Rachael and Critters

When our eldest daughter was 17 months old, this photo and an accompanying article was published in The Ravenswood News on Thursday, October 28, 1971. The caption read "Seventeen Month Old Rachael Meads is as much at home with a Tegu lizard and Chuckwalla as most children are with conventional pets."

Yes, when our daughters were growing up we had a wide variety of critters including possums, skunks, lambs, goats, chickens, pythons, ground hogs, hedgehogs, cats, dogs, - the list goes on!

I remember the Tegu and Chuckwalla. Both did well and lived long lives. The only altercation was when Judy placed a laundry hamper on the Chuckwalla's tail. Never fear - like most lizards, the tail regenerated.