Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Fergilicious Down the Drain


In what seems to be an ongoing theme, our fish died and is now residing in that great toilet bowl in the sky. I shouldn't be surprised. First, we can't keep any fish alive other than the sucker fish who cleans up the crap at the bottom of the tank. Secondly, I think the sucker fish (Pedro) had it out for the koi fish (Fergi). He had pretty much deserted his sucking duties and let the whole tank become a swamp.


We really had high hopes for Fergi. We knew she was too big to be sucked up into the filter (as many of her predecessors had done). Instead, we noticed she began trying to gulp air from the top of the water- not usually the best sign for fish who breathe under water.


Yesterday, the kids very unceremoniously scooped her out of the tank & flushed her down the toilet. They are, sadly, so used to this event that there was hardly pause to remember the vibrant, young Fergi, who graced our humble home for less than a week.


Husband did note that Fergi was hardly picky, slurping up left over tank rocks from the bottom. She also used to take in large pieces of fish food, "chew" it up, and then spit it out, and then eat it again. ICK.


The kids have resigned themselves to the fact that Pedro the sucker fish will be the only fish we ever keep for any length of time. They are happy enough with him, and our dog, Dixie.


The youngest is rallying for a guinea pig. So far, she's had no takers in her cause. I, in particular, have awful visions of tapping on a glass tank with a guinea pig already in the stage of rigamortis. You can't flush a guinea pig. Nope. Those things require a full-out funeral. Depending on the severity of the death, it can even require visitation and food.


I'm all about giving the kids responsibility. I believe that kids can learn about relationships and bonding through caring for pets. I also think it's good for the kids to learn about the death of a family pet before having to deal with the death of a family friend or family member.


But I just wonder how much longer we can continue our fish-killing-spree before PETA puts us on a "Most Wanted" list or something. At the very least, I suspect the Wal-Mart employees might start steering us away from the fish and towards the sea monkeys or silk plants.


So, farewell, Fergi. You may be gone, but you are not forgotten. You will always be "Fergilicious" to us- and not in a surrounded-by-lemons-on-a-hot-plate kind of way...

1 comment:

ThePrincessMommy said...

Yeah, our luck with fish isn't so good either. Nor with plants.