We are running a little series about our Not Just Pets Team and their pets. Last month we featured Wendy in our Frome shop and this time up is Elisa, who works in our Larkhall shop in Bath, who has been with us since 2004 – you can find info about her on our recent NextDoor post. Elisa has had a wealth of pets and has also worked with some larger animals too – so she has shared pictures for us and a little about each one. Enjoy!
The first photo is of Jack, Elisa’s current pet cat. Jack is 10 years old and is a rescue. He was originally with a friend who got him from Cats Protection but she realized after a while she was allergic to him, so Elisa took him on – and she calls him her funny little furball.
When Elisa was a young girl at home, she had a dog called Shreddie. Very cute!
Elisa’s first pet rat was given to her in1996 by the college where she studied Animal Care – he was getting old and she fell in love and wanted to look after him. She named him Jack. Elisa has had many rats since!
Elisa’s very first pets when she left home were Arthur and George. Can you tell what they were?
When Elisa first moved to Bath her first cat is the black one here, called Smudge. The friend lying close was Elisa’s daughter’s cat, Katie.
Next we have Froggy who Lis said used to croak instead of meowing and the cat on the right is Ollie (also known as Smelly Cat – he had an ongoing ear problem!)
Next up is Clarence as he had a wonky eye and the pic below shows Fizzgig (aka Fuzzball) Elisa’s oldest cat who lived to a grand old age of 22. The rabbit next to Fizzgig is Jazzman who used to follow Fizzgig around the garden.
In 2010, Elisa had a pet rabbit she named Flopsy Mopsy.
Elisa has always loved horses and she bought Rover from a local riding stables in Weston in Bath, which sadly is no longer there. Rover looks very handsome, don’t you think?
She has also had polecat ferrets – meet Peter!
Elisa even had a duck at one point, but the neighbours complained about the noise so here it is being packed up to go to a local wildlife park – Elisa was not happy!
From here we move on to a few more unusual pets – Colin the Corn Snake, also a rescue, who lived in our pet shop for many years. One year he went missing – for a few weeks! – and we found him snuggled up on one of the high hot water pipes. We have lost pics of Elisa with Colin, but here he is styling himself as a belt on my trousers during one of our open days. He lived to a good old age of 16.
Elisa has also owned Sally the Salamander and Lucy, a stripey mouse.
And now to bigger animals – in 1983 Elisa’s first job on a YOP scheme was in the reptile house at Bristol Zoo, which included the care of giant tortoises and coati mundi plus 2-toed sloths. Also, she got to work with the wolves. How exciting is that?
Here is a picture of a sloth and baby before they went on show at the zoo
Also meerkats – here again before they went on show
Elisa was even famous for a day in the Evening Post in July of 1983.
Elisa also worked as a reptile keeper and an ape keeper at Bristol Zoo. Here she shows us Jeremiah, the baby lowland gorilla who had to be taken away from his mum as she wasn’t looking after him. This is way back in 1984 and Elisa looked after Jeremiah – and also Cain, the baby Orangutan who also needed hand-feeding and company. So much cuteness here!
Elisa’s first snake was Sid – a common boa constrictor, again in 1984. Sid was a stowaway and came from RAF Lyneham and Elisa got to take him home to care for him.
But here are the bigger reptiles she cared for – having a cuddle here with a reticulated python who was about 15ft long!
Elisa has also had responsibility in our shops since 2004 for so many species of animal. Here are some of them;
- many other reptiles, including snakes, skinks, bearded dragons, leopard geckos, chameleons, uromastyx and more.
- Mantids, millipedes, cockroaches, giant land snails, stick insects and all our bugs and not forgetting spiders of all kinds – although to let you into a secret, Elisa is actually arachnophobic!
- She has also looked after all our cold water and tropical fish in the past and has a vast knowledge about those too. We have even had axolotls and piranha in the past to take care of as rescues!
- In the shops we have had in Bath she was responsible for all the small animals including hamsters, gerbils, mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets, chinchilla, degus and jirds
- In our big old shop we used to have aviaries for birds including budgies, cockatiels, finches, even parrots occasionally and yes, she looked after those too.
So, when we say Elisa knows a little about animals.. well, you can see for yourself, she really does! I am sure there are many missing from the above lists too. Elisa is an asset to our business and is fabulous with the human species too.
We hope you have enjoyed this little insight to Elisa’s crazy menagerie over the years. Do give us any comments below, we would love to hear from you. You can also join us on our Facebook pages at @Not Just Pets Frome and Not Just Pets Larkhall and our Instagram page @NotJustPets. You can also email us at bathpets@aol.com or telephone us on 01373 462068. And please don’t forget our website where you can find many lovely things to purchase for your pet at www.notjustpets.co.uk
