I remember that while growing up, we had all kinds of animals. With so many brothers and sisters everyone had to have a pet. Dogs were the most common and there were plenty of cats, some house cats, others were kept at the barn. Some dogs were stock dogs, others hunting dogs and others just dogs.
Once John got some white mice but it didn't take long to learn we didn't need more mice. We wanted a goat, so Papa got us a goat. The goat was always in trouble, once he got on top of the chicken house and ruined the roof. In the Spring the rose bushes put out and of course the goat ate them. Mama said the goat had to go, so that was the end of the goat.
We also had all kinds of chickens and ducks. We would try to find where they hid their nests.
Milking several cows regularly, there was usually a calf to feed. You would feed them milk out of a bucket. They didn't cooperate always. As the calves grew larger, we would try to teach the bull calves to ride. That was rough on boys and bulls. We also had horses and mules to work and ride. They also had a few tricks, and knew how to get rid of a boy rider.
Once Papa brought home a half-starved pig. Mama fed the pig and let it run loose in the yard. The pig would follow Mama in the yard. So we called it Mama's Pet Pig. After it grew larger it was put in the pen with the others.
Our Aunt Mai always had her special house cats. Sometimes we would let the dogs run her cats. That caused more trouble for us than for the cats. There were other pet animals but around so many children they didn't last long. In later years Papa had a rooster that would try to fight him. After a few licks with his walking cane Papa always came out the winner.
-- Paul Watlington