I was inspired by a Pokémon post I saw today by @gaborgurbacs.

I will now make a list of some of the real life Pokémon I’ve encountered

Starting with:

‘Pikachu’

Zubat
This was a premature Indian fruit bat baby which I raised

Golbat! This is Kashmir, the Indian flying fox. I managed a colony of 32

Eevee!
This is Tito the fennec fox

Sandshrew!
This is Matto, the three banded armadillo

Rattata!
Squeaks the Brazilian short tailed opossum

Raticate!
James the Springhaa

Ekans
Meepy the blood Python

Arbok
Unnamed king cobra who killed his handler and was given to a sanctuary... where he then killed the manager.

Squirtle!
This is a painted turtle I found in the New Jersey Pine Barrens and moved off of the road

Blastoise!
You all know Fluffy, the alligator snapper

Pidgey!
This was a pigeon I found, fed and released. I fed him at the same spot every day as a kind of soft release. Eventually he stopped coming back for food and started hanging out with his own kind

Pidgeot
This is Aztec, the Harris hawk. We used to hunt rabbits together for the ferrets dinner.

Krabby!
Aka Picasso, the Halloween crab. He didn’t make it through one of his mounts back in 2018, once again proving that crabs are super delicate no matter how experienced you are, and don’t make good pets

Seaking!
A beautiful Betta (Siamese fighting fish) I saw in a store

Fearow

This guy needs no introduction. Grinchy, the red billed hornbill.

Hoothoot
Aka Mooi, the white faced scoops owl. We worked together for almost a decade. These owls purr and and are most diurnal, meaning they are active during the day. Scops owls have a global range.

Noctowl
This is Taj, the Bangalore Eagle Owl. We had a love/hate relationship. I loved him, he hated me (whenever I wore my hair down). He loved me whenever my hair was up.

Furret
Aka Dobby the ferret. A menace

Farfetchd
Aka Babakook/Babadook

And finally, what’s a Pokémon trainer without a Pokéball?