BUTTE — Members of the Silver Bow Youth Leaders are preparing to present their small animals in the Pocket Pet category of the youth group’s annual show and sale coming up this weekend in Butte.
A pocket pet is considered any animal that is small enough to fit in your hands... or your pocket for the presentation.
Kids showing their pets must relay information about animal behavior and training. The presentation also fosters a sense of camaraderie for these kids who have been working together for months to get their animals show-ready.
“I think a lot of the kids in Youth Leaders make a lot of new friends and like a lot of them, this will be their first time with some types of livestock or even, like this parrot,” 15-year-old Ember Kueffler said as she points to a bright yellow and orange parrot perched on her head.
Kueffler says she has shown the pocket pet before and last year it was a bit skittish because it was in a new environment. However this year she is hoping the bird will be able to show off at least one of the four tricks it knows.
As Kueffler coaxes her pet to wave, another youth group member is learning to flip her rabbit over.
“I’m doing this because I enjoy my youth group and not a lot of people show rabbits and I think they are a really amazing animal, so it’s like, good to show them,” 11-year-old Pari Higgins said.
Higgins says rabbits, like her four-year-old jet black friend, are challenging creatures to care for but once she dug into the research, she was able to make informed decisions about how to care for Louie, even getting him to play dress up and to cuddle.
The Butte-Silver Bow Youth Leaders’ annual show and sale begins this weekend at 6101 Continental Drive and organizers say it is a great place for kids to meet all kinds of animals including pigs, lambs, chickens bunnies, lizards, and a parrot.
