Critter Page

Nikki was born on July 4, 1996 as a Shih Tzu. She is a wonderful doggy, low maintenance and extremely friendly. She was pretty stupid as a puppy (though she potty trained easily), but between 6 months and a year she slowly became more intelligent. By a year and a half she minds very well, and tries to figure out what you are saying. Once in a while she will get a little moody and not listen, but this is generally only when she is sleeping and doesn't want to get up. She is a little ball of muscle and hair, flinging herself with reckless abandon into the air to get a sock, often landing on her side, or knocking her noggin on a piece of furniture. Nikki's type is easily trained and helps bring out the true character of people. She loves strolling around downtown, causing foot traffic jams, and following her nose. It is amazing how many people will stop and talk to us or Nikki (I've seen times when 75% of the strangers walking by will stop!). She only weighs 13.5 lbs but has some big dog friends, like Tilda and Lucy and Jackie. She loves meeting new people and playing at the beach (don't we all)!

Sheba is a cockatiel, born in 1989. She was given to us at the age of 5, after having been neglected and cage bound virtually her entire life. We gave her freedom to fly in her new place, and it took a while for her to develop skillful landings. She is very healthy now, and truly loves us, although she is a little paranoid! Several months after living with us she laid a poorly developed pair of eggs. For the next year and a half, she laid a pair of eggs every few months! They became strong and well formed after the first batch, but long term health risks are high if this were to go on. We learned how to limit her access to nesting opportunities and it has been several years since her last batch. She has laid a total of 21 eggs. She has flown outside twice since she has lived with us.

Sally's mom Carol Thornberry cthornb202@aol.com enjoyed the cockatiels type of company so she bought a male cockatiel (Charlie). Later, Sally's Dad, David Thornberry, found a disheveled cockatiel at his office in Salinas, CA. He carried it inside and took care of it for several days, while placing an add in the paper. He recieved many calls from people, including a 13 year old girl who didn't own one but wanted it (unbeknownst to her mother!) It was decided that Carol's dad (Sally's grandfather) would keep the bird for himself. Well, the true owner finally called, so grandpa ended up buying one of his own!

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List of deceased critters:

Raina the Guinea Pig....born Jan 1, 1992...died Dec 20, 1997! This was a 6 year old guinea pig! She was a happy piggy.

Fuzzy the lopp eared rabbit....given to us as a mature bunny in 1992 (at least about a year or more old)....died Aug 28, 1997. A classroom pet for several years, a well loved critter.

Yoda the Shih Tzu...died April 1996....estimated at 3 years old....found abandoned on a road in Sept '95, she apparently had contracted a brain parasite and went blind before dying.

Bradley the rat....died in 1995....age about 2....a faithful classroom pet.