On the other hand...

I just, after much deliberation & contemplation, purchased a Siamese fighting fish, the banty rooster of the fish world. He's a handsome creature, cobalt blue with some red on his fins, and I'm quite pleased with him. I've never really had much luck with fish. Sure, there were the odd goldfish here & there that didn't die as promptly as expected, and a guppy that had been given to me by a neighbor, saved from the jaws of his Oscar fish, because I was a little kid & apparently looked like I needed a fish. That little guppy lived for 2 years in a marshmallow fluff jar on my dresser. With this new fish, I hope I can do as well - if he goes belly up, I'll be very sad indeed.

The first night I brought him home in his tiny cup of water & put him on a shelf in the kitchen. I kept going out to admire him & watch him flutter his dainty little pectoral fins & fluff up his big showy fins. He was more than happy to eat what I was offering, fish kibble & bloodworms, and thrilled me by coming to the surface to breathe air & roll his little eyes around at his surroundings. Did you know that these fish are equipped with a lung that enables them to breathe air? I didn't either. But, they do, and if this organ is removed, the fish will die from asphyxiation because they can't live on oxygen derived from the water alone. Makes me wonder how long til the things creep up out of the water & start walking.

Now. We have eight cats. So far, they haven't bothered the new arrival, but I think this is just because they haven't noticed him yet. When they do, they most certainly will launch a mission to remove him from whereever he is placed. Last night I moved him into his new home, a plain, one gallon fish bowl complete with matching cobalt glass "rocks". A fake plant is in the future. My thinking is that there's no way these cats, even if they combine their brains, will work out a way to knock a one gallon jug off a counter, so I'm going to try it. After I get a piece of mesh-style fabric & tie it over the top so they can't dip their deft little paws in & scoop him out. Hopefully the worst that will happen is a little fish trauma.

I really hope I don't kill the poor thing. He's so beautiful & active, it would be a great shame if he ended up as plant fertilizer. And, who knows! If he works out, I might even end up with another! And then I'll have to ponder where to put that one....