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November 20, 2009

Animal Nature

Local Pet Owners express why our furry – and fur-less – creatures beguile us.

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My first pet was a cat named Tabby, her name inspired by the character of Tabitha on Bewitched. I was six years old, and little did my parents know at the time that they officially made me a cat lady for the rest of my life. If a man I was dating didn’t like cats, he didn’t last for long. One former boyfriend professed an allergy to one cat, Whiskers, and when I gave him a look that said, “The cat isn’t going, but you are expendable,” in a few days he magically overcame his allergy.

If you go to Google there are, at the time I searched, 184,000,000 sites devoted to pet supplies, pet adoption, pet health, reptile pets, small pets – even virtual pets. It is a devotion to creatures that, except for certain birds, can’t speak English.

Pets are companions (though I wouldn’t say totally non-judgmental, as anyone who has had a pet who has disliked a choice in a loved one), our willful surrogate children who can damage a priceless object with a swipe of a paw or tail, yet offer us a chance to vent after a bad day of work, knowing it won’t get back to the boss. Yes, the cliché holds true: we may think we own pets, but they actually own us.

As fitting for the city, these New Orleanians have pets that reflect their personalities, yet each still have their own individual flair.

What is it like to have two young and very active beings of the male persuasion in your life? Katy Beh can tell you.

As the mother of Sammy Beh, a 7-year-old boy, and David Beh, a 10-month-old Tabby cat, and the owner of her own business, Katy Beh Contemporary Jewelry, it can be a bit busy – and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Recently divorced, Beh had moved to a third-floor condominium and wanted a pet that could fit in her lifestyle, “Cats are low-maintenance,” she says. “And there’s less fur.” Her two other pets, Maggie, a beagle/basset mix, and Ruby, a Marmalade cat she found under her store, were living at the home of her former husband, Tom Beh, with whom she shares custody of Sammy.

Katy and Sammy went to the LA/SPCA and came upon two polydactyl kittens. The attendant picked one up and said, “This one is bad.” It was love at first sight.

So what to name this creature? Sammy was veering towards naming the cat Jim or David, but ended up with David because he was studying the story of David and Goliath at St. George’s Episcopal Sunday school.

The name is apt, as David seems to have no fear – and lives up to his bad boy reputation, according to Beh.

Mouse and roach patrols, as well as stalking Beh’s calves are a favorite activity. “He’s a true predator,” she laughs.

When she brought him over to her house, he chased Ruby, while Maggie tried to make her self scarce.

However, like any bad boy that women love, he knows when to charm. David sleeps on a pillow on Beh’s bed – “He’s my Mr. 12-toed boyfriend,” she says – and he has an a.m. routine of “making biscuits” on her.

Has she ever brought him to the store? Beh says once or twice when she first got him, but her look says it all. Imagine the havoc David would cause if a well-dressed woman came in and he stalked her calves? Though I think David would somehow beguile them just like he has Beh and her son.

When meeting African Sulcata Tortoises, one best not be wearing sandals with red nail polish on your toes. It seems that red nail polish, in this case a variation of Jungle Red, proved too tempting to nip at for three tortoises of this variety: Remus (the largest at about 60 pounds); Elvis (slightly smaller); and Boy George (weighing in at 20 pounds). My introduction to these large tortoises with great taste in nail polish came via their owner: WWL-TV/Channel 4 anchor Eric Paulsen.

But don’t think Paulsen’s Dr. Doolittle tendencies stop at just three very large tortoises. Sharing the home with Paulsen are goldfish and other varieties of tropical fish (in a sugar kettle in front, a pond in back and a large tank in the game room), the aforementioned tortoises – plus three small turtles that Paulsen says just appeared one day, five finches, a rabbit called Hef (short for you-know-who), and a cat named Eartha Kitty.

So when Paulsen admits he wanted to be a veterinarian as kid growing up in a suburb of St. Louis, Mo., it’s not hard to imagine him sizing up a kitty – or a large tortoise – with the same aplomb he does with subjects he’s interviewing on TV. It is his interest in animals that weren’t cuddly – he fondly remembers his mother giving him a garter snake (“It was the best present,” he says. “My father hated it.”), as well as having bats and squirrels as pets – that makes his choices a little less than ordinary. And, as he got older, his pet choices remained quirky, but practical.

“My lifestyle is so hectic,” says Paulsen. “It’s hard to keep a high-maintenance pet.”

So how does one exactly get interested in tortoises? It was an African Leopard Tortoise named Laverne who was his first true turtle love. Laverne, whom Paulsen taxidermied, lived to be 45. Paulsen was her second owner via a TV story he had done on her original owners who lived in Slidell.

African Sulcata Tortoises are surpassed in size only by giant tortoises from the Galapagos Island and Seychelles, and can weigh anywhere between 80 and 110 pounds, which may mean that Remus, Elvis and Boy George have a bit more growing to do. Not like they lack for appetite, as they are voracious eaters of vegetables – “I don’t need a garbage disposal,” says Paulsen – as he gets cases of greens from a local market. While these tortoises are used to a hotter climate, for the cooler months, Paulsen built a “turtle house” that is raised. There is a ramp into it, which he has trained them to use to get into the house. Their picket-fenced pen, while lacking grass (they’ve eaten it), is located within Paulsen’s backyard, which if they could run loose in it would be a turtle/tortoise paradise with it’s lush tropical feel. (Probably the reason why the small turtles showed up in the pond.) Paulsen designed the backyard landscaping – creating a haven for him and his fiancée, as well as for his pet menagerie.
 

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