I'm also glad you're back, DD. When I noticed the word "banned" in your status, I couldn't imagine what had been going on.

So your account had been hacked by a local kid, huh? Boy, that's rough. I'm certainly glad we don't have any of those around here. >:(

As for the whole non-conventional pet issue, you have my sympathies, Sparky and PBL. It's not something that I currently have to deal with, being the owner of nothing more unconventional than a pair of darling pussy-cats. I'm fairly confident that my time will come, however, if I go ahead with my plans to try raising a colony of Madagascar hissing cockroaches sometime in the future. Yep, you could say that I'm rather fond of roaches.

Sorry for being off-topic, but he's an avicularia versicolor. He's about quarter-sized legspan-wise now. And as for DD, I banned her account not only to keep the kid off it, but also because he actually told me DD was letting him use the account. Which is another thing to be ticked off about, both for me and DD: someone lying to cover their own indiscretions...

ignorance. you know, people who hate stuff without any real reason. also news reporters that go to wherever something bad is happening and dont even try to help or anything. people like that are why i have a real dislike of people in general.

I'm actually becoming very fond of roaches, too, not just as potential feeders for my tarantulas, but as pets. There are really some neat and bizarre-looking species out there, and they're WAY cleaner and easier to deal with than crickets!

But yeah, people who are ignorant and spout off about any animal that's not a Yorkie or a Lab that someone chooses to keep as a pet are one of my biggest anger triggers. There's just so much ignorance about animals in general; you would think that will the internet and cable tv programming reaching the people who never bothered to read a book, let alone a scientific journal, that such lack of knowledge would be dissipating, but it's not, and the news media is to blame for much of it because they sensationalize so many negative animal encounters.

pitbulllady

I never see myself owning one because I wouldn't like feeding them, but I like snakes. When I was little, I'd actually catch garter, corn and king snakes with my bare hands, and bring them home to show my parents, and brother who always thought they were cool. Even when telling the stories now days, I still get shocked expressions. "But you're a girl!" Yeah, so? I was bit only once, and their musking didn't even bother me. Just because I'm a girl, I'm expected to be terrified of snakes. Sorry, no. Although I sure don't like the poisonous ones.

Beautiful blue spidies, btw. :up:

Concerning animals, as I work in a pet supply store, one thing that really ticks me off is when people who don't like animals come in, and hoping we have something to get rid of them. Whether they're squirrels, raccoons, pigeons, or even the neighbors' loose dog or cat. We actually get people coming in every now and then asking if we carry traps and poisons. I once had a lady who hated her daughter's cat and wanted to poison it to where it looked like a natural death. I got greatly disturbed (having a cat myself, and loving him like a furry child), and when I told her no we don't carry anything like that because we LIKE animals, she said "Well then, I'll just dump it outside of town then, and tell my daughter it ran away." I wanted to call the police on her for animal cruelty! But as she hadn't actually done anything yet, and I didn't have her name or anything, they wouldn't have been able to do anything. It just made me sick. :wiltshock: :sadbendy: :-X

That's just plain evil. I'd have said something horrid and thrown her out. Sheesh, wanting to poison an innocent cat, which her daughter no doubt loves. Some people... :frankiemad:

I wanted to reply to the animal situation, Lynnie. I agree with you about your irritation with animal hating people. I like most animals, and I don't want to kill the ones that I don't like. Just live with them, okay? There's worse situations out there than disliked critters.:P

While I can understand people asking for poison (since you're at an pet supply store, but still...), the lady who wanted to poison her daughter's cat disturbed me too. I like cats myself and what she wanted to do seemed cruel and illegal.

If she didn't like the cat (or cats in general?), then why'd she get it for her daughter? I suspect she'd want to make her daughter happy with the cat, but if she kills it, then doesn't that defeat the purpose? Come on!

Also, to those who missed me during my short absence, thank you for your support. It's great to know so many people missed me. Aw.:D

That happened to someone on a rat LJ community years ago Lynnie. The girl's brother (and I think his girlfriend was involved) poisoned her favorite rat just because he didn't like rats. It died a slow, horrible death and she couldn't save it. She wasn't able to move out, so she just had to go on knowing he might do it again.

My parents hated rats too. My dad caught me playing with the neighbor's baby rats once, dragged me inside, and beat me with his belt.

Guess what dad? I STILL LOVE RATS. You taught me something that day, but not what you meant to.

I got the belt from my father on more than one occasion. I don't even remember why; probably for having the childish nerve to express a dissenting opinion. If the belt wasn't handy, the handle of a wire flyswatter was. At least my mother only used her hand. I wish that they'd been stupid enough to try that when I was old enough to strike back, so that I would have had an excuse to hit them with the massive retaliation that they so richly deserved. But hitting a child is the act of a coward, and cowards don't hit people who can defend themselves, do they? I, too, learned a lesson from that belt and that flyswatter. I learned how to hate.

Animal cruelty sickens me to the very core. :'(

I was spanked by my parents too. Although they only did it when we were extra bad. :scaryberry: They used their hands mostly, but sometimes wooden spoons from the kitchen. It's always been a running joke in my family that if we're not good, we not only would get coal under the Christmas tree, but wooden spoons in our stockings. 8D My dad did break one on me once. It split down the middle. Ouch. :macwor: