Earlier this week, I had some time to observe a fish tank. It reminded me of the fish tank I had when I was growing up. I spent a lot of time watching that fish tank and I used to make up stories about all the fish in the tank. It seemed there was always some kind of drama happening with the fish in the tank.

We had an iridescent shark that was the tank "bully". He would go around sneaking up on the unsuspecting fish (especially our ultra-nervous plecostomus) and would scare them out of their wits. I always felt a bit bad for the other fish in the tank, but like the shark, I also thought it was pretty funny.

Then one day I noticed all the other fish kind of hanging out in a group, away from the iridescent shark. Could they have been coming up with a conspiracy to scare the shark? I watched closely.

They didn't do that, though. Instead they started grouping up all the time, possibly to keep the shark away. Then one day, the shark was dead. Did they finally give him the scare of a lifetime? I never did know.

I very nearly emailed Jeffrey at Shadows Of Love to tell him I could foster sweet Chloe, but I saw that she's a beagle mix and beagles plus cats usually equals fighting. Especially with my cats. They don't take kindly to upstart young dogs. Meh.

So I'm doing the next best thing I can do and I'm spreading the word. Chloe, a beagle mix, needs a home by this Saturday. She is super adorable. Surely there's a reader in the Nashville area that has room in their home and heart for her?

Hit the link for contact information.

No, I think this baby praying mantis is cute enough that most anybody could love him. For a size comparison, he's standing on the mortar between Heather's bricks on her house. Is that seriously not the most adorable thing you have ever seen?

School is out in just 8 more days. This means my time will be freed up a bit more so I can really do some in depth writing. Awesome. So I must ask you readers, what would you like to see me write about?

Do you have a website that you'd like to see featured? Would you like to do an email or in-person interview? (In person if you live within about 150 miles of Nashville, TN. Unless you want to pay my travel expenses. In that case, have laptop, will travel.) Do you have an issue you'd like to see brought to light? I'm all about it.

Simply leave a comment or email me at badbadivy {at} gmail.com and let me know what you'd like to see!

This weekend, I went to PetSmart to pick up some cat food and as always, I stopped to peek at the kitties for adoption. Lo and behold, I saw a kind of cat there that I never thought I'd see in a rescue- it was a Bengal cat. Oh, how I would love to have a Bengal kitty. But my kitties are not fond of other kitties at all, so I had to give him some skritches and walk away.

However, it got me to thinking about how you can find just about any breed of animal at a shelter or rescue. Seriously, Bengal cats are so expensive and (somewhat) rare, that if you can find those at a rescue, you can find any breed. I don't think I will ever get people who go to backyard breeders to get a pet. Seriously.

Kathy T at This Is LaVergne got an interesting phone call:

I sort of live out in the country - what’s left of the country - in LaV.  The sweet gal two doors down called me tonight asking, “Do you know anyone in our neighborhood who owns pigs?”

Me, “Pigs?”

Her, “There are two pigs in my backyard.”

Me, “Hahahaha!  Pigs!  In your yard?”

Her, “They’re mostly black.  I’m afraid if they get to the road, they’ll be hit by a car.”

Me, “HAHAHAHA!  Pigs!  In your yard!”

Her, “I wonder if they’re wild pigs.”

Me, “There’s an otter or beaver or something in the abandoned pool next door.”

Head over there to find out what happened and for a link about monkeys. Those pigs are lucky they weren't in my yard. I adore bacon. ;)

Okay, I'll admit it. My dog eats better than I do. His food is all-organic, no corn, wheat, or any other allergens. I look in horror at dog treats with high fructose corn syrup in them, while I sip a Dr. Pepper. Bad, I know.

That's why I was really glad to find PawLux.com- their products are eco-friendly, organic, and all natural. That's just exactly what I, I mean, my dog needs! Their motto is "The best online store for your dog and the world." I am so happy to find that! Be sure to check it out today.

Can you look at an xray and determine what's wrong with an animal? Sure, if you're a vet or vet tech. I'm neither, but it's fun to try! Head over to Nearly Dr. Ferox for the full sized picture and the answer!

Everybody loves a poll, right? Let's see what kind of pet owners we have here!

I have always felt pretty "meh" about horse racing in general. My family always watches the Kentucky Derby because...you know, I don't know why we do. We just always have gotten together to watch it.

Everyone picks a different horse to be the winner. I always pick a horse who is shown pooping in the pre-race news coverage, but the only one I saw was Big Brown, which my dad had already chosen as his horse. My mom chose Eight Belles, who was my second choice because she was the only filly to run in the past 9 years. So, I decided on Colonel John because he had his tongue sticking out and that amused me. I never said my reasoning in choosing horses was sound or anything. (Other than the pooping before the race- that is said to work every time.)

So, we watched the race, congratulated my dad because he had chosen the winner, and then watched in horror when they said Eight Belles had gone down on the track. Several minutes later, they updated and said she had broken both her front ankles and had to be euthanized. My daughter ran to me and jumped in my arms and started crying. I cried with her.

And it set me to thinking how dangerous horse racing really is. Like I said before, I've always felt fairly "meh" about horse racing to begin with, but when I sat down and started reading about it this morning, I'm feeling pretty strongly against it.

The best post I saw on the subject was from the Humane Society's blog. The whole post is a great read, but this was especially convincing:

Here are some of the historic problems. Drugging of injured horses to keep them running, which makes vulnerable horses more susceptible to breakdowns. Racing horses too young. Because the marquee events feature 3-year-olds, these horses must start racing at the tender age of two years, and that's well before their skeletal systems are sturdy enough to endure the pounding from the rigors of the race track. And third, racing horses on track surfaces that are not forgiving—with American tracks favoring dirt surfaces over grass or synthetics.

And then there are the problems coming to light more than ever—problems related to breeding. Breeding too many horses, and waiting for someone else to clean up the problem. And breeding them for body characteristics that make these animals vulnerable to breakdowns, especially those spindly legs on top of these stout torsos.

These are all good points. Horse racing has always been secondary to other, more widespread problems for animal rights advocates, but perhaps it is time we started speaking up for the poor thoroughbreds as well.

Photo: AP