20 | APRIL 27 • 2023 

A

ccording to the National Pet 
Owners Survey conducted by 
the American Pet Products 
Association (APPA), about 90.5 million 
American families own a pet. Dogs and 
cats are the most popular, but millions of 
others have something a little more out of 
the box. 
One local with an unusual pet is Dr. Zvi 
Kresch of Southfield, who works out of 
the Kellogg Eye Center. His pet’s name is 
Tinkerbell, which might make you think 
of some sweet and magical creature, but 
actually Tinkerbell is a Chilean rose hair 
tarantula! 
Zvi and Tinkerbell have been a pair long 
before he married his wife, Jamie, 10 years 
ago. 
“Tinkerbell came into my life on 
Chanukah 2006,” Zvi said. He’
d met 
someone who was in vet school and had 
a tarantula, which he’
d found amazing 
and decided to get one of his own. “My 

parents went on a trip to Israel and I was 
home with my younger siblings … so that 
seemed like a good time!” 
One of his sister’s friends suggested the 
name and it stuck. By the time his parents 
came home from Israel, Tinkerbell was 
one of the family. Fortunately, his parents 
were pretty accepting of the surprise new 
addition. 
“Tinkerbell is a fascinating creature,
” Zvi 
said. “It’s so cool to see how something so 
different from us navigates the world, even 
how she moves her legs … It’s hydraulics, 
she pumps fluid to extend her legs and 
then uses her muscles to draw them in. She 
has eight eyes, though, like most spiders, 
has poor vision. She can lay silk to detect 
prey. Even the way she eats is so interesting 
and organized!” 
One thing Zvi did not know about 
tarantulas before Tinkerbell entered his 
life was about her abdominal hairs. Some 
arachnids and caterpillars can throw their 

abdominal hairs when they feel threatened, 
which can cause serious allergic reactions 
if it lands in someone’s eyes. In residency, 
Zvi presented a grand rounds to his 
department on this disease entity, and 
Tinkerbell got to make a cameo. 
Zvi is a huge fan of his pet and loves to 
talk about her. 
“She’s docile and can be handled; we 
have even attached her to our clothes,
” Zvi 
said. “Care is minimal, she requires regular 
food, obviously, although sometimes she 
goes months without eating. Tarantulas 
molt every few years. She’ll birth herself 
out of her current shell and have a fresh 
one under that. It’s pretty remarkable to 
watch.
” 
It also lends itself to some pretty fun 
shtick. Early on, after Tinkerbell’s first 
molting, Zvi put the molt in a jewelry box, 
trotted over to his neighbor’s house and 
asked Daniel Kohn of Kravings, then just 
age 21, a favor. 
“I’ve got something special in there for 
someone, but you have much better taste 
than I do, what do you think?” Zvi asked, 
with a twinkle in his eye. 
Daniel’s father, Paul Kohn, of blessed 
memory, joked, “You’re gonna trust that 
from a Kresch?” just as Daniel opened 
the box and, to Zvi’s great delight, got the 
shock of his life. 
“He jumped about 6 feet in the air!” Zvi 

All Creatures 
Great and Small

OUR COMMUNITY

Local community members love their unusual pets.

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Amalia 
Kresch, 7, 
with beloved 
family pet, 
Tinkerbell 

Jordyn 
Popour 
and family

