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Show PeT r Schmitz ond Eisenring, leopard and bonded geckos big fan cf an'rr.nls ... then got really into reptiles, says Stacy Lewis of co'VmJ me Dr. Do!.t!e when was a hid. Dj'ar.'j'j. A lot of with the two newest odd:,ions to her ak, a baby leopard and a baby Uvs c urrcr.t fascination 'J she She a. was initially turned onto the geckos because they were really cute,' but L'jrd. god says notes the a!so make good pcs. "I've o'w'is bt.'f-- a I if?n I l;r-- "Geckos ore wonderful s lizards creatures," she says. Aside Tom Lining able to regtow lost tails which Lewis says is very haimful to the animals since the tail contains tt e r n O'n source of fat and protein), Lewis soys lizards are personable animals that enjoy Li'jman interaction "I used to have a dragon thnt clowcd at his glass when came in the room," she says. "They are like small dogs, they er.jcy stimulation like watching TV." However, due to physical limitations - they can't wag their tails, make noise or do tricks - lizards are ifioughl to Lie a little dull. Bot lewis insists they're just misunderstood. "Ihe'ie intelligent, hut rather limited. But they definitely have personalities," she says, adding that her littie I geckos are guile temperamental. However, lewis - an aspiring animal psychologist and student at Fort Lewis College - says the most refolding part of keeping geckos is quietly observing them in their tanks. "I have a log book and take " notes, she says try to enjoy them just by watching." So far, lewis lias noted that despite coming from different continents (the leopard from Pakistan, the from North America), the geckos get along famously. "They snuggle together and keep each LiuLry other warm" she says. "I just love 'em." jarry McBride Stacy Lewis (above) holds her "babies'' - Schmitz, a leopard gecko (foreground) and Eisenring, a banded gecko (background). The names come from a German play. Grade the donkey i Whether it's due to their stubborn nature or their alter name-il- l sake, donkeys have never been considered ideal pets. Rather, they have become somewhat of the 'butt of farm animal humor - and often treated as such. But Durango resident and donkey owner Linda Mannix says this is an unfair stigma. In fact, she says her donkey Gracie is head and shoulders above other animals when it comes to smarts. 'By all means, Gracie is not a 'stupid' pet, nor does she do 'stupid pet tricks," writes Mannix. 'She is actually much smarter and craftier than any horse. She even has enough sense to get out of the rain ... most horses just stand out there like idiots ... .' But Mannix says Grade's horsesense doesn't stop here. She has a variety of abilities and useful qualities that leave her equine counterparts in the dust. According to Mannix, Gracie is like a Houdini, able to untie any knot presented to in four-legge- d Unrf. Mannix offer, o Carrol to h.r d.nk.y, Orocfe, of Mannix' ranch oulcid. of Durango. 'She goes just about anywhere she darn well please,' writes Mannix. U' ' 9'e And when it comes to feeding time, there's no time like the present for Gracie. She has figured out how to open her plastic feed container with her lips, something that takes Mannix two hands to do. Of course, Mannix points out that not all of Grade's abilities are Gracie also serves as the farm 'alarm dock, waking everybody up with her braying promptly at 7:00 each morning. And most importantly, Mannix says Gracie keeps coyotes and other predators away from her goat herd. 'So while Gracie may not be your normal dog or cat doing unusual things, she is an unusual equine Mannix writes, '(with) an intelligence that outsmarts any other animal on the farm.' self-serving. 12 b Cross Currents - March 3, 2000 |