I have a word for you - chinchillas!
They’re cute, easy to keep and have proper little personalities … not too dissimilar to squirrels (imagine a squirrel crossed with a rabbit) … and they’re readily available in New Zealand.
But they’re addictive. I have ten. 
I’ve heard, though, that you can’t get them wet, with no explaination as to why. Which leads me to wonder if it’s safe to feed them after midnight. 
Well, it’s only in recent times that most humans (in the Western World, at least) have had the spare funds and resources to dometicate animals that don’t provide any practical benefit. My dog does absolutely nothing to earn her keep- a farmer in midieval Europe couldn’t have been so generous. He kept as many dogs as he needed to round up and protect his livestock, and no more than that.
Similarly, moden housecats are pampered and well fed, and aren’t expected to do anything in return except look cute. But the ancient Egyptians or Babylonians (or whoever first domesticated cats) took the kitties in because they were USEFUL, not because they were cute. A Middle Eastern farmer in ancient times kept as many cats as he needed to kill off the mice that threatened his crops- no more than that.
Squirrels are cute, but they can’t possibly provide any real benefit to their human owners. So, there’s no reason people would ever have bothered trying to domesticate them… until recently, when people started looking for more unusual and/or exotic pets.
Perhaps we could create messenger squirrels and tie notes to them and send them to deliver them to our friends 
…what you say telephone, aim, bah!
Obviously, you’ve never eaten squirrel.
Not every animal is domesticatable.
:eek: :eek:
Neither statement is true, provided you are using rats as odious creatures that should be eliminated. Squirrels have a place in the natural order of things. Pigeons are interesting birds; carrier pigeons have been far more than useful in many situations and homing pigeons are fascinating. Some pigeons are absolutely beautiful and pigeon fanciers the world over would strongly disagree with your throwaway statement.
Ferrets don’t have sharp teeth and claws? Tell that to the birds they and their weasely stoaty relatives have wiped out. Squirrels don’t eat eggs and chicks do they?
On seperate but related note, are Aussie possums and North American possums the same beasties? The Aussie ones are eating NZ alive. Officialy the biggest pest ever.
As a matter of fact, squirrels do feed on eggs and chicks. They, like their cousin the rat, are omnivores.
I won’t hear a word aginst an animal as lovely as the ferret.
They do??
If you want to hear a word against a ferret come down here. Ferret thy name is Evil.
Calm Kiwi asked
Related. Antipodean possums have shorter fur, which is more dense on the body, and is brown or black. American possums are grey, sparsely furred, and are not quite as evil-eyed as a good australasian one.
Possums in the US/Australia are threatened and/or endangered species. Possums in NZ are a pest that survives in spite of poisoning, trapping, hunting and roadkill (in huge numbers - almost 1 per Km per week). Clever kiwis use the fur for a mohair/possum wool that is light, soft and warm. Possum skins are used for incredible rugs and bedspreads that can sell for huge prices in Harrods - and you can pick the raw materials up from the roadside (a spatula may help). I have a possum skin I purchased from Taihape last time I was home - so soft - but the cat wants to eat it so I had to put it away. UKers react so well to what looks like the skin of a cat on the sofa
People do keep opossums for pets - if they are reared from young (remember, a possum is a marsupial). The problem is, a possums inate panic response is to climb the nearest treelike object and dig it’s (not inconsequential) claws in - no good if we are talking about people as the possible targets of such panic ascents.
If you want ethical fur - buy New Zealand Possum fur and save our native flora and fauna. Any other possum fur comes from endangered sources should be avoided.
Simon
Are you sure about that “endangered/threatened” thing? (And that people would want to touch a possum’s fur? That antipodean possum must be a very different animal.) Surely the North American possum is not a threatened species unless you count the fact that they can get themselves run over by a parked car. If it is, well, I guess we got a very successful breeding program in our behind-the-house neighbor’s overgrown backyard. Perhaps they’re dying out from sheer meanness, but the ones around here seem to overcome it long enough to get it on in their possummy way and then tote their babies along on their nasty under-furred backs (once they get out of the pouch, I assume - the pouch on a possum is not very obvious.)
Then again, in Florida they’re not allowed to kill armadilloes and the roads are covered with them, too, which always makes me sad because they’re so cute. My dad hates that they dig up his yard, though.
Yeah. Now you tell me! :smack:
Fair cop. Many species of opossum around the world are endangered - but not the Virginia Opossum, which is a “true” opossum.
Others, like the Brushtail Opossum are called Opossums due to their similar shape (and are also marsupials). In parts of Australia (Tasmania in particular) several species of possum are threatened, but the brushtail is probably not.
Soft dense fur that is absolutely wonderful. Including the tail. A really different beastie.
Sorry for the misinformation.
Simon
Yep. One of my favorite surreal moments is walking down the street after leaving my house on the way to High School one day and tracing a persistent loud crunching noise to a Fox Squirrel. It was sitting on its hindquarters in the gutter and chowing down on a flattened, road-kill robin almost as large as itself.
Oh, great, now people reading this thread who don’t know Virginia possums personally are going to look at that picture and say “Oh, how cute they are!” You gotta read the text for, say, “long, nearly naked, scaly prehensile tail”. Trust me, it’s all teeth on the inside, folks.
The other kind I feel very bad about them being killed for fur. They’re very cute - I wish our small-furry-vermin problem looked more like that.
All fur feels ickily alive to me. But Possums are on the “ask no questions” list. The very same possums are protected in Aus. Here we are doing all we can to kill them.
The we hate list seems to be
Shit if someone can make a buck off possum fur teddy bear…it felt ICKY to me…then go for it I suppose.