When I was little we went to the Bronx Zoo quite a bit and the snake house totally freaked me out . I always stood outside while my family went in. No snakes for me in or out of a zoo. Thankfully none of your sadistic dorm mates fed the puppy to the snake for viewing enjoyment.
Apollo eventually grew to be larger than "snack-size," although he also walked with a limp, due, no doubt, to a skirmish of some sort with some of the house's residents (not the snake) - in retrospect, a fraternity house was probably not a great environment for a puppy.
We lived in a small town in Southern Alberta for 16 years. Apparently someone had a pet python and it got a bit too big to handle, so they let it go free in the sewer system.
Imagine the horror one young mom experienced when the python popped it's head up out of the toilet in the family bathroom! She was so afraid she screamed and ran out of the house. The python went back down the drain and for weeks the citizens of our town were afraid the python would pay a surprise visit to their house as well. The python never was caught, or if it was, the news was not made public.
When I was in college, my three roommates and I decided we wanted pets. But everyone's pet had to be weird--no dogs, etc. I ended up with a hedgehog, another guy got a bearded dragon lizard, two other guys went in a pair of degus, and there was also a moon crab and a black emperor scorpion in the mix. A surprising number of those animals actually made it out at the end of our lease. Something about college must activate a caregiving instinct in young men!
When I was little we went to the Bronx Zoo quite a bit and the snake house totally freaked me out . I always stood outside while my family went in. No snakes for me in or out of a zoo. Thankfully none of your sadistic dorm mates fed the puppy to the snake for viewing enjoyment.
Don't think I didn't think about little Apollo becoming a snack for that snake, whose name I have since learned was, "Cletus."
Bill! No wonder poor little Apollo used your dorm floor for his personal potty! You scared the p*ss out of him.
That is a gruesome thought! Thank goodness they didn't think of that!
Apollo eventually grew to be larger than "snack-size," although he also walked with a limp, due, no doubt, to a skirmish of some sort with some of the house's residents (not the snake) - in retrospect, a fraternity house was probably not a great environment for a puppy.
We lived in a small town in Southern Alberta for 16 years. Apparently someone had a pet python and it got a bit too big to handle, so they let it go free in the sewer system.
Imagine the horror one young mom experienced when the python popped it's head up out of the toilet in the family bathroom! She was so afraid she screamed and ran out of the house. The python went back down the drain and for weeks the citizens of our town were afraid the python would pay a surprise visit to their house as well. The python never was caught, or if it was, the news was not made public.
Man, that's terrifying! Makes you not inclined to want to linger in the bathroom, even if there's solid reading material available.
When I was in college, my three roommates and I decided we wanted pets. But everyone's pet had to be weird--no dogs, etc. I ended up with a hedgehog, another guy got a bearded dragon lizard, two other guys went in a pair of degus, and there was also a moon crab and a black emperor scorpion in the mix. A surprising number of those animals actually made it out at the end of our lease. Something about college must activate a caregiving instinct in young men!
Paul, I love the weird pet thing - I hope your hedgehog never escaped into the ceiling to terrorize young men.
Quite a testament to the value of a liberal arts education! Also a good story prompt for a fictional story from a woman's point of view!