Pheasants, cockatoos, parrots and pigeons. An electric eel, a stonefish, an anglerfish and a lionfish. Is it an exotic sanctuary for animals? Not exactly.

These animals reside in the State College house of Al Lingis, a professor of philosophy for over 30 years.

From the outside, Lingis' house is not unlike the other houses in his neighborhood on East Prospect Avenue, despite a December fire that destroyed his home's kitchen, pigeon house and an upstairs bedroom.

But the interior of Lingis' residence looks like another world.

The living room is furnished with chairs carved out of wood from Ethiopia. Two hand-carved, hand-polished tea tree roots from Balinese and Indonesian forests serve as couches.

This living room set overlooks the part of Lingis' house where his 20 exotic birds live. None of the birds are kept in cages, but instead roam around their portion of the house. Lingis' indoor aviary is equipped with a "living room set" all its own that includes a hollow log the birds perch on and an old wicker chair.

"It was a chair I wanted to throw out, but I thought they might like to rip it apart," he said.

Chewing on wood prevents the beaks of the birds from overgrowing, he said.

"They are so much happier when there is a flock. I hate to see birds in cages," Lingis said. "I think it's terrible."

He is able to remember the names of every bird, including Zoltan, Sonam and Simona.

"Zoltan is a Hungarian name that I always thought was very virile," he said.

Sonam is the name of a boy Lingis met while in Bhutan.

"The boy and the bird had the same rambunctious personality," Lingis said.

Lingis is especially fond of Simona, named after a woman he always thought was pretty.

"She's recently getting stronger," Lingis said of the bird.

Simona suffered various injuries in the fire, including burns to the face.

"The doctor thought she wouldn't survive, but he was absolutely wonderful," Lingis said.

The bird spent five days in intensive care, he said.

Not all of Lingis' birds were so lucky. Two pigeons and one pheasant perished in the fire. The pigeons were roller pigeons, a special breed developed in England.

"When released, they go up until they are out of sight and tumble over each other all the way down. I just had to see this for myself," he said.

One roller pigeon survived the blaze, and Lingis plans to get some more companions for it once repairs to his house are complete and the weather gets nicer.

Lingis had nothing but praise for the firefighters who responded to the call last semester. He also praised his neighbors who help him retrieve his birds when they "occasionally" escape from his home.

"When people see an unusual bird, they call me, the police or the pet shop," he said.

Al Steel, of Norris Plumbing and Heating, said he could not easily find words to describe his recent work on Lingis' house. He said it's an experience people would have to see for themselves.

"Just keep your ears low and move fast," Steel said.

Steel said the birds haven't given him any problems and haven't tried to bite him.

"I wouldn't come to work here if they did," he said.

Lingis will allow most of his birds to go in his back yard — which features a miniature pond — when construction is complete. The back yard is fenced off and protected by an alarm system that is connected directly to the police station, Lingis said.

Birds are not the only pets Lingis keeps.

A large tank in his office is home to an electric eel at least four feet in length. The eel is 8 years old and will be able to discharge 700 volts when it is fully mature.

Lingis purchased the eel in Philipsburg a few years ago.

"The only other electric eel I saw for sale was in Bangkok," he said.

He also owns a stonefish, the most poisonous fish in the ocean. To feed it, he puts a piece of fish meat on a claw-like device that is about 12 inches long. As soon as the meal comes close to the fish, it disappears in a millisecond.

Lingis also houses a collection of dead bugs in an upstairs room, including spiders, butterflies, gigantic flies, stick bugs, leaf bugs and rhinoceros-horned beetles. He purchased the first of these bugs from children in Indonesia.

"I couldn't resist the children," he said.

He also kept live bees in his bathroom. They had to be removed after the fire, but he will replace them in the spring.

"It's just fun to watch them," Lingis said.

Living and non-living collections aside, Lingis also has a collection of masks. His favorite one is from the Amazon and is made of a turtle shell.

However, Lingis' most prized possession is a stone ax.

"The blade is completely polished with a wood handle tied together with a rat tail. It's petrified and might be 100,000 years old. It's from the Stone Age. It's the single most amazing object I've ever acquired," he said.

Most of Lingis' collection was acquired during his extensive travels to places such as Burma, New Guinea and Bhutan.

"I'd travel everyday when I wasn't teaching," Lingis said.