Last week Peter and I went shopping; to The Beastiary. It was not our usual shopping trip.

First of all, when trying to find the address on Google, I typed “beastiality” by mistake. I immediately got a warning, flashing in red: “Only Adults Over 18 Years Of Age Are Admitted To This Site!” Of course, I had the wrong word.

Armed with the correct address, we took the subway to Castlefrank and a bus south to Wellesley. A few buildings south of the corner, we found The Beastiary. It invited us in with its perky yellow front door. There was a checkout counter and a friendly clerk welcoming us. But all we saw were dog bowls and toys. Where were the beasts?

We carefully walked down the aisle, farther and farther into the jungle. On the right was a large window in front of a terrarium. We noticed a pair of colourful birds, and the clerk told us their story. The female had had a previous boyfriend and they were in love. But he suddenly died, of overexertion. Another boyfriend was found, but the female was not impressed. In fact, she was looking away in disgust.

We moved along in the jungle amid reptiles of all sizes and colours. There was an entire storage unit full of worms. We expected that they might have been food. Who would want a worm as a pet?

The store is well-known for its variety of geckos; small creatures of various sizes that make great pets for people not wanting to take on the care that is required of dogs and cats. These tiny guys can be held, and even taught tricks, such as jumping up and grabbing live crickets from your outstretched fingers. If you want them to. The most colourful is the bearded dragon. The clerk had one on display and I got to hold him. Apparently his beard has not grow in yet.

Sensing our enthusiasm, the clerk took us to the biggest creature: an 8-foot snake, asleep in his cage. The clerk opened the cage and invited Peter to pat the snake. And he did. So I did too. It felt dry and leathery. Fortunately it did not wake up.

Then we made our way back to the check-out counter, passing lots more reptiles. A cute little frog was perched on top of his hand-crafted drinking bowl, just begging us to take him home. I hesitated.

But Peter was already at the front of the store. We had to take care of the reason that brought us to The Beastiary in the first place. Our grand daughter Agnes, who is celebrating her birthday, owns a gecko named August and he eats a LOT of crickets. She needs cash to support her expensive room mate. So we got her a gift card. But we also got to have a fun afternoon outing. I’m wondering if I should go back and get that frog.

Sue

Agnes and August