Our houseful of animals

Cockroaches, snakes and meerkats aren't everyone's ideal pets, but the Price family love themThere are African grey parrots talking among themselves in the hall, giant lizards and snakes lurking in the living room and hissing Madagascan cockroaches the size of dinnerplates in the dining room. The dogs weave around us with restless enthusiasm, while the cats have made themselves scarce.Mitch and Hazel Price and their 19-year-old daughter Kayleigh share their yellow-brick suburban semi in Cambridge with around 120 animals. The house and garden seem to be crawling with creatures of every sort. Sometimes parrots and sugar gliders fly around, swooping over their heads and showing off like showgirls. And every week, thousands of crickets, locusts and mealworms arrive on the doorstep as food for the meerkats and carnivorous lizards.This is only the half of it, says Hazel, who is a paramedic and tends to the menagerie in her spare moments and holidays. Some of the animals have recently moved to the raptor centre nearby in St Ives, having outgrown the family home. "It's actually nice to have a bit of our house back."The Prices' most exotic arrival was a caiman that had been abandoned by his owner – it was eventually moved to a wildlife centre. Otherwise, they have never had animals they couldn't handle. "I like crocodiles. They always come to me," says Mitch, explaining that he has done courses on handling venomous creatures and taught health officers how to deal with dangerous...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Tags: The Guardian Family Veterinary science Features Life and style Animal behaviour Source Type: news