--- Reggie Bautista <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Debbi wrote: <snip>
> But there are lines of many animals commonly called > "exotics" that have been > bred for domestication for many generations (their > generations, not ours), > at least as I understand it. I couldn't find any > info on how long guinea > pigs have been domesticated, but it's long enough > that they have certain > sounds that they will only make in the presence of a > human. I overlooked guinea pigs. :) And hamsters don't even exist in the wild anymore, do they? > My cat loves to lay down on my chest while I'm > laying down in bed or on the > couch in the livingroom. If she were to do so to a > baby human, that baby > would probably be unable to breath because it > wouldn't have the muscle > strength to lift it's chest with the weight of the > cat on it. It this case, > the cat isn't even being a hunter, it's just showing > it's affection for the > baby, literally smothering it with love. But cats > are still accepted as a > "normal" pet. And I would guess everyone here has > heard at least one story > about a dog killing, maiming, or otherwise injuring > a human, whether infant > or adult. And dogs are certainly natural born > hunters. Yes, but along the way many dogs (and I'm guessing cats) who attacked humans would be slaughtered. But maybe (from your link below) ferrets have been culled at least somewhat too... Although we have of course accentuated the aggressiveness of some dogs. <growls over the memory of being confronted by 3 pit bulls> > >Tropical exotics can carry all sorts of diseases <snip> > > By the same token, pathogens can jump between humans > and other animals considered "normal" pets. Yes, but primate-type pathogens seem particularly bad for us hairless apes. Revenge, perhaps? :P > I also firmly believe in researching an animal > before choosing it as a pet. > We have several books now on regular hamsters, dwarf > hamsters, and guinea > pigs, all of which we currently own, and some books > on hedgehogs (we are > being given a baby hedgehog as a gift Wow, I didn't know there was such a thing as a dwarf hamster... (I hear some jokes coming) > >There are some wild animals who could probably be > >domesticated in time (frex several small South > >American wildcats), and some who are part-way there > >already (ferrets, mongooses). > > I thought ferrets had been domesticated for a long > time. Hang on a sec... > http://www.ferretcompany.com/content/aboutferrets.html > or > http://tinyurl.com/e3sl > > Excerpt: > Exactly where and when the first ferret was > invited into someone's > home is unknown, but early references to > ferret-like creatures can > be found in the writings of Aristophanes around > 500 B.C.... > Domesticated ferrets moved across Europe with > the conquering > Romans, earning their keep by flushing rabbits > from their warrens for expectant hunters. Thanks for the link! I guess I was thinking of the dogs' guesstimated 10K year, and cats' 4 or 5K...but some animals do seem to be suited to companionship. > IIRC, this is how it is theorized that dogs first > became domesticated, > working as hunting partners with humans. But > otherwise, point taken. Debbi who as a child dreamed of living on a game preserve in Africa, "They're not pet lions, they're *wild*" ;) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
