If you’ve spent any time on my website, you’ll have encountered my cat Zooey. But what you might not know is that Zooey isn’t my only pet… although he is the one who most enjoys the spotlight. In fact, I have TWELVE pets:

Let me introduce you to them!

From left to right, row by row, we have…

• Mittens, a mitten-pawed calico; Zooey; and Sammy, a Siamese/Bengal
• Gaius, a Russian red-footed tortoise; Merlin, a bearded dragon; and Naveen, a South African pixie frog
• Franklin, a red-eared slider turtle; and Huey and Louie, hermit crabs
• Maxie, Tootles, and Thor, all of whom are Australian Labradoodles

When people find out that I have so many pets, I tend to get one of two reactions. Some people—fellow animal lovers, usually—nod and smile appreciatively. Other people just look at me in astonishment, before asking a few inevitable questions.

• “Do they all live in your house?!?!” Yes, yes they do. I live in a rural area where wild animals—including predators—are common, so it wouldn’t be safe for my pets to live outside. (Even the dogs only go out under supervision, and the cats stay inside entirely.)
• “How do you take care of them all?!?!” My whole family pitches in: I’m lucky enough to have relatives who are just as animal crazy as I am! In fact, we like to call our menagerie “The Lazar Zoo.” And every one of the pets is considered a member of the family… albeit a furry, scaly, or slimy one.

As you can guess by now, I LOVE animals—all kinds of animals! That’s why many of my stories include animal characters… and it’s also why we have so many pets. And over the years, we’ve had even more kinds of pets, including birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, chameleons, fish, collared lizards, gerbils, various kinds of frogs, toads, snails, ants, caterpillars, moths, butterflies, praying mantises, and trilobites!

That doesn’t even include the critters that we affectionately call “the outside pets” – the animals who have made their homes in our backyard, in the nearby woods and fields, and even under our front porch. (Of course, since all of these are wild animals, we only appreciate them from a distance. But I still feel a connection to them, especially the ones that hang out near the house.) We’ve seen gray squirrels, red squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, raccoons, foxes, rabbits, groundhogs, white-tailed deer, all sorts of birds, and more. One time, on a Halloween night when we were driving home after trick-or-treating, we even saw a bobcat standing next to the driveway! Another time, a family of fox cubs was born under our porch, which was ADORABLE… until Mama Fox started leaving the remnants of dinner on the front lawn.

Really, I love every kind of animal, whether they’re in my house, in my yard, or at a zoo or aquarium… except snakes. *Shudders* I am completely terrified of them: when I see a snake, I literally run in the other direction. Crying. And screaming. Yep… when a snake is around, it is not my shining moment.

When you love animals as much as I do, it can be hard to pick a favorite kind. As I mentioned in my YouTube video, I love all of my pets equally. (Zooey, don’t look at me like that. You know I can’t pick favorites!) But if we’re talking about species in general, cats are definitely at the top of my list: domestic cats like Zooey and the others, but also wild cats like tigers, lions, and bobcats. How about you? What’s your favorite kind of animal? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading! And be sure to check back soon: next up is the first entry of Zooey’s Corner!

~Alexandra