Kitty, a freshman, felt something in her Harvard life was missing.

Three years ago, Dale, now a junior, wanted something really special for Christmas.

Fred couldn't resist a cute smile, and Gary craved company over a lonely intersession.

It didn't take long for these and other Harvard students to figure out the remedy they needed--a pet.

Although declared illegal by the Student Handbook, pets are as ubiquitous in students' rooms as teddy bears and the Picasso poster of the man on his horse.

Zoos in the Harvard House resemble the food chain. They include birds, reptiles, mammals, fish and--of course-all the roaches these animals could possibly eat. One junior, Sara, now the owner of a python, had her own menagerie last year: seven lizards and two finches.

While Kitty's pet is less exotic, she says she can't imagine what life would be like without Crimson, her cat. "She's my constant companion," she says.

Gary bought Menachim the gerbil over a lonely intersession last year. "I needed a gerbil," the sophomore explained. Gary replaced Menachim with Penina the gerbil over the summer when he and Menachim decided it would be best for Menachim to remain at Gary's home.

Captivated by Omar the ferret in a pet store, Fred brought him home three months ago, and hasn't regretted it. John W. Boynton '88 was also ensnared by his furry friend on the spot. While walking by Holyoke Center last year, he saw a man giving away a box of kittens and took one.

"It was a very spur of the moment thing," he says, "I just said, 'he's very cute, I'll take him."

Dale was a little more practical when he bought his two miniature quails. Shopping for food for his pet turtle, a Christmas present from his dad, Dale, describing himself as "entrepreneurial," spotted the pair and decided that he would buy them and breed them. Besides, he adds, "I'm a sucker for anything with a beak."

Although he had not successfully bred the two by the time the male died over the summer, he still has one quail who watches over the turtle. Dale calls them both "the ideal pets for [dorm-room] living."

Certainly not everyone's idea of the quintessential pet, snakes make their way into Harvard dorm rooms through the fascination they hold for would-be owners.

"I used to be afraid of snakes, and I wanted to like them," says Sara, explaining why she asked her parents to buy her Honey, a python. Sam, also a snake aficionado, has his two snakes at school because "it's a really neat experience to get to know and touch them."

And since pets are only human, some owners have rather hairy stories to tell. Fred was out taking Omar his ferret for his daily walk and passed the room where the Opportunes were rehearsing. On a whim, he put Omar through the open window. "One guy saw him and started screaming and then they all started screaming, so there were 10 people screaming at once," he recalls.