wyethross

i love animals.

we have had dogs since i was a kid - we still do. i still have a photograph of myself and a neighbour's kid bottlefeeding their goats. i also have short term experience caring for pigs because we used to sell them; my mom used to raise ducks and chickens, as well. several years ago, i had kept more than seven cats that i shampoo with warm water every other weekend; i cared for their mom (an occasional visitor) then she came over to deliver - i even had to help a kitten out of its amniotic sac by slitting an end a bit because the mother found iy difficult to tear...

i think i am not a bird person; i find them a bit too noisy for my taste. i would like to have some lizards or snakes sometime in the future, but i have found fishkeeping to be my love in the meantime. in the limited space of the place that i'm renting, i can't keep mammalian pets - and also because i'm at work for most part of the day, it would be stressful for them to be left alone most of the time.

i'm not a cuddly person, too. so i could easily do without all the hugging a dog or pawing a cat, but i don't shy away from it either. i'm not allergic to animal hair, but right now i'm just satisfied watching the fish swim and hover among the plants, and the shimmer of their coloured scales depending on how the light (artificial and sunlight) enters the water. i love looking at the plants growing new shoots every couple of weeks - of course, pruning excess foliage and trimming dead and dying ones in an aquatic tank are much like in a terrestrial garden. normal for me. i have to buy fish food and vitamins, and plant fertilisers - but i would not have to spend a lot on vaccinations, soaps, shampoos, and vet care. of course, i'm not saying i wouldn't if i would have the space and time for mammalian pets.

the joy for me is the knowledge that i'm trying to transplant a micro slice of nature in my living room. and having a much much higher fish load than in nature, the ultimate challenge is maintaining the delicate ecological balance in the tank; remember that an aquarium is a closed micro-eco system with several major variables that has to be kept in check. this is where it gets lovlier for me: having to know the natural (scientific) ecosystem and how to enclose it in glass. (i'm thinking it's like the art of keeping bonsai plants as perfected by the japanese). indeed, there is one famous japanese i look up to: takashi amano. i wish i could follow closely in his footsteps. if i could, that would be my ultimate joy.