FridayQ: Pet

I’ve skipped the last several FridayQs because they didn’t seem very interesting. But I can’t pass up this one; it’s about pets.
FQ1: Any pets as a kid? Yes, quite a few. My parents’s household has never been without at least one dog since years before I was born. The dogs I remember best are Sally, a fox terrier we adopted when I was five, and Leo, a poodle we acquired when I was a preteen.
Some other pets were with us for briefer periods. My grandmother gave me a cat when I was very young, but my mother is allergic to cats and we had to find another home for it. When I was a teenager, I had gerbils for several years, and grew to dislike them quite a bit (they’re nasty, bad-tempered creatures that like to bite). We also had tropical fish for a while. And a parakeet.
FQ2: Any pets now? Yes, we have three pet rats. We adopted our first pair of rats in 2002, and I was amazed to find that they were nothing like the gerbils of my youth. Rats have been bred as pets for about 150 years (three times as long as gerbils) and are thoroughly domesticated. If they are handled and petted by humans from an early age, pet rats are gentle and affectionate creatures who bond with their owners and love to interact with them. (In three years with pet rats, I haven’t been bitten once.)
Our original pair of rats died this year (typical life span is two to three years), and we adopted our current trio several months ago.
FQ3: Name your favorite famous pet from television or movies. Gromit, the dog from the Wallace and Gromit films. Although I’m not sure that he really qualifies as a pet; he’s smarter than Wallace and has been his partner in a couple of business ventures.
FQ BEST FRIEND: If money and legality were not a barrier, what exotic animal would you like as a pet? Not interested. Exotic animals are not domesticated, meaning that they haven’t been bred for compatibility with humans. They are wild animals in captivity, and that’s a recipe for all kinds of problems. I’d much rather share my living space with an animal that actually likes me and wants me to play with it.

One thought on “FridayQ: Pet

  1. I didn’t know about the new rats — congratulations!
    For the sake of pedantic accuracy, I must correct your statement that our parents’ house was never dogless since before you were born. I believe Sally died in 1981, and we didn’t get Annie until the summer of 1984. So we were without a dog for more than three years. (It took us that long to wear down Mom’s resistance.)