Hippos are very dangerous in the wild but I have read of several instances where they make make good “pets”
e.g see http://www.mnet.co.za/CarteBlanche/Display/Display.asp?Id=1891
I have a kitty. He weighs about 12 pounds. We play. Normally cats play rough. Sometimes when we play my kitty will make a swipe and draw blood. It’s an accident and thats okay. A similar accident with a 300 pound kitty would not be acceptable.
Friends of my parents belonged to the Ocelot & Marguey Assoc. in the 50’s. They owned/were owned by a small, (17 lbs.) marguey, Zorch by name. Now Zorch certainly didn’t attack people, we are too big, but she was by no means tame or domesticated. It had no fear of taking on anything under about 50 lbs; one neighbor’s fox hound died and two other neighbor dogs never went after any kind of cat again. It wasn’t interested in eating the fox hound, just establishing its territory and the local pecking order.
Aside; You could always find Zorch when she got out: You just looked for the tree with the empty bird carcasses under it. Then Herbie, her owner, would have to climb the tree with welding gauntlets and racing goggles on, and wrestle her down. This was exciting entertainment.
Now scale this up to 150 lb. leopards or 300 lb. bears.
There is in Little Tujunga Canyon, in L.A. is the Wildlife Rescue org. These people rescue animals from idiots that think it would be a good idea to own something that weighs 300 lbs.
I just learned something very important about my wife.
:eek:
:rolleyes:
It’s strange how many people think ferrets are wild animals. Of course, ferrets themselves add to this idea with their very uninhibited play!
Julie
Reptiles are even worse! To a large reptile (snake or lizard), you (the ownwer) are nothing more than a particularly attractive bit of lunch! Why people keep these animalsis beyond me…recently (in prividenc , RI), a man was attacked by his pet monitor lizard-the thing fastened its jaws around his shull-tore off a nice piece ofscalp!\Pets like that you don’t need!
Edward R. Ricciuti’s book “Killer Animals: The Menace of Animals in the World of Man” has a chapter on the hazards of keeping wildlife as pets and describes incidents where seemingly tame large predators suddenly attacked people. One photo shows a circus tiger attacking a boy as his trainers try to pull it off. The book may be out of print as it was written in the 70’s but it’s worth a read so check the library or used bookstore for it.
I worked at a zoo/wildlife rehab center/sanctuary for a few years. Some of my experiences from then:
Casey- a male cougar raised by humans from birth. He loved to play hide and seek. He’d hide behind a tree or a rock in his enclosure, then as I ran past (outside the fence), he’d leap out and pace me. I was able to go into his enclosure and socialize with him, but he did at one point, tear another keeper’s jacket to shreds. She was fine, but obviously scared. We think he was playing, but nonetheless, it was determined that no more in enclosure socialization would occur.
Chip-another male cougar raised by humans from birth. Lacked socialization, however and had lived in a very confined environment (6 x6 ft dog kennel) prior to being placed with us. He would never let anyone pet him. One person, deciding, without approval, to socialize, went in and was promptly attacked, receiving puncture wounds and scratches on his thigh. Could have, and probably should have, but thankfully wasn’t much worse.
Grover-male coyote raised by humans from birth. Behaved much like a dog in many respects, but with distint differences. He’d come when called, play tug-of-war, and loved to be petted, but was much more opinionated than any dog I’ve met. I have a scar on my finger from a game of tug-of-war with him gone awry.
Rosie and Roscoe-female and male kodiaks. These were the two bears used in the movie “The Bear.” No in enclosure socialization occurred with these two, but they both, especially Rosie, loved to be petted and scratched. I’m almost positive they would have loved the attention of closer socialization again, but with their size and strength, none of us were quite up to taking the chance. Rosie would lean out of her enclosure as far as possible and huff. Once, I put my face right up next to hers and was talking to her, and faster than I could react, her tongue was in my mouth (ACK!!!) and you thought doggie breath was bad.
Bonnie, Connie, and Clyde-three white tail deer that I personally hand raised from the time they were 1-2 weeks old. Connie stayed docile forever. Bonnie attacked me once, rearing and striking out at me with her front legs. Clyde attacked my now ex-husband when he (Clyde) was in rut. Resulted in puncture wounds, gangrene, a month in the hospital, and permanent damage to his leg.
Wow, I could go on forever, but had better stop now. Getting a wild animal for a pet is NOT a good idea. There are hundreds of sanctuaries set up for exotic pets which turned out to be not quite as tractable as their owners had anticipated.