Invisible pets
Some children have invisible friends; I had invisible pets. I also had real pets, which included everything from hawk moths and stick insects, through a wide swathe of the rodent Order (mice, rats, hamsters—-Russian and Syrian—-and gerbils), cats, zebra finches, a cockatiel, fish and a number of injured or orphaned wild birds that people brought to us. However, I knew that my folks would put their parental feet down if I were to ask for a tiger or an otter—-it was so unfair!
As a result I kept some invisible pets when I was little which included an otter, a Siberian tiger (I was very specific about this—-none of your common or garden Bengal tigers for me, oh no), a golden eagle and a goshawk. I’ve never really spoken to anyone who would admit to having an invisible friend, so I don’t know if children actually believe that these characters are real. I certainly never believed that my invisible pets were real, but I imagined them in extraordinarily clear and vivid detail, to the point where I could almost feel and see them.
