when i was younger i would think that if an animal went to sleep they died because of when people say that theyr putting theyr animal to sleep so i thought that animals stayed up all the time

Jenna

I lived in Texas when I was five, and for the first time saw an Armadillo laying on the side of the highway. My dad, for my benefit (I guess) told me that the armadillo's like to walk to the road and lay down to "sun themselves" on the side of the road. At my High School graduation party, my father overheard me telling my friends that the armadillos in Texas will walk up to the side of the road to "get a tan". He immediately corrected me, and told me he should have just told they were dead.

Omahawk

I had a dog named Dee Dee that died when I was about 3 or so. I wanted to visit her one day, so I went into the back yard and started to dig where I assumed she was burried. My mother asked me what I was doing and when I told her she stoped me. I couldn't understand what was so wrong about it!

Jessica

When I was little I asked my mother how the "lucky rabbit foot" got color. (ie purple, blue, pink... etc) She told me that they dyed them. I thought that meant that rabbits turned colors after thay died!

Anon

When I was about 3, our chihuahua, Mickey, died of old age. My father didn't quite know how to explain death to me, so he told me Mickey died because he barked too much. Then for years my dad wondered why I would tell barking dogs to shut up or they were going to die! When he asked me about it one day, I told him that's what he told me, and he about fell off his chair laughing. I was mad- Dad had LIED to me! And worse, I'd believed it until I was 12!

slipped a Mickey

When I was around three or four, our cat Critter died. When I wondered where she had gone, my older sister told me that Critter was in a hole in the ground because she got too old.
That left me with the image of my cat underground with a long grey beard.

Anon

my dog died when i was about 5 or 6, and we buried it in the back yard. i didnt realize it was dead- i didnt understand it, and about 3 months later, i dug it up, and carried it inside- bones and all, and set it on the carpet because i missed it.

Di

i don't know where i got the idea from but when i was younger i used to think that when a dog was "put down" they took it into a huge dark circular room which had like a 100 ft drop into a burning fire and literally thro it into the pitt!!! i later discovered the truth(when i was about 14!!)

me :P

When I was about 4 we had a cocker spaniel named Buffy who died. I had a clear image in my head of Buffy's head becoming detatched from her body and being carried off by kind of a cartoonish looking comet that shot five pointed stars out the back and slowly drifted away from her body. And I believed that was how she died as if I had witnessed it myself. All of my parents friends would ask me how Buffy had died, and I would say, "she got her head chopped off," and they would kind of awkwardly laugh to each other about it. Eventually I asked and it turns out she died of heart worms.

Paul

When I was 3 my parents bought me a kitten called Sooty unfortunately it turned out to be a particularly nasty cat; always scratching without provocation so my parents had it put down. They told me it went 'back to the farm'. It wasn't until I was 18 and telling my parents about my silly friend who believed her pet lamb went 'back to the farm' that I clicked. I was devastated!

Heather

once when i was little i was contemplating death and i asked my father if chickens went to heaven. he replied "i suppose they do" to which i said "it must be crowded."

ellen

When I was a kid, I used to go to my grandparents' farm every summer for a few days. One summer they had a couple of calves, which I was allowed to feed. The next summer the calves were gone. I asked what happened to them. Grandpa said "they died because you fed them" and I cried for the rest of the day.

It was years before I was brave enough to ask my Mum if that's what really happened.

Gwen

I used to believe that meat came from animals who had naturally died (of old age, or whatever). When my dad told me that they actually got killed, I was so upset that I ran up to my room and cried myself to sleep!

Anon

When I was little I believed by dead pet turtle was hibernating. We alwyas wanted a dog and our Dad bought us a turtle instead. We named him Flash after the basset hound on Dukes Of Hazzard. Anyhoo-Flash ate ground beef. Flash stayed still once for over 2 weeks. We kept feeding him. My folks said he was hibernating. The cage smelled pretty foul, my parents blamed in on the old ground beef. Turns out Flash was deceased and rapidly decaying.

rachel

I use to believe that all bugs went to heaven but their heaven was our hell. That if you went to hell satan would have bugs annoy you.

Buggy

I was about five and my sisters dog had died. I was very sad about this. My mom told me the dog was in heaven and that if I were to talk to him he would be able to hear me and that he would write a letter back.She also told me if I got lucky he might say something back. I would talkto him every night and every night my mom would write a letter back to me, or every once in a while my dad would talk to the cracks of the door. A couple years later I decided to try again and see if it worked. It didn't. I told my mom and she confessed that it was her all along. Of course I didn't believe her and I continued to talk to my dog with no reply back.

Racheal

When I was 8, my best friend's mom died. Two years later, my guinea pig, Cuddles, also died. The next night, my mom took me outside and told me that whenever someone dies, they become a star. She asked me which star was Cuddles and I pointed to one and said "That one." She looked closer and asked "Which one?" I was pointing to two stars next to each other and I said "That one. Right next to Brenna's mommy."

Amanda

When i was little i thought that if and animal died and you buried it, in exactly one day it would float up to heaven so one day when me and my friend saw a dead rat we buried it and the next day we went out to where we buried it to watch it float to heaven.

Mom didnt know we touched a dead rat.

I used to believe that the school rabbit liked the red berries that grew in the hedge. But then he died.

Charlotte

When I was 10, I belived that wild animals never died unless they were eaten or killed unnaturaly, I belived this until I found a dead fox in the woods.

willz