Sixteen-year-old Brendan Pettitt owns 29 tarantulas, a myriad of cockroaches, carpenter ants, and even a medical leech that he must feed from his own arm every six months. As a person on the autism spectrum, Brendan has found a hyperfixation in insects, and his parents encourage him to pursue it.
Ward Graham is a beekeeper who bottles and sells his own honey. For a year now, Ward has been tutoring Brendan and teaching him about bees. “My goal for [Brendan] is to technically be able to take this obsession to the next level and, you know, be the tour guide at a zoo that keeps insects...,” Ward says. “...do some research on that poison in that tarantula that is going to... be the next magic cancer drug or something. And guide his passion in a way that can be positive. I want him to be just as I want [my son] to be. I want him to be self-sustainable, if I can be an example for him.”
Brendan Pettitt wanders away from his father to explore the arachnid section of a Country Max in Fairport, N.Y. on November 11, 2021.
“[Brendan is diagnosed on the autism spectrum,” his mother, Kym Pettitt said. “And I don’t know why I say that first other than, his development was a little bit different than what we were used to with the girls. Even when he was a real little guy he liked butterflies. He liked things that would transform. The learning he did, the intense studying that he did, it just seemed he was so passionate about it. I couldn’t help but want to nurture it, because it just seemed like it would be a big thing for him.”
Brendan carefully hand-feeds each of his 29 tarantulas in his Fairport, N.Y. home on October 30, 2021. “Call me when it’s Scarlet’s turn!” his father, Dave Pettit, right, requested as Brendan started his Saturday feeding routine. Scarlet, bottom, is the largest tarantula in Brendan’s collection and eagerly snatched the cockroach he offered her in an impressive “takedown!”
Ward Graham fires up the smoker in his Brighton, N.Y. backyard on October 23, 2021 as Brendan tells him about his plans to attend REXPO, New York State’s largest reptile convention. For a year now, Brendan has been coming over to Ward’s on beekeeping days to learn about the craft.
Brendan Pettitt intently watches the bees at the Jewish Home in Rochester, N.Y., where Ward Graham keeps a hive, on October 23, 2021.
Ward Graham and Brendan Pettitt set up Graham’s beehives for winter, removing the queen dividers so the bees can cluster for warmth during the cold winter months on October 23, 2021.
A medical leech clings to the side of a fish bowl at the foot of Brendan Pettitt’s bed. When asked where he got a leech, Brendan answered matter-of-factly, “Medicalleeches.com.” Ward, present at the time, added, “How could you not know that?”
Brendan carefully picks up a cockroach to feed to his spiders in his bedroom on October 30, 2021.
Brendan keeps thousands of red runner and Dubia cockroaches to feed his spiders. But before the arachnids get their meal, Brendan brings a platter of hand-sliced oranges, spinach, and carrots to the roaches.
“Only the freshest of veggies come to them,” Brendan said. “I guess it’s kind of like a thing. I treat them like anyone else, I guess you could say, even though they’re obviously, you know, not like anyone else.”
After selecting an appropriately sized roach for each spider, Brendan is off to his Saturday morning feeding on October 30, 2021.
Brendan removes the wax caps from a frame of honey in Ward’s kitchen on October 9, 2021.
Brendan puts on his gloves in Ward’s back yard on October 23, 2021.
