A few of the many pets we had were quite crabby. They were shy, too, and they walked sideways, but they had a good excuse --- they were hermit crabs! Hermit crabs live in empty seashells to protect their soft bodies. They have a sticky pad at the end of their tail which they use to attach themselves to a shell. When a hermit crab gets too big for its shell, it finds a slighter bigger one.
We had three hermit crabs. They ate celery, lettuce, and grapes. When they got too big for their shells, we got them bigger ones. But we didn't get to see them switch shells. They made sure to do it when we weren't looking.
   We also had a few regular crabs. They were about an inch and a half across from claw to claw. If you've ever looked at a crab, you'd have noticed that their right claw is at least twice as big as their left. They use the bigger claw for eating, fighting, etc. In our crabs' case, they used them for something else.
We kept the crabs in an aquarium that they shared with some neon tetra fish (see photo). They are very small fish with blue and red streaks on their sides. Evidently the crabs thought that they would make a tasty meal, because they went fishing. One morning, I got up to do my schoolwork and I saw one of the crabs with a fish in his claw. He was happily eating. The crabs would wait motionlessly until one of the fish swam close enough to catch, then grab it with their claws. Soon all the tasty fish were gone, and they got into more mischief. As usual, I got up early, just in time to see both crabs scuttling sideways down the table. Fortunately, my dad was up, and quickly scooped up both crabs and put them back in their aquarium. After that, we made sure the lid was tightly shut!
 

We have had lots of pets over the years, and here are some of their stories:

Rocky, Methuselah, and Slither
  Rocky was a green iguana who lived with two tiny anole lizards to keep him company. Anoles can change color like chameleons, so they were fun to watch. Rocky was fun to watch for a different reason: he hated it. If anyone's face got too near his cage, he whipped his tail against the glass. He especially hated being taken out of the cage when it was time to clean it. My dad would hold him with a thick glove on while he furiously whapped his tail. More than once, Rocky peed down my dad's arm. He wasn't pacified until the cage was clean, and he was inside once again. From the safety of his own territory, he regarded the world with a suspicious glare. He liked grapes, lettuce, and celery, with tasty mealworms for dessert. Alas, he died of kindness. My mom became concerned that he wasn't getting enough sun, so she put him outside. Unaware that for reptiles, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, she left him out there too long. We didn't realize until a while afterward that he had died, because my dad bought another iguana, Rocky II.

   We had many goldfish over the years, but Methuselah lived the longest (that's how the fish got its name). He was in a rather small aquarium, but he lived happily for over two years, and got to be pretty big, too. Well, I guess two years is not really that long, but it was long compared with our other goldfish. Goldfish are supposed to live for 25 years, and, if they keep growing, just imagine how big they would be!

  Slither was the name of Rebekah's pet snake. She found it slithering in the grass about a block from our house. It was a green garter snake. Rebekah and I thought it was cute, but our mom didn't, 'cause she hates snakes! But it's not fair to be afraid of small, nonpoisonous snakes, is it? Anyway, if any of our friends acted up at our house, one look at the snake quickly made them behave. I petted it once. It was very smooth, and its shiny scales felt nice. It was about as thick as a finger and about a foot and a half long. I don't remember it eating anything. A few months after she caught it, my sister released it.

When we were growing up, we had lots of kids coming over to our house, but not necessarily to play with us. The doorbell would ring, and they would ask,"Hey, can your dad come out and play?" It didn't take long for word to get out---our dad was fun! He made up probably dozens of games, including hand tennis, chairball, chair baseball, chair soccer, bounce volleyball, etc. We played one of those games, called keepaway, after dark. It was similar to hide-and-seek, except that instead of tagging people, the "it" person had to say our names. If whoever was "it" made a mistake, we could get away. We had a fence and a good sized yard, so that made lots of good places to hide. My favorite spots were in the grapevine, behind the shed, and under one of two trailers that were parked on the side of the house.
 One night, we and our friends were playing keepaway with our dad. Rebekah was "it". She had found some people and was looking for more when she passed the treehouse. "Do not shake the tree," a voice said from a ways above her. Rebekah looked for where it was coming from. Climbing up the ladder into the treehouse, she saw Danielle, a girl who occasionally came over to our house. "Do not shake the tree. I am scared of heights."
 Bekah said, "If you're scared of heights, why are you up in the tree?" Good question, I thought. I had either been caught or was hiding somewhere near, so I could hear everything. I don't even think Danielle knew why she was hiding in the tree. Well anyway, she was easy to catch!