5 reasons why you shouldn't raise wild animals as pets
Should you try to rescue that abandoned baby bunny or bird? Absolutely not, and here's why.
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Keep wild animals wild or you and the animal are likely to regret it.
People always mix up the words "domesticate" and "tame".
Domestication happens after hundreds of generations of selection for less aggressive animals. A famous experiment done with foxes where they bred for tamer and tamer foxes actually was able to domesticate the fox in about 50 years, but this was a controlled experiment where the breeding foxes were chosen for amiability and willingness for training.
"Tame" means a wild creature that has not gone through those generations of.... More
It always comes back to that old saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Wild animals might be cute on the outside, and as a baby might act domesticated, but when they grow up, most likely, they will show that on the inside, they've always been wild.
We recently interviewed the folks at Star Eco-Station who end up with "pets" like these which are ultimately turned over to them by the overwhelmed pet owners or confiscated by authorities. See some of these unlikely pets in our video http://encinomom.com/star-eco-station-in-culver-city/
i think mangos shud be left alone
I agree with all the reasons to not raise wild animals. Except the first one. The person writing the articles sites no specific laws which probably means there was no research done into this. I am myself a naturalist, but we should not use the law as a means to get people to understand or take our position on a certain issue. Using the law for persuasion is manipulation. In the end, that hurts all of us. To the author, please cite the laws of each of the 50 states.
Here's an article on Oregon's law....
http://www.oregonlive.com/pets/index.ssf/2009/07/new_oregon_law_will_cla...
My former roommate "saved" a baby squirrel that she found in our yard. I told her to call the Wildlife Waystation, but she refused. "Darwin" was an adorable little guy who liked to ride on the back of my cat Sisko. They bonded and were inseparable. The problem was you can not put a diaper on a squirrel or teach them not to chew on everything so after waking up covered in feces too many times my roommate put him in a cage. She then lost interest in him and put him in a cage outside where.... More
The kids found a baby squirrel in a dogs mouth after a bad storm. They brought it to me and I found that the storm had pushed a bit of young soft leaf in its eye. I removed the leaf and put it in a cage and bottle fed it till it was old enough to release into the back yard. I started by putting it into the tree next the the back door and would bring it in at night then it decided it liked it better outside and that is where it stayed. While it still was inside it would hang on the side of the.... More
CALL THE RSPCA!!!
My sister fostered a baby raccoon at one point a long, long time ago at the request of a rehab center until it was old enough to be on her own. Definitely not a pet to keep once she got older.
However, as I sit here I am watching my prairie dogs play. They came into my life last year and were born in captivity.
They are amazing, fun, and super sweet. That said, prairie dogs aren't the pet for most people. Keeping them fed, entertained and healthy can get expensive and definitely.... More
you are truely insane
I don't think she's insane, but she's definitely now the owner of two creatures who can never be returned to the wild, they won't know how to survive on their own. God help them if anything ever happens to her, because no one, and I mean NO. ONE. will ever take them in. They'll have to be euthanized.
They'll be euthanized, all because someone thought they were "so cuuuuuuute!"
These were never wild--so they wouldn't have ever known how to survive on their own.
I expect to definitely outlive them-they don't live much longer than the average large dog or pet rat, but if not--there would be takers. Our family. Our vet (who has one but would like more). People who work at the pet store where we found them.
I tend to agree with the crazy assessment some days. They aren't unlike toddlers or intelligent high energy puppies. Lots of work,.... More
They were born in captivity, AKA they were already destined to stay in captivity (most likely born in a zoo) and they do have the potential to go into a colony at a zoo, and there are plenty of rehab-type centers or family run 'zoos' that take care of fostered wild animals that are not able to go back to the zoo. Besides, they are small mammals. They do not live long like an exotic bird or a tortoise, they live around 8 years+, which is actually less than rabbits.
As much as I agree that you shouldn't raise a wild animal, I also don't condone calling your local wildlife center. We found baby bunny once who was only a little injured and when we called them they said they'd take them, but they would most likely just feed it to bigger prey as they get so many in a year.
I completely disagree. A wildlife center has the highest chance of success for injured or misplaced animals because they are a center of people who greatly care about nature and its creatures and know how to properly care for them. Wildlife organizations, wildlife veterinarians, and rehabbers have many networks that allow them to obtain the most up-to-date medical care as well. Some more independent rehabbers may not be as up-to-date/ethical code but all must still pass permitting, etc. Many.... More
some aninmals are just so cute they are almost irresistible, but there are so many solid reasons not to domesticate a wild animal that the argument, "but it's so fluffy!!!" just sounds ridiculous.
