# If you could domesticate any animal, what would you have as a pet/companion? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667 "2017-05-29T19:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/41 "2017-05-30T16:16:51Z")
I want an owl to perch on my shoulder. (I’m assuming it’s domesticated enough that it can do that without piercing my skin.) Or maybe a [Dik-dik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dik-dik). It’s already the right size for a house pet. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/42 "2017-05-30T16:24:02Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > A capybara. Oh, they are domsticatable. That’s what I would get too! > **[TV Listings- Find Local TV Listings and Watch Full Episodes - Zap2it.com](https://tvlistings.zap2it.com/)** > > Find local TV listings for your local broadcast, cable and satellite providers and watch full episodes of your favorite TV shows online. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/43 "2017-05-30T16:31:15Z")
A lynx or bobcat (or just a domestic cat that big). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/44 "2017-05-30T16:49:40Z")
Oh, a capybara would be a great choice, too. Now that I think about it, I wish I could domesticate my housecats. You know, be able to eat a meal in peace, type on my computer, not bleed a lot… ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/45 "2017-05-30T16:52:29Z")
A Liger, it’s pretty much my favorite animal. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/46 "2017-05-30T17:11:30Z")
A Mtn Lion. Purrs. Keeps burglars out. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/47 "2017-05-30T17:52:21Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Anybody want a Wallaby? 'Cause I can hook you up with that shit… Yes please! At first I was going to say a koala, but they’re not very social. I’d love to have a wallaby that would go on walks with me. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/48 "2017-05-30T18:32:22Z")
I also want a monkey but not one that will eat my face. And it has to be small enough so that if it started to sass me I could give it a what for. So I’d go with a [Pygmy Marmoset.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_marmoset) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/49 "2017-05-30T21:16:35Z")
If he could be toilet trained, then Donald Trump. And I would keep him in my basement and not let him out for the next 45 months. Failing that, maybe a whale. Of course, I would need to live at the seashore. One summer when she was a little girl, my mother played with a dolphin every day of the summer she spent in Wildwood, NJ. That would have been in the early 1920s. What a wonderful treat. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/50 "2017-05-30T21:19:19Z")
I’ve always wanted a big male lion that I could snuggle up with when it’s cold. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/51 "2017-05-30T21:22:08Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > A capybara. Those chupacabras are nasty! 😉 > [@Lumpy](#): > > A lynx or bobcat (or just a domestic cat that big). I bobcat is a lynx. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/52 "2017-05-30T21:37:29Z")
A herd of massive plate-sized slime moulds, trained to communicate like the cave-dwelling creatures in The Sirens of Titan. Or a fox. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/53 "2017-05-30T21:42:40Z")
I would like a giant panda. A breeding pair of them, actually, so that I could have baby pandas to cuddle and play with. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/54 "2017-05-30T21:48:32Z")
T-rex Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/55 "2017-05-30T21:49:58Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > T-rex > > Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk Pet fossil-cool. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/56 "2017-05-30T22:28:34Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > Wolverine. Basically a ferret on (a lot of) steroids. Plus the fact that grizzlies are afraid of them. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > \*Honey \*Badger. I hear they’re quite something. 🙂 Yeah - rather like a wolverine, but not as peaceful or friendly. > [@drewder](#): > > T-rex > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Pet fossil-cool. Just like Harry Dresden! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/57 "2017-05-30T22:49:40Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > I would like a giant panda. A breeding pair of them, actually, so that I could have baby pandas to cuddle and play with. Seconded. They’re cute as all get out, plus I’d have it rob restaurants for my dinners; not only does it already have the mask on its face, but it eats, shoots and leaves. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/58 "2017-05-31T00:18:55Z")
When I was a kid I wanted a pet gorilla (or at least “gorilla friend”) so he could beat up my enemies. But now I’m a grown-up with no actual “enemies” and … … … Nope. Still want a gorilla. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/59 "2017-05-31T00:28:39Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > When I was a kid I wanted a pet gorilla (or at least “gorilla friend”) so he could beat up my enemies. But now I’m a grown-up with no actual “enemies” and … > > … > … > > Nope. Still want a gorilla. I grew up the woods of Louisiana. We had plenty of exotic native wildlife but I didn’t really understand the concept of geography and habitat when I was 4 or 5. I assumed gorillas were going to be just as easy to find as deer, snakes, frogs or even alligators if I just looked in the woods enough. I tried to find one to bring home as a friend for days before my grandmother broke the news to me. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667/60 "2017-05-31T02:01:45Z")
> [@](#): > > bobcat is a lynx. I don’t think it’s just a regional name thing, I think they really are considered separate species. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-domesticate-any-animal-what-would-you-have-as-a-pet-companion/787667.md?page=4)