As a birthday present, senior Nolan Bryan got his Lovebird named Morty. “He’s very sassy for a guy,” Bryan said. “If you mess with him when he doesn’t want to be messed with, he’s kind of a jerk.” As a baby, Morty got his wings clipped and was never taught to fly, so when he wants out of his cage he runs across the bottom to get Bryan’s attention. “Every night, we have a little thing where I have to shut off the lights and cuddle him,” Bryan said. “Then he bites my neck. He likes to bite everything. Literally everything.”

Due to spending her birthday in quarantine, junior Zaidan Ohlson was able to convince her dad to let her get her new kitten, Lucifer. “I have to give a lot of attention to Luci because she’s just a kitten, so that’s helped me not be bored,” Ohlson said. “She is like a little devil.” Ohlson thinks it’s hilarious when Lucifer does not act like a cat. “She barks and chases her tail, which is really strange for a cat,” Ohlson said. “Lucifer and I are really close; I’m the only one that she lets pick her up in the house.”

At the beginning of quarantine, junior Trinity Guffy was able to get her dream pet, a ferret named Pippin. “She is very sassy,” Guffy said. “She’s very energetic and rambunctious. She’s always breaking something or tearing something up.” After getting Pippin to adjust to a normal schedule and having to put her night time cage in another room, Guffy was able to have some fun with her pet. “She has a ‘ferret war-dance’,” Guffy said. “It looks like a slinky if you throw it in the air. She’ll flop around and end up falling off whatever ledge she’s on.”

After saving a kitten that fell off a truck on the highway, junior Devin Russel-Unger brought home the kitten, now named Lucky, to his family during quarantine. “He’s a very sporadic cat,” Russell-Unger said. “He likes running all over the place. He barely even sleeps.” From playing with Lucky as though he were a dog, to watching him fall down the stairs while playing with a gum wrapper, Russell-Unger has enjoyed the energy and uniqueness of his pet. “I think the fall from the truck really did knock some screws loose because he’s just the weirdest kitten I have ever had.”

Concluding a four-hour drive to Arkansas, freshman Peyton Childers arrived home with a french bulldog puppy named Calloway. “He’s definitely a handful, so it gives me something to do,” Childers said. “He likes to hide under beds and take things and run away. I’m pretty sure he destroyed a pair of my mom’s flip flops.” True to the nature of a puppy, Calloway is full of energy. “I stomp my feet, and he starts chasing me,” Childers said. “The only way he would stop is when I jumped on this beanbag we have. He’s not tall enough to jump on it yet.”

Junior Trinity Tisdale adopted a guinea pig named Reed after deciding she needed a low maintenance quarantine pet. “He likes to do homework with me,” Tisdale said. “He just sits and lets me pet him, which I think helps us both with stress.” Tisdale gives Reed the attention and love he requires by feeding him apples and hay and petting him constantly. “Reed loves my hair, so he often climbs up and sits on my shoulder and kind of hides himself in my hair,” Tisdale said. “He also makes a super cute noise when I pet him.”

Upon meeting a litter of Great Pyrenees Lab puppies, sophomore Dustin Scott immediately bonded with his new puppy Shy. “[She’s] really distracted me from what’s going on right now,” Scott said. “I go out and play with her daily, take her for a walk around the block. She loves to cuddle.” Even though six-month-old Shy does not have the hyper behavior of a puppy, she has proven to be lots of fun. “When we went to pick her up, she tried to jump over the fence,” Scott said.

Once sophomore Lola Tuschhoff laid eyes on her bunny Timothee, she decided she would be coming home with her. “She’s very spunky and energetic, and she’s really sweet,” Tuschoff said. “If she gets bored or wants attention, she’ll hop circles around her cage. She’ll flip her food bowl; I don’t know why.” At times, Timothee will give bunny hugs after staying up all night trying to get attention. “Sometimes, she’s really sleepy so she’ll sit on my lap and lay on me,” Tuschhoff said. “She’ll either fall asleep there or lay there until she gets annoyed with me.”

While keeping an eye on the Humane Society for a kitten in need, senior Tiffany Hilton came across Meredith who she brought home as her quarantine pet. “She and I have really bonded, so I always have her at my side,” Hilton said. “She keeps me on my toes because she’s constantly getting into everything.” The connection between the two includes Meredith laying on Hilton to wake her up and having to distract Meredith with food so she will not try to follow Hilton out the door. “She’s kind of crazy,” Hilton said. “She’ll run and tag [visitors] and run away to try to get them to chase her. She jumped with her arms up at my dad one time. She’s fun.”