bookofmirrors | Quiz Question #6

bookofmirrors has petted which of the following (living) animals?

A. dog, cat, bird, sea cucumber
B. horse, cow, sheep, conch
C. lion, tiger, wolf, shark
D. all of them

Answer: D

This is my favorite question - the question I've had in my head to ask for forever if I ever got around to making one of these quizzes.

A - I grew up with dogs. Schnauzers, mostly. I've had cats since I moved out of the house. I've babysat birds before, and there's a macaw (I think) at the petstore in Warsaw that I always pet when I'm there. So, of course I've petted all those. The sea cucumber is due to this place in Key West, Florida, where we used to go every winter through about 6th grade. It was an aquarium with a touch tank. I got to touch a lot of marine life there.

B - I owned a horse for a while, but I had already petted several at the fair. Remember, I grew up in the Midwest, so the county fair was chock-full of livestock of just about every kind, so horses, cows, and sheep were easy to pet. The conch is from the same aquarium and touch tank in Key West.

C - This is my favorite. Little known K'La trivia. :) The lion and the tiger were both cubs, actually. There was a travelling something-or-other at HillCrest mall in South Carolina when we went back to visit once, and they had them there. You paid money to hold them, and get your picture taken. And yes, I still have the pictures. Looking back now, I feel kinda bad, 'cause I imagine that it wasn't the best life for them. I hope they were treated well. They didn't look sick, or act afraid, though. The wolf is a cool story. My first husband was a freak about wolves, so for his birthday, I bought him a year's membership to Wolf Park in Lafayette, Indiana. Part of the type of membership I bought him included the opportunity to go meet the wolf he sponsored. I got the alpha male, 'cause that just fit Leo's personality, and I packed Leo up for the long drive to the surprise destination to go see the wolves. We had a special appointment, 'cause his birthday was in December, and the park was generally closed. We got out there, and they brought out Aurora, who was the lowest ranking in the pack, but the friendliest. They wanted to work us up to the alpha male, I think, and also to get the wolves that appeared interested in coming out. After that, they brought Altair, the alpha female. Now, keep in mind, we had just read and signed the rules for interacting with the wolves, which included not letting the wolves lick you. Altair, however, didn't seem to have read the rules, 'cause she started licking my face. At that point, I really wasn't about to tell her no. Besides, I thought it was pretty fucking cool. But seriously, what was I supposed to do at that point? I think they quietly got her to stop, but it was still pretty cool. Chinook, the alpha male, did make his way out finally, and we both petted him, including a belly rub. That was pretty fucking cool, too. I ended up getting a membership for myself after that visit, and sponsored Altair. (Note: I checked the website to see if I could link to pictures of Chinook, Altair, or Aurora, but none of them are there. I imagine they're all dead by now, which is sad. They do have some of Chinook and Altair's pups, though. Miska looks the most like her parents, in my opinion.

The shark was at the same aquarium in Key West, although NOT in the touch tank. They kept a bunch of nurse sharks in a shallow pool, and would give tours of the place at regular intervals. Part of the tour included a guy taking one of the sharks out of the tank, holding it by the tail, and walking around to let people pet it. He said that the texture of the shark's skin had most often been associated with the feel of women's nylon stockings, and I'd have to agree with that. The guy claimed that the skin of the shark was (if I remember the term correctly) dermadental, which meant that his teeth and his skin were made out of the same thing, and that, when you touched a shark, he could taste you. Every time the shark tried to bite someone who touched him, the guy said that that person must taste good. I don't know if that's true or not, but the shark *did* try to bite me. ;)