Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on December 3, 1955.
Pets Given Space To Roam On Farm In Hebron Region
By CHET DYNEWSKI
HEBRON, Dec. 3 ー A desire to give their pets plenty of fresh air and freedom of space, without undue annoyance to neighbors, prompted Mr. and Mrs. Fred Stott to move from Chicago to a 66-acre farm at RFD 1, Hebron.
On the Porter township farm, where he will breed his parakeets, canaries, tropical fish, cats, dogs and even monkeys, Stott hopes to be able to raise the pets in peace.
Inasmuch as the farm will be strictly for pets, a wildlife and game preservation is being planned. In the spring and summer months, the dogs and cats will have outside pens and the birds will have exterior flight cages.
When the cats are turned outside, they will wear collars with small bells to warn and attract any unwary prey, Stott pointed out.
Planned also for the farm is a fish pond aquarium for the tropical fish.
Stott has an inherent love for animals of all kinds. Included in his present menagerie is Millie, a spider monkey, and other “celebrities” who have appeared on many television pet shows in the Chicago area.
In 1949, Stott stated that he had a parakeet who amassed a vocabulary of “750 words” through his tutorship.
His parakeet protege today is “Corky”, who utters such well known lines as, “Twinkle, Twinkle, little star; Canaries can’t talk, they sing” “Jack and Jill went up the hill”; “It’s a beautiful day in Chicago”; and the latest, “I live in Hebron, Ind.”
There are about 600 birds at the Stott farm, with about 60 females currently hatching eggs. Stott pointed out that the female parakeet will lay an average of five eggs, although some have had 13 eggs in a nest. Unlike the canary whose eggs hatch every day, the parakeet’s eggs hatch every other day.
That kindness to animals is inherited, is evidenced by the acts of the Stotts’ two grandchildren, Terry, 4, and Linda, 2, who reside with them. Always on hand to aid in the feeding of the many pets, both children make certain that the bird seed swept from the floor of the large cage, is thrown outside for the wild birds to eat.
Monkey Makes Home On Hebron Farm
“MILLIE,” a spider monkey, who has experienced the pleasures of appearing in television programs in the Chicago area, is one of the many pets on the newly established pet farm of Fred Stott, above, at RDF 1, Hebron.
Parakeet Boasts Remarkable Vocabulary
MRS. FRED STOTT demonstrates the versatility of “Corky,” a parakeet with an amazing vocabulary, by permitting the bird to roost atop her head. (Chet Dynewski Photos)
