# Stupid people buying into stupid fads - Meerkats aren't pets. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220 "2011-09-22T18:06:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/41 "2011-09-23T19:14:08Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > And a touch [noisy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su3ovMsFXMg) in the morning. 😃 Oh, my word. I thought I wanted a fennec as a pet someday, but I don’t think I can handle having an animal that makes that sound so incessantly. Their ears are friggin’ huge and so so sensitive … how can he stand himself? I have no tattoos. However, if I could magically wave away all societal implications for having visible tattoos, I’d love to get one of a tarsier on my hand, clutching my thumb. I hope they never become a pet fad, though - IIRC we’ve never successfully established a captive breeding program, and they’re already endangered. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/42 "2011-09-23T19:27:44Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Oh, my word. I thought I wanted a fennec as a pet someday, but I don’t think I can handle having an animal that makes that sound so incessantly. Their ears are friggin’ huge and so so sensitive … how can he stand himself? He’s just excited to get up in the morning and see his people! And his doggie! And the couch! 😃 [Quietly playing with his ball.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UekrxczjScs) [Settling in for a nap.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsgEtNeJ-Ps) ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/43 "2011-09-23T19:27:54Z")
I want the next furry famous creature on tv to be a [Red Panda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_panda) because they’re insanely cute and it’ll teach people lessons about adopting wild animals: they’ll rip your face off. But seriously though, they are incredibly cute. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/44 "2011-09-23T19:32:54Z")
I have always wanted a pet peacock-are they domesticated? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/45 "2011-09-23T19:47:08Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have always wanted a pet peacock-are they domesticated? There are domesticated peacocks. They suffer from the same disadvantage as the fennec fox, though…you have to be able to ignore the near-constant sound of someone being horribly murdered right in your backyard. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/46 "2011-09-23T20:08:15Z")
I think a [Emporor Tamarin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarin) is right up there. (People have no common sense). ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/47 "2011-09-23T20:16:30Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have always wanted a pet peacock-are they domesticated? > [@jayjay](#): > > There are domesticated peacocks. They suffer from the same disadvantage as the fennec fox, though…you have to be able to ignore the near-constant sound of someone being horribly murdered right in your backyard. And in your neighbors’ yards. And their neighbors’ yard. I can’t sleep on the porch at my parents’ farm in the summer anymore-- the horse ranch a mile down the road has peacocks, and they scream every morning. They seem to be pretty hardy and easy to keep, but the death scream alone makes them lousy pets. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/48 "2011-09-23T21:49:20Z")
[Peacock scream](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IF-UXYyilw&feature=related). I’m sure you’ll recognize the problem with keeping them… ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/49 "2011-09-23T22:13:30Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > [Peacock scream](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IF-UXYyilw&feature=related). I’m sure you’ll recognize the problem with keeping them… Meh, try having 20 assorted guinea fowl doing the guinea 500 around and on the house, and nesting outside the bedroom, with a dozen assorted roman tufted geese, indian runner ducks and an assortment of peeved chickens and roosters joining the fray. Peacocks are nothing, it would be like sleeping through a tarzan movie. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/50 "2011-09-24T02:48:37Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > I read on some website that fennec foxes are illegal in California. How does one confirm this? (Just to see if the article on the website is out of date. The website gave no link to a cite.) You need to read up on CA Fish and Game regulations. The [Restricted Species Manual](http://www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing/pdffiles/fg1518.pdf) states that > [@](#): > > It is unlawful to import, transport, possess, or release alive into this state, except under a revocable, nontransferable permit as provided in this chapter and the regulations pertaining thereto, any wild animal of the following species: > (snip) > Order Carnivora (carnivores): All species, except domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and domestic cats (Felis catus). California has some of the toughest exotic possession laws in the country. I know of only one individual (distinct from zoos) who has state permission to possess fennec foxes. **aruqvan** , same goes for Pallas cats and cheetahs. It is almost impossible to legally possess them in this state. **araminty** , zoo educator. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/51 "2011-09-24T02:58:04Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Apparently you’ve never seen a [sugar glider;](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_glider) they’re much cuter. Especially [in a container](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqSGJzSiz5s&feature=player_detailpage#t=22s). ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/52 "2011-09-24T03:39:33Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Apparently you’ve never seen a [sugar glider;](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_glider) they’re much cuter. Adorable but nocturnal, which means a pain in the ass if you aren’t nocturnal as well. Most of the popular pets are [crepuscular](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular), or most active around dawn and dusk, napping during the day and mostly sleeping at night. These include dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, and guinea pigs. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/53 "2011-09-24T04:29:04Z")
I have a mildly retarded childhood friend who managed to buy herself an arctic fox. He survived about a month in the Memphis heat. I don’t know if her purchase was part of some trend or if she just saw it and wanted it, but I’d have to say it’s the stupidest pet purchase I’ve ever seen. She also had a prairie dog and several types of lizard and was saving for some type of monkey last I heard but that was years ago. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/54 "2011-09-24T04:40:17Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > California has some of the toughest exotic possession laws in the country. I know of only one individual (distinct from zoos) who has state permission to possess fennec foxes. > > **aruqvan** , same goes for Pallas cats and cheetahs. It is almost impossible to legally possess them in this state. One can dream about helping support a critter that is borderline. Like I said, I do know that there are many hoops to jump through, and it would be worth it. Ghu knows we support our pair of eagles by letting them graze our poultry in the winter 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/55 "2011-09-25T00:07:17Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > And in your neighbors’ yards. And their neighbors’ yard. I can’t sleep on the porch at my parents’ farm in the summer anymore-- the horse ranch a mile down the road has peacocks, and they scream every morning. > > They seem to be pretty hardy and easy to keep, but the death scream alone makes them lousy pets. I used to live next to a property with peacocks_in central London_. They were pretty but my neighbours and I were all thrilled when the urban foxes finally ate them (not that the fox noises are much better). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220.md?page=2)