Whether it be fish, rabbits, or even reptiles, Heritage is notorious for their unexpected class pets. But, what people don’t always know is that Heritage is home to a chinchilla, a famous one, named Bookmark.
Bookmark is a 2-month-old chinchilla, and a famous guest in Ms. Summer Shearer’s room. Although she’s nocturnal and sleeps all day, she doesn’t mind coming out of her usual enclosure and playing with the kids. She’s a violet chinchilla, despite not actually being violet, and is considered rare among the species of chinchilla. But what’s her past? What’s her history?
Bookmark was only seven-weeks-old when she fell into Shearer’s care, and surprisingly, she was from a Craigslist ad. “They told me she was 10 weeks old. She was not ten weeks old.” Ms. Shearer said. She continued, “She was really little, and her eye was hurt, so I had to spend $200 at the vet to get her eye fixed.”
Chinchillas, in their nature, are not supposed to touch water, yet Bookmark was left in a pool with her siblings when she was born. The vet told Shearer that she literally saved Bookmark from death when she took the chinchilla into her care. They’ve been inseparable since, despite the fact that Shearer owns two other pets. “If anybody wants to bring her treats, they have to have a chinchilla on it.” Shearer warns. She explained, “She doesn’t eat fresh vegetables or anything like that, it’ll kill her.”
But this isn’t the first chinchilla at Heritage, and it probably won’t be the last. There’s been a lengthy history of chinchillas here. Mrs. Megan Handy, our agriculture teacher and sister to Ms. Shearer, was the first one to own a chinchilla. Kinglsey was brought to the school over ten years ago, and he was an instant hit. A student eventually took Kingsley home, but Kingsley’s heritage and history is still alive at our school.
Despite every mishap, Bookmark is here to stay at Heritage, and she’s here to play. If you ever want to stop by Ms. Shearer’s room during lunch to play with her, just make sure not to bring any fresh vegetables.
