Breaking up animals is hard to do

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Living with Marshall the wallaby, Skeeter the lemur, Billy the macaw and Chris the mischievous 10-year-old son was just too exciting for Heidi and Dale Stickel. They didn't mind Marshall's indifference or Billy's talkativeness or even Skeeter's odor.

If only Chris would stop letting Skeeter out of his cage.

"He's hard to catch," Dale says.

Ring-tailed lemurs are fast and wily relatives of monkeys. One morning when Chris was in the mood for lemur liberation, the family searched the house for hours before Heidi finally found him under the blankets in her bed. When his parents are away, Chris invites his friends over to watch Skeeter be freed.

He says he has a secret weapon for getting Skeeter back in his cage: "Grapes and monkey biscuits."

That isn't good enough for his parents.

An ad in today's Southeast Missourian newspaper announces their solution to the problem: One wallaby, one lemur and one macaw for sale. Exotica isn't cheap: The animals are being sold separately, but the asking price for the three totals nearly $4,000.

"If the kids were older or wouldn't let them out, we wouldn't consider getting rid of them," Dale says.

The Stickels obtained them six months ago from a friend who was going through a divorce. Skeeter became Chris' favorite. Fourteen-year-old Amy is fond of Marshall the wallaby, and 12-year-old Melanie dotes on Billy. Unlike Chris, his sisters don't feel compelled to set their pets free.

The animals really need more attention and space that the family can give them, says Heidi, a bail bondsman. All are a year old or so.

During the winter, the three animals lived in the basement recreation room. Billy and Skeeter and the family watched a lot of TV together.

Billy, a blue-gold macaw native to Central and South America, says "hello," "shut up" and "what up." He also sings a tune from the Nickelodeon cartoon show "SpongeBob SquarePants."

Marshall, a Bennett's wallaby, looks like a smaller version of a kangaroo and is native to Tasmania. He lives in a cage because the Stickels' back yard isn't fenced. A fence must be 6 feet high to prevent Marshall from jumping over.

Selling the animals will change their home life, Heidi admits. "It will be different. They do bring a lot of excitement into this house."

The Stickels hope to find good homes for the animals, but from experience doubt anybody would want to handle all three. People who are semi-retired or have older children would be a good match, Heidi says.

"If the kids listened it would be OK," Dale says.

The Stickel children are resigned to saying goodbye to their exotic pets. Now they want a poodle.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182