OT-exotic/wild pets

[shooter]

Anyone here ever owned any exotic/wild pets? My family used to keep raccoons. We originally caught them to train our coonhounds, but somehow we ended up with two babies and raised them as pets. I was pretty young, but remember they were pretty neat critters. When I was a little older we acquired a half grown coon. It would play in the back yard with the dogs. One day it just wandered off. My uncle also raised two coyotes. My great aunt's son from her first marriage raised a bobcat for a while. I've been interested in maybe getting another raccoon, but they're a whole lot of trouble wrapped up in a fur pouch.

Just curious to see if any of y'all have ever raised any unusual pets.

[rjohns94]

nope, nothing too exotic. a couple of mules, a handful of dogs, a trio of cats, a snake,

[TedH]

A couple deer. Momma got killed by the combine. The babys were bottle fed for a while then given sheep feed and hay, eventually they were just left to fend for themselves. They chose to hang around for a long time. They would leave for a few days then show up again for a while. One time they just never came back.

[Sixgun]

My brother-in-law raised a fawn into a full sized deer but somebody ratted him out to the game commission and he had to let it go. I remember that deer (doe) loved hot dogs! It would cuddle right up to you and thats another reason I stopped killing deer. We have raised coons (4 legged) and like most wild animals, they want to "go" as they get older.

We have had wild rabbits and they died after a week or so. Lots of stupid things like turtles and crawfish have been around here but I never did like to see wild animals of any kind caged up so we stopped that practice back in the eighties.--------------------------------Sixgun

[Hobie]

My Grandmother F____ had a "pet" wasp. She fed it sugar water and it would rest on her hand.

My dad is said to have had a pet flying squirrel. I don't know if that is true or a tall tale spun by his dad (Grandpa). Pet flying squirrels aren't too uncommon in the south, at least not when I was a kid. I don't think that flying squirrels are up in NY but I could be wrong.

That is about as exotic as my family has ever gotten.

[jeepnik]

Well, not exotic unless you ask Mom. But the usual snakes, scorpions, spiders and such. Did you know that a daddy longlegs can kill a blackwidow. It was some tussle.

[shooter]

I would consider a flying squirrel exotic. What I meant by exotic is not your run of the mill livestock (horses, cows, pigs, etc), or common pets like dogs, cats, reptiles, and birds. Then again I guess some species of those could be pretty exotic too. A guy that I do a lot of work for has a pet skunk. It doesn't even have the scent glands removed, and it sleeps with he and his wife at night. I thought that one was pretty crazy. I'd at least have the smell removed, even though he says it doesn't stink and hasn't got mad enough to discharge.....yet.

[AJMD429]

Copperheads.

[vancelw]

My daughter found a baby bird, named Einstein for the tuft of feathers on his head. He grew up to be a mockingbird.

One day she took him outside and he hopped up in an oak tree and wouldn't come down. I had to climb up and get him.
Next time he did that, I couldn't reach him.

About a week later I was outside and a young mockingbird landed on a branch, a few feet from my face, tilting his head side-to-side. My fingers were within inches before he flew away.

Till this day, every time we see a mockingbird... "Einstein???"

They never answer.

[Ysabel Kid]

nope, nothing too exotic. a couple of mules, a handful of dogs, a trio of cats, a snake,

... and a partridge in a pear tree!

One of the scout's parents in our Troop has a serval - an African wild cat that gets to be about 50 pounds. It is very cool!

[JerryB]

Mostly little coons and a pair of crows, now those two were a real mess and got into everything. I forgot a bout the baby gators when I lived in Florida.

[2571]

Kow of a guy down home that kept a coon. Couldn't houebreak it; it would steal silverwear and take it outside & bury it. They ended up eating regularly off plasticware.

[20cows]

When I was a kid, a neighbor family had a pet bobcat until it mauled their daughter.

Then while in college a kid down the hall in the dorm (from Sweetwater, Texas ) had a pet rattlesnake.

[OJ]

Eats here -



Naps here -




Shares happy hour with me -



How exotic can we get ??

[Pop Watts]

A couple of Kangaroos. Certainly not exotic here in Australia, but may seem so to some of you guys in the States.

Mate of mine raised a Dingo from a tiny pup. Beautiful dog, but it just went crazy when it got older. Had to give him to a wildlife park. Last time I saw him (the Dingo that is) he was charging a chain mesh fence trying to attack me - pretty sad really.

Pop.

[rjohns94]

forgot about the gator as a kid. lived in the tub. had to be careful reaching for the soap!

[oic0]

Lets see:

My mother had a pet skunk, de-scented of course
I had a Tarantula for about 12 years until it died
I caught a 3ft Gar in a creek by hand (stuck on a beaver dam) and tried to keep it in a kiddy pool. It jumped out while I was at school and died.

My wife is now wanting some Red Jungle Fowl. The original chicken. Eggs are smaller and not as often, meat has more twang, and they are very wild. No one thinks about it but chickens are descended from exotic jungle birds and aren't very far from them really.

[Mike D.]

We have had too many to mention over the years. Our home always had some wild critter living either with us or out back. I had a crow for several years until some idiot shot it. Another magpie lived for 4 yrs and then went on it's merry way. We had a Gray Squirrel named Chip who lived in the house until he was 3. He was very tame and never bit anyone. The little devil had the run of the neighborhood and never failed to come in when called. We took him up to our Sierra cabin for the summer and he disappeared after a few months. The next year, my sister felt something crawling under her blankets and jumped up to find the squirrel doing what he had always done, sleep with one of the kids. He remained there all that summer and even brought his mate to visit. The female wouldn't come too close, but Chip was his old self.

My youngest brother is a falconer and rehabs birds of prey. Many of those came through, but none for too long. A buzzard named Suzie stayed for two years. She came as a tiny white fuzzball and never ate carrion. I got lots of double takes from people who saw that buzzard riding on the seat back of my car. Eventually, the bird went to a Raptor Center, where she helped to educate folks about vultures. She died at age 12.

My brother had a coon for several years, but no skunks. One coyote pup, a ringtail, and a few others, too. It's hard to remember them all, but it seems like we were never without some critter around.

[gak]

When I was in college, my folks had half bobcats (the other half being mix of Maine coon, Persian and tabby)--bred in the Az desert by family friends (don't recall how they came upon the full bob). Great cats, twins. Due to the bob and Maine coon parts, they were great hunters. They ate regular cat food but liked to supplement with a self-killed cottontail or jackrabbit occasionally--it was amazing to watch the pursuit and triangulating moves...just like on the TV wild-nature programs.

Not a cat family at all, my father had made the casual comment one day "I suppose it wouldn't be bad if we had a tomcat around to take care of the rattlers and scorpions as long as it didn't bother us" Next he knew, they had two tiny tabby-looking kittens. His response, "these are tomcats?!" They got along with (tolerated) the springer spaniels great; the dogs never knew quite what to make of them but learned (:-)) to stand still when the cats wanted to rub up against them, which was a daily ritual. The smaller of the two disappeared one day in the desert, probably nabbed by a coyote or larger, though I imagine the "meeting" wasn't pretty or easy. They were pretty good at the scorpion and rattlesnake control duties that earned their keep, flattening the scorpions and breaking the rattlers "necks" after toying with them for awhile--usually a solo affair while the other cat watched--and eventually tiring the fanged ones out (you've probably seen the great You Tube bob/rattler video--same thing). We intervened in this "play" once with a 2x4 and the cat looked disapointed!

The cat's rattler skills were not easily learned. One got nailed when young--after two days of searching, we found the cat in a storage shed growling, with a front leg 3x normal size and two fang marks in his armpit. We actually found the offending rattler who wasn't smart enough to depart the scene. The cat recovered fine after a brief vet visit--which may or may not have been necessary. We figured that had been his first encounter with a rattler and--you can visualize the motion--got caught slow on the draw with a swipe. From then on, rattlers were toast with these critters!

[OJ]

Lets see:

My mother had a pet skunk, de-scented of course
I had a Tarantula for about 12 years until it died
I caught a 3ft Gar in a creek by hand (stuck on a beaver dam) and tried to keep it in a kiddy pool. It jumped out while I was at school and died.

My wife is now wanting some Red Jungle Fowl. The original chicken. Eggs are smaller and not as often, meat has more twang, and they are very wild. No one thinks about it but chickens are descended from exotic jungle birds and aren't very far from them really.

My wife had a pet skunk - descented - that she gave to friends when she came back from Florida to Gods Country - Colorado. They had a couple of Dobermans who were intimidated by the skunk - giving him first pick of feedings.

I had a "pet" catfish while growing up in the wilds of the Sandhills of western Nebraska - until he stuck my finger with a fin - breaking the cartilage off in my finger - he then went from friend to food -

[OI phones in...]

I've wanted a big cat ever since I was a kid and our DFW agent neighbor brought home/kept a confiscated, declawed bobcat. I've trained squirrels to be hand-feeding tame. A 'Coon could be fun though.

[shooter]

I've always wanted a Wolf, or hybrid. I hear you need land for them to be happy, though, and they aren't always good around kids or strangers.

If any of you haven't read "Alaska's Wolf Man" about Frank Glaser, you should. He lived in the wilderness of Alaska for close to 50 years, and raised wolves and hybrids as sled dogs, and also used them for bear hunting. Great book. To me he's kind of like Elmer Keith in the regard that he didn't just talk about it, he did it.

[salvo]

Ever since I was a kid I have kept reptiles. I have had Burmese pythons, African rock pythons, Boa constrictors, Salvatore water monitor, savanna monitor, Gila monster, bull snakes, King snakes, rattle snakes, racers and what ever else I could catch. I also have had salt water aquariums a Blue & Gold Macaw, Cockatoo and still have two parakeets that I caught, that must have escaped from the previous owner.
I no longer maintain the "Zoo" and have cut back to 4 dogs and two birds

[Rexster]

We have a Russian Tortoise and a Ball Python. The python was a foundling, from a "Viscious Animal" call at work.

One of our pooches might be a wolf hybrid. He certainly acts differently from most dogs I have known, but I researched wolf hybrids, and he doesn't act like them, either.

POBEARpoolsteps.jpg

[Sixgun]

forgot about the gator as a kid. lived in the tub. had to be careful reaching for the soap!

Mike,
Is that why the women in your life call you "Shorty"?

[n2t]

Oh, I think I have a few. One 4" african centipede, one african emperor scorpion, one choco golden knee tarantula, two pink toe tarantulas, one ornamental baboon tarantula, an amel cornsnake, a blood python, a iran jaya carpet python, a colombian rainbow boa, a leucistic texas ratsnake, and a breeding pair of miami phase cornsnakes on the way.

[Last Spike]

In 1942-43 when my dad was working on the Muncho Lake segment of the Alaska Highway as a supply manager, he came across a timber wolf caught in a trap. He was able to free the wolf and darned if it didn't follow him back to camp where he kept it on a leash just outside the door of his office. Said it really cut down on the number of interruptions and he could get a lot more paperwork done.

A few weeks later word came from higher up that he had to get rid of the wolf, who by now was taking food from my dad's hand. Trouble was, the wolf now viewed my dad as "alpha" male, and when free of the leash still stuck around the office. Sadly, he had to shoot the wolf himself as he had changed the wolf's behaviour so it was no longer a completely wild animal and someone else would have killed it. After dispatching the wolf, he skinned it and later tanned the hide on one side to remember the short, amazing time he had with the wolf.

How I found out about this? That wolf hide was stored rolled up in our garage and one day young me (about 8 or 9) took the hide down, unrolled it to full length on our backyard lawn. I was about 4 feet high at the time and the hide was 2 feet longer than I was tall. I asked my dad about this hide and he proceeded to tell me the above and other stories of his adventures he had during that time. Much better than the usual fairy tale children's stories!

[n2t]

Oh, I also had a husky wolf cross (since both are the same species some people get mad when you call them hybrids). Had him almost nine years, I go by wolfdog on another forum for that reason.

[Halfbreed]

Not too exotic, had a pet wild pig a few years back, and now have a pet Sulcatta Tortoise which will be my last pet, surely outlive me by a 100 years easy and get about as heavy.

[COSteve]

When I was growing up my uncle decided he wanted an exotic animal so he got an Ocelot kitten. He named it Dynamite because it would 'explode' across the room. First it was on the left, then on the right, never in the middle. Fastest thing I've ever seen. He installed eyebolts in the middle of each room and would hook the leash to it to keep it in.

When it was full grown it's body was about 2-2½' long, it's tail almost that long, it had huge eyes and big paws. I think it weighed about 30lbs. It was the most beautiful cat I've ever seen, even up to today. He never had it de-clawed and when we'd roughhouse with it sometimes we'd get scratched up pretty well. The cat purred so loud it was hard to hear television if it was near you, which it usually was because it loved people.

I would ride my bike over to his house just to see Dynamite all the time. He had an 10-12' high chain link fence with a top over it in about half of his huge back yard that Dynamite would live in. That cat lived like a king. An odd thing about it is that I never heard it roar or scream even once. I think he had it for 12yrs and when it died he had it mounted and kept it in his study which really creeped me out.

[vancelw]

In 1942-43 when my dad ..... came across a timber wolf

.... later tanned the hide on one side to remember the short, amazing time he had with the wolf.

How I found out about this? That wolf hide was stored rolled up in our garage and one day young me (about 8 or 9) took the hide down, unrolled it to full length on our backyard lawn. I was about 4 feet high at the time and the hide was 2 feet longer than I was tall. I asked my dad about this hide and he proceeded to tell me the above and other stories of his adventures he had during that time. Much better than the usual fairy tale children's stories!

I found out a story about my dad through other relatives. I think I found a old picture with one of my aunts posing with a nice , still living, whitetail buck.

My dad lived in Bowie county, deep NE Texas. In the 60s, he found a fawn in the woods and brought it to his parents' home like people used to do. They kept the deer as a pet for many years. The deer roamed freely, like one of the cattle, except it could jump fences and go pretty much where it wanted. The neighbors knew it was their pet and would not shoot it.
One day a casual friend of the family stopped by and he and my grandmother were out in the yard talking. The buck attacked the man and my grandmother had to use a hoe to keep the deer away so the man could get in his pickup. The deer knocked my grandmother down, and it was said that his antlers hit the ground on either side of her. I'm not sure I believe that because my grandmother was not petite in those days.
My youngest aunt still lived at home. She got a gun (probably my grandfathers ca. 1906 1894 in 30 WCF that my dad has now) and dispatched the deer.

They said that deer had never showed any aggression until that day.

[gak]

To the ocelot post, it used to be (and maybe still is) said that the ocelot was one of the few wild cats that had the potential as decent, relatively trouble-free pets--not to encourage anyone! Some say none of the cats (or other predator species) really ever are completely free of risk they'll turn back to truly wild ways--and usually in a bad way at a really bad time. In the 60's, my father--a dog person through n through--had a colleague in the air force with one (ocelot) he loved...and so always had a little hankering for one himself.


When I worked for a city here in Arizona, I got to play--rough-house really--with a year-old, nearly full grown mountain lion in our offices. It had been orphaned as a kitty and picked up by a trucker. Game & Fish caught wind later and took it from him. The cat was in our offices to transfer it to an Oregon big cat preserve, as we discussed with one of their reps about setting up a similar preserve in our mountains. Back to the cat, one of the neatest experiences of my life. As the ocelot poster said about the purring--but probably x2!--you could hear it across the room. With the handler close by (:-)), played with him in an open living room sized area about how you would your big lab or great dane. Loved to have his rib cage pounded on, but one moment when a little displeased obliged with a great wild bared teeth open mouth screech-growl just to remind who was boss! Gorgeous animal. Huge paws.

[preventec47]

Anybody, please tell move about racoons. I know they
are smart. but what is their personality if raised from babies?
Are they like cats or more like dogs ? I dont know if they
are pack animals like dogs which makes the animal want
to please and be sociable. I know coons hang out together
so I thought they might be very social.
I cant get over their hands and the dexterity of their fingers
etc. Most cats and dogs want to snuggle in your lap.
Do coons also ? Can you teach them to avoid places
like countertops or cabinets etc. I can imagine they could
make a mess of something if rummaging around.

[vancelw]

Anybody, please tell move about racoons. I know they
are smart. but what is their personality if raised from babies?
Are they like cats or more like dogs ? I dont know if they
are pack animals like dogs which makes the animal want
to please and be sociable. I know coons hang out together
so I thought they might be very social.
I cant get over their hands and the dexterity of their fingers
etc. Most cats and dogs want to snuggle in your lap.
Do coons also ? Can you teach them to avoid places
like countertops or cabinets etc. I can imagine they could
make a mess of something if rummaging around.

I've known several people that have had them. They like to climb high, especially in rafters and attics. I would think they would be very hard to keep off of countertops and cabinets. They are very smart and get into everything, much like monkeys.

If one ever loses it's temper (like even the most lovable cat does sometimes when cornered by a small child, etc.) they can inflict a lot of damage on your human tissue.

Everyone I have ever personally known to have one has had to get rid of it. Skunks make better pets.

[shooter]

Anybody, please tell move about racoons. I know they
are smart. but what is their personality if raised from babies?
Are they like cats or more like dogs ? I dont know if they
are pack animals like dogs which makes the animal want
to please and be sociable. I know coons hang out together
so I thought they might be very social.
I cant get over their hands and the dexterity of their fingers
etc. Most cats and dogs want to snuggle in your lap.
Do coons also ? Can you teach them to avoid places
like countertops or cabinets etc. I can imagine they could
make a mess of something if rummaging around.

My family has had a few of them. They are loveable, cute, furry, intelligent critters. When they want to be. You can train them, sort of, but nothing like you can a dog. At least we've never figured out how. You can't be too harsh disciplining them or they get cranky and are likely to attack. We've never had one get real vicious. I would definitely be careful with one around kids. My dog will let a little kid tug on his face, ears, eyes, what have you, and wags his tail the whole time. If you let a kid try that with a coon, you will have a hospital visit on your hands, or worse. I would also be careful around other pets, too. I've seen raccoons tear up a pack of coonhounds pretty bad. I'm talking 80-100lb Black and Tans, big dogs, and each of them came away with a lot more than a scratch. I wouldn't want to think what they could do to a small dog or cat. Just my take.

They are great pets if you have the patience and determination to raise them and try to train them. You may have great success if you get some tips on training, but it can be very difficult.

[765x53]

My dad used to tell me about rabbit hunting and rat killing with ferrets when he was young.
So, I had to raise them for a while. Hunting with them is illegal now and I never did any rat killing. I enjoyed having them, maybe because of memories of my dad. Most people think they are exotic but, they have been domesticated longer than cats.

[madman4570]

Copperheads.

DocAJ,
Details!


Closest thing to that for me was a little turtle I had when I was 4 years old.
Called him " TVCOUCH"

[RIHMFIRE]

Does the wife count?

[BAGTIC]

Not exactly a 'pet' but we have flying squirrels in the attic and one that lives in the heatalator of an unused fireplace in the recreation room. It mostly comes out at night to raid the bag of dogfood in the corner. Wife wants me to get rid of it but so far I have managed to dissuade her. It is so cute with those big bulging eyes with the vertical pupils.

Twice in my younger years I have had pairs of armadillos. Once in Kalifornia and once in Oregon. I doubt that Kalifornia would still allow them in the state by then Kalifornia doesn't allow anything anymore.

[Ray Newman]

Only exoic/wild pet I ever had was a teen aged son....