Mr. Eckerd at the end of the street was a different fellow with a different kind of house. He let kids from the neighborhood come to see his house, but only if they had written permission from their parents, and if he'd already spoken to the parents before. What made it so different? He shared his home with rescued animals that the county couldn't keep. He had the permission to have things like monkeys, large cats, and other strange creatures. His house had the ivy -covered brick wall and the iron gate across the driveway. Once you went inside, the hedges lining the driveway were carved into the shapes of animals. There were other pretty plants on the grounds, too. The old brick house held a lot of surprises. The double doors with the lion's head door knockers opened into a large flat entryway. In the wooden board walls all around, there were fish tanks with colorful fishes. The ceilings were painted with scenes of plants and rare animals. Room opened off from there. Continuing down the hall, you came to a large courtyard, which had been caged in, partly open to the sky .A large group of tiny monkeys shook up and down trees. You had to walk through a caged tunnel into other parts of the house. They called out to whoever walked in, hoping for treats of fruits, nuts, and seeds. Behind that, the hall continued to a room full of snakes and lizards. It felt like a desert in that room, so dry and hot. It was not everyone's favorite room, but it certainly was interesting. The final room was actually out back, and definitely not something to miss. It was much like a large glass bird cage or a greenhouse. It was there that you would usually find Mr Eckerd on a bench next to some carvings of jungle animals. He was watching the Bengal tiger that wandered back and forth inside the cage. Mr. Eckerd's house was the strangest and most unique place in town, a place very well worth seeing. What kind of live animals was NOT at Mr. Eckerd's house?
Fish Snakes and lizards. Monkeys. Elephants.