Parkside Pet Corner : Marshall Erikson

By: Judy Saunders

Welcome to the bowl of Marshall Erikson, an always beloved and sometimes abandoned (when she heads off to college) pet of resident, Sam Saunders. Marshall is a Japanese Fighting Fish (also known as a Beta Fish), named after Marshall from How I Met Your Mother. He lives alone in his tank as Beta Fish are territorial and live up to the fight in their name. Sometimes he keeps the company of snails, but he has outlived those sometimes companions and now rules his kingdom alone. We think that’s the way he prefers it, and we prefer to think he had nothing to do with the snails’ untimely demises.  

He doesn’t get lonely but given the size of his tank, it is easy for him to get bored which is why Sam has chosen to brighten up his space with a renovated party theme. His octopus statue is his current favorite and he can often be found weaving his way through his tentacles. Beta Fish can recognize their human family and respond by dancing along the glass of their tank to get their attention. Marshall responds if you trail your fingers along the glass and will follow the motion.

A few weeks ago, Marshall was looking and acting lethargic, and we thought we might need to transfer him from one bowl to another, if you take our meaning. Luckily for us, it only took a quick trip to the local pet store and a treatment or two for bacterial infection of the fins to get him back in his normal frisky, fishy mood. We have ever confidence he’ll live a long (for a fish) life now.

Parkside Pet Corner will be a monthly feature on this newsletter, and we would love to bring notoriety and fame to all the Parkside pets and their human families. If you would like to make your pet famous (or infamous), please email saunders.judith.e@gmail.com.