Another example: raccoons. You’d think they could fit into the same pet niche as cats and dogs.
But I think people have tried to domesticate raccoons and failed.
On an unrelated note, can anyone figure out why my spell checker has a problem with the word raccoons? It’s tagging it as misspelled. It has no problem with raccoon. I’ve checked and raccoons is apparently the correct plural of raccoon.
As a bat enthusiast, I’m always surprised that they haven’t been domesticated. They can do neat tricks (flying and echolocation). Some species are reasonably cute. They’re tiny. Most species require little food and water. In China, they’re considered good luck.
Wallabys tame down nicely when removed from the pouch and bottle-raised.
The flying aspect is a major point against them. With domesticated birds, we’ve usually either bred out their flight ability or we keep them caged.
We could perhaps domesticate bats to the point where we could keep them as caged pets, but why do so? They’re not colorful like birds and they don’t sing or imitate human voices. A caged bat will just be a little furry lump.
Bats are also nocturnal, which makes them poor potential pets.
True. You can clip the wings of a bird either permanently or temporarily. I can’t think of a way to clip bat wings. However, if we could paper train bats, then they’re flying free around the house would not be a problem.
While not multicolored some species (OTTOMH the Seminole bat) are quite bright.
IIRC guinea pigs and gerbils are also nocturnal.
Flying squirrels (Glaucomys spp.) can be kept as pets. Wild flying squirrels will tame down well, if caught while young. Local laws vary from place to place about keeping them.
People play frisbee with them – using the squirrel for the frisbee. You don’t even have to aim very well when you toss them. They steer themselves.
If you pay close attention to the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, you might notice that Rocky is portrayed realistically in a lot of details. He doesn’t actually fly, he only glides. He can only take off by jumping off a cliff or having Bullwinkle launch him. He is drawn with a patagium, the flap of skin from the fore legs to the hind legs that they glide on – you can catch an occasional glimpse of it when he is gliding.
ETA: Links about flying squirrels:
http://www.flyingsquirrels.com/
When I was a kid my parents had friends out in the country that had a pet raccoon. I was playing with it on a porch swing one day and it climbed up the chain holding the swing and got its foot caught somehow. I reached up to help and it fell, hanging by the stuck foot. I don’t know if it thought I was causing the pain, but it latched onto my arm with teeth and claws. Don’t remember and blood being drawn though.
Walter Rothschild did manage to train zebras to pull a carriage- it can be done, it’s just not easy.
Regions of China and Japan have a history of training cormorants to fish (well, more precisely, to come back and give up the fish- the fishing bit kind of came naturally).
[Boris]
Must tame moose and squirrel.
[/Boris]
But don’t they put a band around the birds’ necks so they can’t swallow the fish?
The hat and goggles - not so much.
Keep in mind there are significant differences between animals which can be tamed and animals which can be domesticated.
To be domesticated, a species has to be consistently tamable, be able to live among humans throughout its entire life-cycle, and be able to reproduce in captivity.
Around 5 or 6 thousands years ago humans had tamed dinosaurs and rode on their backs.
Yes, but they are trained to return with the fish, rather than just swimming off by themselves. They don’t seem to quite get over the instinct to try to swallow, but they will return and give up the catch.
Incidently, zebras breed very well in captivity, and several other people have also managed to train them as riding animals as well as to pull carriages, while keeping them in much the same way as a horse. The main reason they’ve not been more widely domesticated is… well… it’s easier to just get a horse, which are obviously easier to train given how long they’ve been selected for the trait, or a zebra hybrid if you want funky looks combined with easier trainability.
And, yes, hyenas can be tamed. Sometimes as performing animals, and in some West African nations, to confer status on the owner. And you thought owning a pit bull was bad ass …
Very interesting post!
I’ve seen chipmunks for sale in large cages. I don’t think they were wild-caught, but I’m not sure how different they were from wild ones.
I don’t know about wild ones but my pet guinea pigs were never very nocturnal. Hamsters are certainly nocturnal though, although they seem to adapt a bit when their owners aren’t.
Ridiculous!
Earth is only 4 thousand years old, you fool!