National Pet Day on April 11 was a day to celebrate and appreciate pets of all kinds.

“I have an Axolotl. It is an amphibian, and what makes my pet special is that it eats live shrimp, and it is pink and very rare. They also regenerate lost limbs and keep all of their youngish features so they will always look younger. They also have cool-looking gills that are feathery,” junior Aubrey Costelow said.

Not everyone has to have an exotic pet for it to be special. 

“I have a cat named Winston. He is orange, but he is very special to me.He is very playful. He is just a cat, but somehow he makes everything feel a little special,” senior Isaac O’Neal said.

While some pets might seem like a good idea at first, sophomore Emma Vornheder would say otherwise about hers.

“I have birds, parakeet birds. I would not recommend getting this pet unless you really want one. It is a lot of cleaning. The birds are always loud. It smells weird, and they aren’t very affectionate like other pets. Birds also live a lot longer than most pets, and they are very hard to train,” she said.

Vornheder still said there are upsides to owning her pet.

“Though they are a lot of upkeep and hard work, I feel like I have made a bond with these birds. I have had them for a really long time, and it would feel weird not seeing them anymore. They can be funny and have unique personalities. I love seeing people’s reactions to the birds because most people don’t have them as pets,” she said. 

Senior Avery Guilfoy talked about how she ended up with this pet.

“ I ended up with chickens because I live on a lot of land and my family was looking to add more animals since they would have a lot of space to roam and grow. They are easy to take care of and maintain; they are also a small source of food,” she said.

Others have interesting stories of how they ended up with their pets.

“There was a massive storm going on, and once it passed, I remember going into the garage to go get something and I saw the bird. We tried to find its owner but nobody came and claimed the bird so we bought supplies for the bird and just kept it,” Vornheder said.

There are a few things that people should consider first before owning a unique pet.

“ If you are considering getting an Axolotl, you should definitely do your research before getting one because Axolotls need a cooling system in their tank, and you should not put gravel in the tank like you would with normal aquatic pets because they accidentally eat it and that causes health issues. They grow super fast, and you have to be prepared to take time out of your day to take care of them. I would say they are pretty high maintenance when it comes to feeding them and cleaning the tank because they need to live in a larger space,” Costelow said.

People do have their favorite parts about owning their pets.

“My favorite part about owning chickens is playing with them and being able to name them. Egg prices have been crazy recently, so I am just glad we don’t have to worry about those prices,” Guilfoy said.

Mrs.Andi Campbell, science teacher, did not go looking for this pet but it still ended up being hers.

“ I ended up with the tarantula because I used to do a big invertebrate project with my biology classes where students researched an invertebrate of their choice, brought it in, and took care of it in the classroom while doing animal behavior observations of it as well. Grubs was one of my students’ projects 18 years ago.  At the end of the project, she donated him to me and my classroom as a class pet,” she said.