Strange pets and relationships.

[worth1]

Just saw two videos last night where people had pet otters.
In both cases they were friends with cats.
An otter is a noisy little thing to say the least.
And very lovable.

[Rockoe10]

I saw a documentary that showed husky sled dogs in Alaska make friends with a polar bear. Then the polar bear had cubs and the mother would bring the entire family to play with the dogs

[karstopography]

The otter in the lake seems a bit curious about my fishing. He swam up to within about 30 feet from where I was fishing and watched me for a time then dove underwater. I could see where they might be a pet, if you are into high energy pets like ferrets, all those of the weasel family types are super energetic. He’s really too big to manage as a house pet, this is not any ferret sized otter, but he has to be at least 30 pounds, 13-14 kilos. My dog is about 20# and this otter way eclipses the dog in size. I’d wouldn’t want to cramp an otter’s style by enticing one into being some sort of beggar for fish scraps, but I do wonder if he could be lured into eating from my hand. Based on his scat, he’s getting plenty of fresh fish to eat all on his own.

[MissS]

My brother found a nest of baby raccoons whose mother was killed while felling their tree. We raised them all summer (this is illegal nowadays). There was one male that was very special and he became part of the family. He and our German Shepherd became fast friends. Andy the raccoon preferred to be with the dog rather than his siblings. They played hard and they played rough but never once did they hurt each other. After Andy grew up and we let him go that fall we didn't see him again. Then one evening the following summer, I let the dog out and heard a huge commotion going on. I went out and there was Andy tumbling around with the dog like they had never been apart. It became common to have them play at night after being let go.

[worth1]

I had a couple of pet armadillos.
One would meet me at the school bus.
Raised it from a wee thing.

[worth1]

The feed store had a half bobcat half house cat.
That thing took up with me the first time it saw me.
The owner was flabbergasted because it didn't let people pet it.

[Cole_Robbie]

IMG957536.jpg

My grandma's pet cow, Sugar, is still hanging in there. She is now about 25 years old.

This pic is from last fall. Her new grandbaby was trying to nurse off her.

[Whwoz]

Two very Australian pets we have had were a Wombat and a Ring tail possum.

Wombats have a rather different way of expressing affection - being very short of leg, they can't cuddle and with heavy bone or cartlidge plates at each end, the only way they can show affection is by biting - we all had bite marks on us. Males make better companions than females as they bite less.

The possum Mum and Dad picked up off the road after a big storm, blown out of nest or off its mums back. He was around home for 9.5 years, way longer than what they live in the wild. Real character, would happily scoot down between shirt and skin for a snooze and a feed, not unusual for him to be snoring down my shirt.

Then there was the mummy possum and her triplets that came along a few years later. The mum was attacked by a cat,very lucky to survive and with three in pouch, she adopted a 4th orphan a couple of weeks later and all four young were successfully released into the bush. They lived in the bathroom and shower time was very interesting (and ouch from claws) if they were awake.

[worth1]

Found this picture of a huge wombat.

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[bower]

All of the wild animals here practice social distancing.

[karstopography]

A friend of mine grew up in a household where his dad pretty much hunted and fished 24/7/365. The dad would sometimes bring home baby raccoons and they would become pets. They were fine when they were little, but then would grow up and terrorize my friend. He said if you sat down to eat at the table and the raccoon wanted what you were eating, you’d better give it to him or risk being chewed up alive. Raccoons are pretty smart and can easily kill big dogs if they can get the dog in the water. Another country friend once picked a fight with a raccoon and wished he hadn’t since that raccoon chewed him up and he couldn’t get away from it. The friend with the pet raccoons said they’d always wander off once they got past a year old or so.

I’ve had one of our little opossums as a temporary pet. Our dogs ended up killing the mother, but I rescued one little baby she had. We got something from the veterinarian to feed it with and eye droppers to put it in. Once with it got a little bigger, I’d give it live crickets and earthworms. It would go bonkers for those. When it was about 1/2 grown, we took it to the wilderness park and let it go. We’ve also had baby swamp rabbits that got rescued from mowers. We raised them until they’d jump out of their box, then let them go. All those little juvenile animals are cute and endearing. Pookie was the possum, can’t remember what we called the rabbits, Woodrow was a baby wood duck my dad found. Woodrow didn’t make it, though. Dad said in hindsight we didn’t feed it the right things, not enough bugs and green things.

When I worked in the Boston area, one of my jobs had me do calls on homes and businesses. In one home in a very urban densely settled area right there smack dab in the middle of the kitchen floor was an enormous live pig. Not a pot bellied pig, but some big pinkish, whitish, hugely fat barnyard type, had to be 300 pounds or more. Me being the consummate professional made no comment about said pig to the home resident since said resident made no such reference to the pig. I completed my business and no comments were ever made about from either party about the obvious elephant or, pig as it was, in the room. But, I did wonder about having a giant pig living inside your home.

[bower]

My Mom talks about having baby goats in the house sometimes, iirc some chickens would also come and go to when the door was open.
While that was normal, the idea of dogs in the house was "never, never!". That is because in the north they had work dogs trained to pull a sled. They were not house dogs. They ate raw meat from the hunt, not kibble or salad. Those dogs were considered a danger to small children and other animals.
The only exception was if someone had a small crackie as a pet. Different kind of dog altogether.

[pondgardener]

[mention]Bower[/mention] "crackie"...Canadian expression for a small noisy dog. Now I know how to refer to my wife's 5# bundle of fur...

[worth1]

My Mom talks about having baby goats in the house sometimes, iirc some chickens would also come and go to when the door was open.
While that was normal, the idea of dogs in the house was "never, never!". That is because in the north they had work dogs trained to pull a sled. They were not house dogs. They ate raw meat from the hunt, not kibble or salad. Those dogs were considered a danger to small children and other animals.
The only exception was if someone had a small crackie as a pet. Different kind of dog altogether.

Growing up in the area I did many people thought we were strange because we had a dog and cats in the house.
Not only that the people wouldn't have an indoor toilet.
The men didn't bathe all winter and they considered animals filthy.
The boy was still bathed by his mother at 14 years old and he couldn't even pour his own drink in a glass.
Or serve his own meals as well as the rest of the men.
The English language was of little importance to them it was the worst I have ever heard.
Some peoples houses had more ticks inside than the forest outside.
I was made fun of in school for using proper English.
When asked by my teachers what i was going to do when I graduated I said get as far away from this place as I can.
And I did.
All the way to the west coast then back to Texas.
I can't possibly emagin what kind of person I would have been and what my life would have been like if I would have stayed there.

The film Splender in the grass comes to mind except the genders were swapped.
Where Natalie Wood comes back to see her boyfriend with a wife and a pile of kids.
Actually something very similar did happen when I came back.
The girl I was dating before I left got pregnant and had a baby at 17 years old while still in school by some idiot she had to marry.
To this day I can still see those beautiful big brown eyes of hers looking at me with sadness and despair when I walked into the house.

[Danny]

IMG957536.jpgMy grandma's pet cow, Sugar, is still hanging in there. She is now about 25 years old.

This pic is from last fall. Her new grandbaby was trying to nurse off her.

Best looking old cow I've ever seen, wow! Must be a special girl for you.

[Cole_Robbie]

Lilly Bell in her bumblebee costume:

IMG_4221.jpg

[worth1]

I had a strange pet the other night while sitting at the table.
I felt something on my head and carefully reached up to see what it was.
It was huge and I instantly knew what it was sight unseen.
A giant fat female stick bug about 7 inches long.
I couldn't get it off of me and when I did it latched on to something else and I finally got it outside.

[Mark_Thompson]

My brother found a nest of baby raccoons whose mother was killed while felling their tree. We raised them all summer (this is illegal nowadays). There was one male that was very special and he became part of the family. He and our German Shepherd became fast friends. Andy the raccoon preferred to be with the dog rather than his siblings. They played hard and they played rough but never once did they hurt each other. After Andy grew up and we let him go that fall we didn't see him again. Then one evening the following summer, I let the dog out and heard a huge commotion going on. I went out and there was Andy tumbling around with the dog like they had never been apart. It became common to have them play at night after being let go.

Did anyone ever read the kid’s book about the pet raccoon? Couldn’t tell you the title but I loved it when I was small.

[MissS]

@Mark_Thompson There were a few, but I liked this one. There was another one too but I can't find it. I think that the raccoon's name was Rocky.

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[Mark_Thompson]

Ah yes, Rascal was the one I read! Haven’t thought of that in years.