Pet Heaven

This page is dedicated to the memory of the pets we have lost over the years. They brought us much joy for the short amount of time they were ours. To learn more about them, click on their picture.

Merle 1998	Early Bird 1999-2001
Sam (last seen July 2005)	TooBoy (last seen July 2007)
Michelle (2005-2008)	Belle (2005-2007)
Napoleon (2002-2008)

Merle

Merle was our iguana from about 1997 to December 1998. Yes, he was named for his resemblance to a famous country singer. He was a good sport, never did he bite. We thought we had his environment right, only to discover that he didn't get enough light to help him create enough calcium.

One of my sweetest memories and moments of a day with my awesome husband (Diane's writing this part - obviously) was after David burried Merle in the front yard at our house in Conyers, and he came in to the house and told me that he made sure his head was facing East, where the sun rises. Anyone who has ever owned an iguana would understand how profound that statement was, as well as the amount of thoughtfulness that inspired it. Pictured below are shots of Merle with David in the studio one morning - and another one of Merle with our friend Stan. Merle had just made an "off color" (green) joke that cracked Stan up - so they're yucking it up together!!!

Early Bird

Early was our first bird, a Lutino Cockatiel. We got him from a pet store in Conyers in 1999. Thing was, Diane loved Donna's bird Buzzard and wanted one of her own that could talk. Well, I've got this recording studio, so a talking (screaming) bird was not what I wanted. So we compromised and got a semi quiet, whistling bird. Early was even tempered, loved to be held, and didn't mind it when mommy dressed him up and made him do embarrassing things like put on a tiny sombrero or ride bareback on her albino pheasant's back. He died suddenly in August 2001 from metal toxicity.

Sam

Sam, also known as Samson, was given to us by Tommy and Donna. They decided that birds no longer fit their lifestyle and had already given us Buzzard. I was reluctant to take on another bird, but then when I put my hand out for Sam, he put his head down for me to scratch him. He didn't bite. Well, at least he didn't bite me! He was my morning buddy, watching me shave in the bathroom and walking over from his room to wherever I was to be with me.

I kept his wings clipped and he never tried to fly away until one day I put him outside on a ladder while I worked on the pond. He tried them out and they worked. A few seconds later he was in the woods, and a few more seconds he was out of sight. Someone reported seeing him about a mile from our house, but we never got him back.

TooBoy

My dog Shadow and Diane's dog Rock got together and made four beautiful little puppies. Since he was the only male we gave him the playful name of Rocky II (pronounced Rocky Two - like the movie). Then we decided to keep him, so to avoid confusion with Rocky Sr. we shortened it to Two Boy, and then finally settled on TooBoy. He was a sweet dog, well mannered, and lived for love. He would stay with Diane and be her "protector" while Rock and I went downstairs.

One day in July 2007, we were having some friends over and as happens sometimes, the dogs got out and went to the creek to get all wet and stinky. They both came back but they were too dirty to let them back in the house, so we made them wait outside. They both left again. Rock came back, but TooBoy never did. We think a nice family adopted him, but we sure do miss him.

Belle

Belle was our second pet rat, and, unfortunately, the first one to go. Diane wanted a companion for Michelle, and we picked Belle out from the feeder rats at Petland. She really liked Diane and would always hang on at the edge of the cage whenever she came in the house. She was always very active, but would stay still long enough for a kiss now and then. She developed large tumors all over her body and eventually they took her life. On her last day, she waited until Diane came home from work and had a chance to pick her up and play with her. Ten minutes after putting Belle back in the cage, she was gone.

Michelle

Diane got Michelle at Petco. While there one day, an employee asked Diane to take the cute little rat home. To her surprise, Diane said she would. She named the rat after the employee, Michelle. Michelle and Belle would party all night after we went to bed, rattling their cage and squealing with delight. Like Belle, Michelle developed huge tumors that took her life. She lived much longer than is expected - almost by six months.

Napoleon

We got Napoleon at the same time we got Tater, our cockatoo. 'Po was David's bird, and Tater was Diane's bird. Then we got Buzzard and Sam and Wink, and all the new bird human relationships began to develop. The first jealousy was with Sam, who bit poor Po on the leg and caused him to limp from then on. After Sam flew off, Buzzard began picking on Po and one day we found him on the floor with two bite marks, one on each side of his head. We hoped he would recover, but the damage was too severe.