We have two ponies; a pinto named Beauty that I have been teaching to let me ride her, and a red pony named Cindy. When my sister Beth was eleven years old she rode Cindy every where. They even went swimming together down at the river. She could crawl under her or ride her backwards-they were best friends. I hope I can train Beauty like that!

Many of our pets are like part of the family and they act like it! Mercedes is a Military Macaw. We got her when she was five weeks old and just had a rainbow of pin feathers on her naked body. We had to hand feed her several times a day from a plastic spoon. Now she is three years old and beautiful. Military Macaws are green with red feathers over the beak and a blue and red tail. She isn't a great talker but calls out "Mama!" often and keeps an eye on us kids. At night she whispers "Good night, I love you".
Besides Mercedes we have a Nanday Conure named BillyBob he would spend his life sitting on Mom's shoulder if he could. He has a handkerchief that hangs over his perch and at night he wraps up in it like a cocoon. Sumac is a Red Lory, he is the same rich red color as the sumac berries. He was our first parrot. When we first got him we all wore war wounds from his distrust, now he is our major cuddler. He plays lots of games like doing the Robin Hop, or Stuck Bird (when we can't get him to let go of his perch), he loves to play kick the can with an empty (hopefully) pop can or wrestle on his back with a stalk of celery. He has a large vocabulary. Mom likes to tell about the day I came home as a newborn and was introduced to Sumac. He turned his back to us and muttered "Don't like it!, Don't like it!". Chico is a Cockatiel who plays peek-a-boo and speaks some Spanish. He can imitate our guinea hens so well you'd swear they were in the living room! We recently got him a wife. She is a pretty gray cockatiel named Conchita. She is still not sure why he doesn't speak bird language! Frank is a Goffin Cockatoo , a cage escape expert and a bird through and through. We have tried to win his respect, but he has no idea that he is a people like us! Often when he is loose he will wander around and free all the other animals including the guinea pigs and chinchillas.

Along with our parrots, we have a Pekingese dog named Pearl. She is a tiny dog with a big heart and an even bigger sense of curiosity. We named her after Pearl Buck a novelist who wrote stories about China.
We have three cats, Mega (MegaMouth) is a Tonkinese she is very pretty and loving. Casper is a white angora with one green eye and one blue eye. He is fourteen years old and getting senile. He does some pretty strange things. He is such a big cat he can stand on his back legs and hit the door knobs with his front paws. Our youngest cat is a black and white angora. We found him last spring after he had washed up on the river bank during a flood. He was only about four weeks old, we figured he has lung damage from being in the water because he breathes fast and can't put weight on no matter how much he eats. Our vet can't find anything wrong with him though and his hair is sleek and shiny.

In April we went to an exotics auction and came home with a Miniature Zebu steer. He is about thirty-five inches tall and light brown merging to black on his feet, nose and neck. He has a neck hump and the most beautiful big brown eyes. He has a diamond on his forehead so Dad named him Ace. Gary is thrilled with him because now he is a "real farmer" and he gets up early every morning before breakfast so he can brush and feed him ! Mom and Dad want to find a Zebu heifer and bull next because Ace is so nice.

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Talk With The Animals from: Dr. Dolittle

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