Showing results by author "Bob Tarte" in All Categories

When Bob Tarte bought a house in rural Michigan, he was counting on a tranquil haven. Then Bob married Linda. She wanted a rabbit, which seemed innocuous enough until the bunny chewed through their electrical wiring. And that was just the beginning. Before long, Bob found himself constructing cages, buying feed, clearing duck waste, and spoon-feeding a menagerie of furry and feathery residents. His life of quiet serenity vanished, and he unwittingly became a servant to a relentlessly demanding family.

Bob Tarte had his first encounter with a cat when he was two and a half years old. He should have learned his lesson then, from Fluffy. But as he says, "I listened to my heart instead, and that always leads to trouble." In this tell-all of how the Tarte household grew from one recalcitrant cat to six - including a hard-to-manage stray named Frannie - Tarte confesses to allowing these interlopers to shape his and his wife's life.

For everyone who's ever wanted to write a memoir but is having trouble starting, finishing, or is stuck somewhere in between. Here's the place to get the answers to your questions (and to the questions you didn't know to ask) in one concise volume.

An exotic pet is a rare or unusual creature kept as a pet, or a creature kept as a pet which is not commonly thought of as a pet. The definition is an evolving one; some rodents, reptiles, and amphibians have become firmly enough established in the world of animal fancy to no longer be considered exotic. Sometimes any unique or wild-looking pet (including common domestic animals such as the ferret and the domestic rat) is called an exotic pet. "Exotic" may also be used for a species which is non-indigenous to the owner's locale. Many major pet stores and service providers (such as veterinary ...