flats alone at the time the Black Bears were coming out of hibernation. My father takes the frogs, now awake and alert, into the woods and dumps them. Result, a bunch of dead frogs who froze or starved in the coming days because I pulled them out of hibernation to early and one VERY sore backside on a little boy.

Age 7, the Salmon run was in progress, best time to be down in the creek, I spot these really great little fish in the water so I run home and get the large aquarium net and a small bucket. I must have gotten a dozen Sticklebacks that day and since I now knew that our aquarium fish were fresh water fish and these were fresh water fish I put them in with one of my mother’s Bettas the one that had the most area of the divided long Betta tank.
Result, a bunch of dead Sticklebacks, one dead Betta and…….yep that again.

Age 10, while wandering the wood I find a very young Lynx alive in a jaw trap. I throw my coat over it and bundle it up so it won’t hurt me then use a branch to open the trap. I carry my new “pet” home squirming all the way. When I get home I figure out that I can keep it in the chicken coop till my parents get home to take it to the vet to have it’s injuries treated.
Result, Dead Chickens, dead Lynx and a broken nose from my father backhanding me for my stupidity.

Age 13 or 14, I visit my grandparents in New York State, while at my Uncle Art’s Cabin on Lake George I catch a bunch of Allegheny Dusky Salamanders and Eastern Newts. My Uncle Identified them for me and suggested I release them but I had a better idea. I put them in a mayo jar with a bunch of moss and hide them in my clothes till I went home.
I did not bother telling my parents about the dead amphibs I pulled out of the jar when I got home a few weeks later.

Well there are just a few of the stupid mistakes I made with live animals as a youth. Has anyone else ever made any animal mistakes or was everyone else in the world born with super animal skills and knowledge.


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## Rochelle (Jan 2, 2009)

O.M.G....
That was the best reading I've had since.....Ford was in office.....  

Thank you for the hearty laugh. Please consider submitting to Mr. Harvey. 

I was born dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks, where animals are concerened. I learned fast and with a butt load of guilt to guide me...but nothing so funny as what you wrote.
Hope your backside recovered.  

:clap: :clap: :clap:


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## Tim Benzedrine (Jan 2, 2009)

Well, when I was probably 6 or 7 years old, I found a possum on the way home from school.. I learned somewhere that possums played dead, so I took put him in the front yard to wait for him to quit playing dead. Two days passed before I realized there was not to be a second coming for this particular critter, for of course he was dead in the permanent sense when I found him.


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## IrishPolishman (Jan 2, 2009)

I went fishing with my father for the first time when I was in the first grade.  I believe he actually let me have a day off of school to fish with him.  We just did some bobber fishing and caught 2 decent sized trout.  We threw them in the cooler and took them home.  Somewhere along the way home, dad realized, that the following day was "show and tell" for me at school.  So we decided I should take the trout into class and share them.  It was Horrible!  I had to keep the trout outside, still in the cooler, but in the hot sun until it was show and tell time.  I opened the cooler in the classroom and the smell was horendous!  I couldn't have been more proud of myself.  The funny thing was that the class all lined up and in a single file manner came round and each had a chance to pet the dead fish.  

Not exactly a pet story but a very true highlight in animal memories for myself.


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## El Viejo (Jan 2, 2009)

Most of my mistakes have simply been me trying to keep an animal as a pet that I knew nothing about. The results were generally a dead animal, and me getting somewhat wiser. I do remember putting a bunch of butterflies into a cage of an old man's beautiful white doves, thinking that the doves would enjoy these tasty snacks. I didn't get a sore backside (that time), but I did catch an earful.

I have another story to relate, that I am not proud of, but it did actually take place. It's not a pet keeping story, but this is what happened. As a young teenage boy I remember some papaya plants growing right outside my bedroom window. One night I heard the dogs making a racket, and when I went to investigate, I saw a large possum up there eating my dad's papayas. As any South Texas kid would do, I killed the papaya thieving varmint. Upon closer examination, I noticed that this particular possum was quite healthy and had a particularly attractive coat. I decided to remove his pelt and salt it down so I could make something beautiful for my mother. I then took the dead possum and dumped him in a garbage can. The next day I went to take out our trash, and when I lifted the lid from the garbage can, there was that possum just grinning and hissing at me, naked as a jaybird! Needless to say, I felt horrible, and that time I was sure to put him out of his misery.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Jan 3, 2009)

Gah! 

Okay, I have one that I've posted before. It's sort of a long story, so if you are interested in reading why toads at bathtime are not such a good idea, just follow this link.


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## codykrr (Jan 3, 2009)

well when i was a kid about 4 or 5 , i had caught a bunch of wood lizards....i carried on playing with them feeding them and i did quite well till i picked one up by its tail and off it went tail in one hand and a tailess lizard in a bucket....so i went into the house crying because this tail was still wriggling, and grabbed my moms nail grooming kit. i grab the super glue and glued the tail back onto the lizard which was alive and well still, and a few days later the tail started to rot and sink so i showed my dad whaT i did and what was wrong and he proceeded to laugh histerically at the futile attempt of "surgery" i come up with, needless to say he told me that was a defense for lizard so i felt dumb, but a little wiser at the same time......also as a kid we would catch fireflys by the hundreds and smear the green flourecent goo on our selves and run around pretending we were aliens....stinky goo covered aliens, that usually got us in trouble due to the stench and gross out factor that was involved....i also used to go to the creek and catch snakes and bring back dozens of them, id play with them for hours till my dad got home freaking out wondering why i was playing with cotton mouths and copper heads......the moral....kids will be kids and its always fun to look back on the dumb stuff we did in retrospect


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## desertdweller (Jan 3, 2009)

Am I the only one here who thinks getting a broken nose as a child isn't funny?  No child deserves that not matter WHAT he/she has done.


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## Skullptor (Jan 3, 2009)

I brought a praying mantis cocoon inside once. I will never forget the image of my mom running around the living room frantically trying to vacuum all the babies up.

I found a frog while I was with my dad at work. He was working and I was playing nearby. I asked if I could keep it, he said no. I thought if I could hide my peas under my mashed potatoes, I could do this! I hid it under my shirt and tucked my shirt in my paints. No one ever told me frogs make noise. On the ride home my shirt is moving and I am trying to keep my arms folded over it. It starts make this god awful noise. My dad asked "you didn't take that frog? Move your arms" I did and in a panic I say "How'd that get there?"


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## OTwolfe (Jan 3, 2009)

When I was a kid, my mom learned the hard way to always check my pockets before washing my pants. I was (and still am) a major tomboy. I would wander around the woods in my back yard, picking up cool rocks, fungus, etc and put them in my pockets until I could get home and inspect my finds more closely. We have Eastern American Toads in abundance. Toads are very cool looking, and fit very conveniently in pockets. However, being the busy child I was, I would sometimes forget the contents of my pockets. Mom really did not enjoy picking waterlogged toad carcasses out of the washing machine. oops!


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## codykrr (Jan 3, 2009)

i agree that no kid should have their nose broke, but you have to understand everyperson raises kids different, especially back in the day....i know my grandpa will still whip my dads butt ad my dads 49, needless to say older generations didnt get sent to their room they got beat....harder times called for harder punishments


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## RoachGirlRen (Jan 3, 2009)

Hoo boy. When I was very young, as in young enough that my parents were in charge of researching and caring for our critters (so 4-7 or so), we had a number of gaffes. I think some of the worst were:
- My parents thought keeping a hamster in a wire cage with inappropriate bar spacing was a swell idea. The hamster, probably out of miserable boredom with its completely inappropriate life, squeezed through one day... or tried to. It got half way through then was asphyxiated to death by the bars crushing its chest.
- After they were done neglecting hamsters for my benefit, they got my sis a gerbil. Singular. In a 5g tank. On cedar. With nothing at all to do. It essentially itched and self-mutilated itself to death. :8o 
- The icing on the cruelty cake was probably a baby RES that was placed in one of those horrible little plastic habitats with the palm tree in the middle that have likely spelled death for thousands of turtles by now. No UVB, no heat source, crappy pelleted diet, insufficiently clean water... needless to say it didn't last long. 

I think watching critters suffer and die in my household at such a young age is possibly what has made me such a stickler about the care and pre-purchase research of animals. Seriously, it was severely unsettling for me and my parents would just brush it off and buy more. Horrible.


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## JohnEDove (Jan 3, 2009)

I remember those turtle habitats from the 60s. A friend of mine bought his child one. The food was freeze dried ants and the poor turtle was dead in two weeks.
One of the best things that came out of that era are the laws against selling baby turtles though I still see idiots selling them and those stupid kidney shapes containers.


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## JohnEDove (Jan 3, 2009)

desertdweller said:


> Am I the only one here who thinks getting a broken nose as a child isn't funny?  No child deserves that not matter WHAT he/she has done.


Ms. Desertdweller, 
Though it may seem like a harsh form of punishment by today’s standards, as someone else pointed out, those were different times and you cannot judge the actions of the past by the standards of today.
That said, based on the percentage of youth criminal actions in those days compared to today, I'm not sure their harshness did not produce better citizens over all.


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## desertdweller (Jan 3, 2009)

codykrr said:


> i agree that no kid should have their nose broke, but you have to understand everyperson raises kids different, especially back in the day....i know my grandpa will still whip my dads butt ad my dads 49, needless to say older generations didnt get sent to their room they got beat....harder times called for harder punishments


Child abuse is child abuse, no matter what "day" it was in.  Every wonder why it is still rampant?


 IF YOIU ARE READING THIS AND HAVE BEEN HIT GET HELP!!  GO TO SOMEONE SAFE AND TELL THEM!!!  YOUR PARENTS OR WHOEVER HITS NEEDS HELP TOO.

BEING A CHILD SHOULDN'T HURT.   IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!!  NO MATTER WHAT!


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## Tim Benzedrine (Jan 3, 2009)

JohnEDove said:


> I remember those turtle habitats from the 60s. A friend of mine bought his child one. The food was freeze dried ants and the poor turtle was dead in two weeks.
> One of the best things that came out of that era are the laws against selling baby turtles though I still see idiots selling them and those stupid kidney shapes containers.


I had one of those when I was in the first grade. I can remember taking it to show and tell, and the teacher wrote a story about it on a big easel in front of the class. I still have that big sheet of paper, I ran onto it not too long ago..
 I was very excited and proud of my turtle, and of course absolutely clueless as to how to take care of it. It did not live long, as I recall. Maybe a month. I regret that, but I still have to count it as a fond childhood memory.
Those containers usually had a plastic palm tree on the "island" in the center of the dish. Was there ever any chance that those turtles would ever have eaten the stuff they sold to give them? I seem to recall it being ant eggs, but I could be mistaken.
In those days you could buy baby alligators in dime stores, for Pete's sake!


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## halfwaynowhere (Jan 4, 2009)

desertdweller said:


> Child abuse is child abuse, no matter what "day" it was in.  Every wonder why it is still rampant?
> 
> 
> IF YOIU ARE READING THIS AND HAVE BEEN HIT GET HELP!!  GO TO SOMEONE SAFE AND TELL THEM!!!  YOUR PARENTS OR WHOEVER HITS NEEDS HELP TOO.
> ...


glad i'm not the only one who finds that appalling. I mean, I had my share of wooden spoons broken across my backside, and many other odd punishments my parents thought up, but it never left bruising or marks, let alone a broken nose. Hitting a child in such manner is not an appropriate way to deal with a behavior that stems from curiosity of the natural world. Children should not be punished for exploring curiosity. None of these stories sound like you were intentionally trying to harm the animals. You simply didn't know any better. So why is it okay for your parents to beat you when you didn't know you were doing anything wrong in the first place?


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## -Exotic (Jan 4, 2009)

This is the coolest thread ever pet keeper has there mistakes.

Age 7: While holding roses the pet store rose hair, She didnt like something and kicked hairs at me. I scratched with all my might a few days after my arm was better.

Age 8: Ant farms, Just like us but much, much smaller, it was cold and i got the last of the woodants in the fields of alberta before they went to sleep for winter. I kept them in a tight kritter keeper, but note to self while they build there city, they stack stuff so the top got larger from the moved sand. The ants escaped from the spaces of the kritter keeper. I notice the ants were gone when I went to check on them. Thats when my dad with his golfbag stormed in the room with me in it. His hands turned white you could see his pulsing vain growing by the second. Then in the distance ''Jeremy the grilled cheese is ready!'' My Dad '' Ill make you Jeremy turn into grilled cheese right know'' To be continued.


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## JohnEDove (Jan 4, 2009)

Sorry Halfway but your questions are off topic. Perhaps another day in a thread on that topic.

Exotic,
I always wanted an Ant Farm from the first time I saw an ad in a comic book for them. I hope to build one for Harvester Ants some day so I can try studying the Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum), that are native to our area, in captivity. I've been watching them in the wild for years and taking notes and though you cannot purchase an Ant Farm of them with a queen the ants are also a local species so all I have to do is get off my behind. Some day......


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## IrishPolishman (Jan 4, 2009)

I used to love catching grasshoppers during recess while in elementary school.  I don't know why but I would catch around 20 a day and let them go in class after recess.  I had to of done that for years.  My pockets would be absolutely stuffed and I thought they must have liked being inside better than out.  I still don't think anyone ever caught on to the idea that it was me letting all the bugs go inside the building.  I'm sure the janitor swears to this day about trying to figure that one out.


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## codykrr (Jan 5, 2009)

johnedove, are you talking anout horney toads by chance? because if you are i know in oklahoma there very protected...i was told that if you were to get caught with one its a serious fine or 6 month in jail, though im not sure if your talking about the same species, or if colorado has strick laws on them if they are id just be carefull, my wifes aunt got caught with a "horny toad" in Ok ad got a 100 dollar fine....she then got a permit to breed them to re release them into Ok....because i guess there becoming more rare there...like i said im not sureif were talking of the same sp. but its worth the reaserch. i dont want to see anyone going to jail for having or helping an animal they love......like here in missouri....if you even step foot on a "cooter turtle" reserve down in the boothill thats automatically 5000 dollar fine and up to a year in jail...very protected species....so rare only 4have been tagged in the last 10 years. also here another very protected sp. is the "massugua rattle snake".


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## JohnEDove (Jan 5, 2009)

Yes they are also called by the name Horned Toads or Horney Toads, but they are Horned Lizards,  and to my knowledge they are not protected here. They are almost as common here as Lesser Earless Lizards and Six Lined Race Runners.

As for Massasauga, I must move about 50 a year off one road I take on my way back home from my favorite herping area.


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## UrbanJungles (Jan 6, 2009)

El Viejo said:


> The next day I went to take out our trash, and when I lifted the lid from the garbage can, there was that possum just grinning and hissing at me, naked as a jaybird! Needless to say, I felt horrible, and that time I was sure to put him out of his misery.



This is easily the saddest and one of the most disturbing things I've read on this forum.  I'm not judging you, I don't know you...but jeez...I hope you don't believe in Karma even if you didn't mean to do it at the time.  At least you recognize the wrong in this unlike so many others who don't really give the animal a second thought.


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## IrishPolishman (Jan 6, 2009)

I will agree with that about the opossum.  However I had a squirrel incident that I still feel horrible to this day about.  Sometimes weird things just happen even when our intentions aren't bad.


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## El Viejo (Jan 6, 2009)

UrbanJungles said:


> This is easily the saddest and one of the most disturbing things I've read on this forum.  I'm not judging you, I don't know you...but jeez...I hope you don't believe in Karma even if you didn't mean to do it at the time.  At least you recognize the wrong in this unlike so many others who don't really give the animal a second thought.


Believe me - it was both sad AND disturbing for me as well! . . . and no, I don't believe in karma. Good and bad happen to everyone. Both are inevitable.


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## codykrr (Jan 6, 2009)

hey john were do you find so many massugua rattlers at? becAuse in northern missouri there really rare...


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## JohnEDove (Jan 7, 2009)

codykrr said:


> hey john were do you find so many massugua rattlers at? becAuse in northern missouri there really rare...


I am in South Eastern Colorado. I suppose the reason we have more herps of all types is our lack of population density. Our county has a total area of 1,541 square miles with a popilation of only about 5,000 most of which lives in the northern 1/4th of the county. The majority of Southeast Colorado is sparcely populated at best. BTW, Massasauga are a protected species in Colorado even though in some areas they are thriving.

 El Viejo,
I know that folks who have never butchered their own livestock for food would not understand but the first time I took over butchering rabbits I made a very similar mistake to your Opposum mistake. My father had always knocked the rabbits in the head then butchered. My problem was I was not as powerful as my father so I had one wake up during the skinning. After that I always made sure I slit the throat when they were out then started the skinning.
Now days when I butcher I can't even stand for the other animals to watch.

Yes folks our mistakes can make us more sensitive.


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## jenniferinny (Jan 8, 2009)

My biggest mistakes have always involved entrusting other people to use common sense while looking after my pets.. 
I hate to be too demanding when someone is doing me a favor, like taking my aquarium setup for a couple months until we closed on our house which my inlaws offered to do. I was quite grateful that they were taking them, but, kept the details to a minimum as I was over there once a week and figured it couldn't get that screwed up if they used the premeasured food I left and I did water changes as usual when I visited. Well, it turns out despite their knowledge of the existence of the ammonia test kit which was left right next to the food container, there was no thought given to the ammonia content in Windex before using it to clean the glass and hood AND wiping the inside of the tank above the water line with Windex. They called me in a panic when fish started acting weird and I drove over to see what the problem could possibly be, but, the mystery was solved promptly as the Windex was still resting on the aquarium hood..
The ammonia level was about off the test chart and all the fish died including my pair of Moonlight Gouramis who had been building a bubble nest the week before.. Aargh!
Most other issues have involved my Mom's incredible absentmindedness when she does things like let the dogs out to run when the chickens are free roaming or putting pets back into the wrong enclosures after handling them. She holds them because she thinks one looks lonely and that she's doing it a favor, but, then totally undoes any good by not paying attention to what enclosure she puts it back in. Yeah. You don't want to go back to your room two hours later to find out your two male hamsters who happen to be mortal enemies, have spent the afternoon together. Missing eyes, missing ears, infections a couple days later- basically a huge mess because someone didn't double check what they're doing..
Before the internet, I made a lot of husbandry mistakes. In my defense, I did research in books at the local library, but, that in no way compares to the more up to the minute nature of the internet. Unfortunately a lot of the advice I read had a detrimental affect in its application. I had an Iguana book published by a well known publisher and the care advice within it definitely caused the death of my iguana. That was something in the neighborhood of 15 years ago and I shudder to think anyone thought that book was good advice.. 
 My worst mistake in recent history was a couple years ago. I had an escape artist cat that I was trying to keep strictly indoors except when he was on harness or out in the screened room. One day he darted out between my legs as I was bringing the dogs back in from their walk and I was so annoyed with him I said "Fine, see if I care, I'll catch you later." (Probably his tenth escape that week) BUT, he was dead ten minutes later about 50 feet down the road. I should've just taken the time to catch that rascally bugger like I had done all the other times. Granted, he was difficult to keep in and it was probably inevitable, but, I could've prevented it that day..


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## arachnocat (Jan 8, 2009)

I had two hamsters a neighbor gave me when I was 7. Both were females and I was warned not to ever put them together...
Well one day I decided to take them both out at the same time and play with them on my bed. They immediately attacked eachother and ripped eachother apart. It was horrible and pretty scary!! I had no idea hamsters could be that vicious. We took them to the vet and the people there were so nice they fixed up up for free. They had little stitches and one lost an eye but they lived for several years after that. And I made sure not to ever let them "play" together again


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## cjm1991 (Jan 8, 2009)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> Well, when I was probably 6 or 7 years old, I found a possum on the way home from school.. I learned somewhere that possums played dead, so I took put him in the front yard to wait for him to quit playing dead. Two days passed before I realized there was not to be a second coming for this particular critter, for of course he was dead in the permanent sense when I found him.


ROFL. I laughed for a good 5 minutes, thank you for sharing


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## cjm1991 (Jan 8, 2009)

El Viejo said:


> Most of my mistakes have simply been me trying to keep an animal as a pet that I knew nothing about. The results were generally a dead animal, and me getting somewhat wiser. I do remember putting a bunch of butterflies into a cage of an old man's beautiful white doves, thinking that the doves would enjoy these tasty snacks. I didn't get a sore backside (that time), but I did catch an earful.
> 
> I have another story to relate, that I am not proud of, but it did actually take place. It's not a pet keeping story, but this is what happened. As a young teenage boy I remember some papaya plants growing right outside my bedroom window. One night I heard the dogs making a racket, and when I went to investigate, I saw a large possum up there eating my dad's papayas. As any South Texas kid would do, I killed the papaya thieving varmint. Upon closer examination, I noticed that this particular possum was quite healthy and had a particularly attractive coat. I decided to remove his pelt and salt it down so I could make something beautiful for my mother. I then took the dead possum and dumped him in a garbage can. The next day I went to take out our trash, and when I lifted the lid from the garbage can, there was that possum just grinning and hissing at me, naked as a jaybird! Needless to say, I felt horrible, and that time I was sure to put him out of his misery.


I agree with Urban, this is one of the most disturbing things that I regret somewhat for reading.


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## El Viejo (Jan 8, 2009)

cjm1991 said:


> I agree with Urban, this is one of the most disturbing things that I regret somewhat for reading.


You think it's disturbing to read? You should have been there!


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## Arachnobrian (Jan 8, 2009)

Interesting thread.

Hmmm, caught a grass snake once as a kid, while bringing it home on my bicycle, it got caught up in the front wheel spokes. The snake never made it home.


The "Death tank", I purchased a large hex tank years ago when they first came out.

I tried several different species of fish in this tank many times with the worst luck. Every time a problem occured I spent a fortune for fish medicine, but the result was always the same. Dead fish.

Then I tried to keep a gecko and a skink (I think that's what it was) in this tank. Result dead skink in days.


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## Aurelia (Jan 9, 2009)

This isn't so much a stupid mistake as it is a miracle. I once kept a big tan locust/grasshopper as a pet for a year until I guess it died of old age. I kept it on gravel, hand-fed it coleus leaves by holding the wings, and it never jumped away. I cried when it died.


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## Marcel_h (Jan 9, 2009)

When i was 5 or 6 years old i had a guinea pig and i decided he needed a bath
He was happy swimming in the tub  after a few minutes he started to dive(atleast i thought so). My mother came in just in time to save it from drowning.

We had a parakeet wich i let out of its cage to fly in the room  he got stuck in one of the sticky fly catching things when my dad freed him he was almost bald.


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## Veneficus (Jan 9, 2009)

When I was young, in the early '70's, they used to have these mail orders in the back of magazines for pregnant seahorses.  Of course my mother and I didn't know any better, so she ordered one for me.  We got 1 pregnant father, and a small plastic aquarium kit with a plastic tree for the seahorse to hold onto.   All the babies were born and I thought it was neat.  Then they started to die...of course we had no idea why. Looking back on it, I now realize we knew nothing about keeping saltwater fish since we only had fresh water when I was growing up.  Not to mention seahorses are difficult to keep because they need to feed constantly...so sad some company used to do this...


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## Rochelle (Jan 9, 2009)

As horrible as some of the innocent mistakes we all made were - that's what they were. Innocent mistakes. 

Guilt makes a wonderful teacher. The lessons are never forgotten.
This is the best thread I've ever had the pleasure of reading on this entire site. :clap:


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## bhoeschcod (Jan 9, 2009)

My mistakes keeping inverts i just plain old suck at keeping them i might as well give up one year i found a little beetle and stuffed it in my jacket and forgot about it and it got out and bit me:8o or the time when i cought 5 wolly bear caterpillers and i got a huge rash and it itched for a day i itched at scholl and we were outside and my friend said lets run around like idiots so i did and i fell and a whole wack of ants attacked my i swear that was the worst year ever i was 11 but yet i still keep ants


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## bhoeschcod (Jan 9, 2009)

Rochelle said:


> As horrible as some of the innocent mistakes we all made were - that's what they were. Innocent mistakes.
> 
> Guilt makes a wonderful teacher. The lessons are never forgotten.
> This is the best thread I've ever had the pleasure of reading on this entire site. :clap:


you can say that again:8o


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## Galapoheros (Jan 10, 2009)

Veneficus said:


> When I was young, in the early '70's, they used to have these mail orders in the back of magazines for pregnant seahorses.  Of course my mother and I didn't know any better, so she ordered one for me.  We got 1 pregnant father, and a small plastic aquarium kit with a plastic tree for the seahorse to hold onto.   All the babies were born and I thought it was neat.  Then they started to die...of course we had no idea why. Looking back on it, I now realize we knew nothing about keeping saltwater fish since we only had fresh water when I was growing up.  Not to mention seahorses are difficult to keep because they need to feed constantly...so sad some company used to do this...


My mom bought one of those kits for me too!  I think it was around the late 60's or early 70's.  I was prob 6 or 7.  I still have some of the Seahorses!  My mom got creative and glued 3 of them on a background of the ocean when they died almost 40 years ago.  I've got the pic somewhere, I've looked for it, I'll try to find it, no luck yet.  We did get babies but it didn't go anywhere from there.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Jan 10, 2009)

Here is the ad that you guys probably responded to:







Even worse though was this.....


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## JohnEDove (Jan 10, 2009)

OMG, I remember those ads. I never responded as I was in the military back then and I can't remember where I saw the ads either, old age kicking in, but I remember them both.


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## El Viejo (Jan 10, 2009)

I remember those too. My parents wouldn't allow me to get anything like that. The only thing they let me get through the mail was a taxidermy course from the Northwestern School of Taxidermy. I still have those booklets somewhere. The only thing I ever stuffed was a grackle. It looked horrendous, but the cat attacked it, so that convinced me it was lifelike (even though it had few feathers, and lumps where they didn't belong). I guess that event would qualify this post to fit under the title of the thread, as that was yet another mistake with an animal!


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## Tim Benzedrine (Jan 10, 2009)

JohnEDove said:


> OMG, I remember those ads. I never responded as I was in the military back then and I can't remember where I saw the ads either, old age kicking in, but I remember them both.


They were often in comic books, but I also remember them in "Boy's Life" magazines as well as in the back of barious hunting and fishing magazines.

I was too oung to really remember it now, but my sister ordered the sea-horses for a school project. I can just vaguely remember them arriving. I'll have to ask her, but I'm guessing they did not fare any better than anyone else's.


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## Drachenjager (Jan 10, 2009)

my dad went to dip some bird dogs once and thought that since they had fleas and ticks pretty bad he should double the dosage... they howled all night till they died. never had them again. never dipped a dog again. never ever again i cried all night. I was 5 .

I let Galapogoheros hold a centipede once while i was getting the container and he got bit. I think the pede died from food poison after that lol 
(sort of not quite true but close lol)


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## bhoeschcod (Jan 10, 2009)

Drachenjager said:


> my dad went to dip some bird dogs once and thought that since they had fleas and ticks pretty bad he should double the dosage... they howled all night till they died. never had them again. never dipped a dog again. never ever again i cried all night. I was 5 .
> 
> I let Galapogoheros hold a centipede once while i was getting the container and he got bit. I think the pede died from food poison after that lol
> (sort of not quite true but close lol)


thats really sad:8o


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## Veneficus (Jan 11, 2009)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> Here is the ad that you guys probably responded to:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


OMG!!!  That is the seahorse ad!  Wow, it only cost $2.98--  I never saw the monkey ad though... that is bad.

This was the other thing my mom bought me when I was young--I was disappointed because they never looked like the picture:


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## joshuai (Jan 11, 2009)

i caut a bunch of tree frogs in oregon once and took them home when i was about 8 i had them in a dome like cage and put them in the window to get some sun and came back an hour later to some stretched frog leggs


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## Skullptor (Jan 11, 2009)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> They were often in comic books, but I also remember them in "Boy's Life" magazines as well as in the back of barious hunting and fishing magazines.
> 
> I was too oung to really remember it now, but my sister ordered the sea-horses for a school project. I can just vaguely remember them arriving. I'll have to ask her, but I'm guessing they did not fare any better than anyone else's.


What a flash from the past with those pics, Tim. After I ordered the "sea monkeys" and found out they were just shrimp, I realized then that I probably won't reach my quota selling "Grit" magazine either....well, there was always my birthday to look forward too.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Jan 11, 2009)

Those sea-monkey ads were strokes of deceptive merchandising genius!
I had them, but I think we bought a set at a toy store somewhere. I remember that we still thought they were pretty neat, even though they didn't turn out to be humanoid crown-wearing denizens of the deep.


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## bhoeschcod (Jan 11, 2009)

Glad it worked for you it didnt for us


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## Scorpendra (Jan 11, 2009)

child abuse is wrong, but a lot of kids these days lack discipline and respect. there's a line somewhere to some extent.

i learned to keep the lid secure when dealing with certain types of fish and also to do my own research about pet care.


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## bhoeschcod (Jan 11, 2009)

Um is this torwards me?


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## smokey progg (Feb 9, 2009)

one of the things i i did when i was a kid was catch common crabs and fish from the sea and keep them in a bucket but in the hot sun the all died


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## Dave (Feb 9, 2009)

desertdweller said:


> Child abuse is child abuse, no matter what "day" it was in.  Every wonder why it is still rampant?
> 
> 
> IF YOIU ARE READING THIS AND HAVE BEEN HIT GET HELP!!  GO TO SOMEONE SAFE AND TELL THEM!!!  YOUR PARENTS OR WHOEVER HITS NEEDS HELP TOO.
> ...


Good for you. Pets are fun, but this is what's really important


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## Lucille (Feb 9, 2009)

I definitely did my share of catching starfish and crabs and so on and putting them in buckets of warm water, they didn't make it.

As far as discipline, we all have theories on child rearing, and whoever raised John did a fine job.


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## LeilaNami (Feb 11, 2009)

I think my worst experience was keeping crayfish in a plastic bowl of tap water.  I couldn't figure out why they were dying.  My mom always did the water changes on the fish bowl (with a goldfish and betta ugh) so I didn't know about chlorine.  I think I was 7 or 8.  I also did the sea-monkeys bit around that time.

My little sister (who is now nine) is getting into this phase.  She insists on keeping house geckos in shoe boxes and no matter how many times I tell her they will die, she keeps doing it gecko after gecko.  Now she gets a severe reprimand whenever she's caught.  She also seems to think the thought of torturing bugs is funny which she also got a reprimand from me and from our parents.  She really likes animals but is severely misguided.


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## JohnEDove (Feb 11, 2009)

Lucille said:


> whoever raised John did a fine job.


Thank you Ms. Hollander, coming from someone of your caliber I take that as an extreme compliment.
Nice to run into you on yet another forum, welcome to AB.


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