Morality and Legality of Keeping Wild Animals in Captivity

[Alyrium Denryle]

Over here the ban on wild animals is "Banned, period!" No ifs, buts or maybes. That would rule out pet skunks or the like. Even the zoo removes their scent glands, because it wouldn't do for visitors to get sprayed.

One of the animal handlers there talked to me about the skunks and said one year they managed to make dig a den under some rocks that had not been sufficiently skunk-proofed against that event and the babies had active musk glands by the time they dug them out. She said she didn't get the smell off her body for a week and the work clothes were a write-off.

The only way you could get to keep something wild would be if it were too injured to be able to make it on its own and you had sufficient facilities to provide a good home for the animal. Mainly this would require that you had a house and/or didn't live in the city, depending on the animal. I can see how you could keep a crow or magpie or similar bird even in the city, but not birds of prey of any kind. Zoos are generally good about nursing animals back to health and moving suitable animals to other zoos that may have a use for them.

I assume certain captive bred animals are permitted? Small snakes, dart frogs, hamsters?

[aieeegrunt]

My landlord had a pet raccoon, which resulted in him now having an extended family of them hanging around the place. The pet raccoon went out one day, disappeared for a while, and then came back pregnant. The cute babies being naturally pampered and cooed over by everybody and more importantly fed regularly grew up hanging around the farm. We are now on our third generation of the critters. They are pretty tame and seem to enjoy hanging around with us when we are outside. They like having their backs scratched but don't like having their heads petted the way a dog would. My dog gets along well with the barn cats but he and the coons don't know how to interact with each other, they just sort of sit there looking confused until one or both parties gets bored and wanders off.

I was BBQing once, and turned around to find a bunch of them lined up behind me, sitting up on their hind legs in exact order from largest to smallest. The only thing missing was them holding plates.

[Broomstick]

I have a couple friends who keep illicit crows as house pets. Wow, but those birds are smart.

I have heard if you split a crow's tongue it can learn to talk, although that's a cruel thing to do to one.

Crows do NOT require a tongue splitting in order to talk. And yes, they can learn to talk. NO bird requires tongue surgery to learn to speak. If they can learn it they can learn it, and if they can't screwing up their tongue won't help.

I really wish that old wives' tale would die. I once had a bozo who believed in that offer to slit one of my parrot's tongues for me. The bird was already talking. Shit, how do these things get started?

[Kanastrous]

Sounds like an invitation to play where's my fingers?

[Commander 598]

I have a couple friends who keep illicit crows as house pets. Wow, but those birds are smart.

I have heard if you split a crow's tongue it can learn to talk, although that's a cruel thing to do to one.

Crows do NOT require a tongue splitting in order to talk. And yes, they can learn to talk. NO bird requires tongue surgery to learn to speak. If they can learn it they can learn it, and if they can't screwing up their tongue won't help.

I really wish that old wives' tale would die. I once had a bozo who believed in that offer to slit one of my parrot's tongues for me. The bird was already talking. Shit, how do these things get started?

On the subject, I've often wondered just how capable they are with language...

And on the thread subject, my dad has made pets from many wild animals over the years. At one point he was even using a pet fox to pick up chicks. Of course, my dad also had no problems living in an unpowered and probably unheated shack in the woods.

[Kanastrous]

And he still managed to pick up chicks? Impressive.