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This seems like it needs to be a delightful kids picture book set in cold war era moscow…
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That may be from your perspective. From the animal’s perspective they adapt a lot to a strange environment and strange requests. You have to try to find somewhere in the middle both can live with. The cat may not understand why it is allowed to scratch on one object but not another, but as long as it can scratch something it can live with it.
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“The Hamster that was a Mole.”
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It’s like, I really want Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy, and I just know I’d take super good care of him and bathe him multiple times daily. But I understand that my feelings are not the only consideration here, and it’s on me to move past that or at least make sure no one finds my concealed basement
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Thanks for the laugh!
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But how are we supposed to find out what they say?
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There are no “not good ones”. They are all good, they just don’t belong in your house.
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I use split loom wire tubing for wires that I can’t attach to a wall, and a lot of hay toys for them to get their nibble on.
They will chew on the plastic (they are curious) but it’s saved quite a few wires and cables. Our bunnies were incredibly easy to litter box train: took them all of 2 days. Unfortunately they recently went to war, and while at the moment they are friendly, they are still disputing territory, which means I’m pulling out the “Green Machine” a couple times a day. I recommend the 101Rabbits and Lennon the Bunny youtube channels. Both have helped me understand my adorable furry overlords, and provided great bunny care tips.
Those poor little guys! I’m sure they felt the same about the smell as you did, and they were probably harassed by predators at night. Before they were fixed and bonded, I kept my bunns in a hutch the first 6 months, and brought them inside during the day, but that ended when I caught raccoons trying to open the hutch doors. Now they make supervised visits to the yard which they enjoy. I’m not proud; I wasn’t the best care giver the first year with them. But I made the effort to learn, and now we all get along much better.
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Good point. I should have been better with my wording. Our pets are certainly trying to adapt to the environments we create, which must seem bizarre at times. “What do you mean I can’t nest on the couch? You do! And it’s so soft!”
But we have the greater capacity to understand where their instincts clash with our environments and habits, and can help both sides find a reasonable co-existance. “Tell you what, here’s soft pet bed of your own, and I won’t bother you when you’re there.”
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Of course- they may have domesticated us.
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…children…
Oh, c’mon, I love my kids.
This fox thing seems crazy to me. If I were to adopt a canid, I think it would have to be a corgi. I’m a cat guy, favoring goofy, noisy, spastic long haired cats. Corgis seem too ridiculous to be an actual dog and are extremely goofy, so they’re the only one I’m inviting in,
Foxes are adorable…nasty, unkempt, feral, and…it seems to me vastly unfair to domesticate them.
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Is there anything inherently wrong with purposefully breeding domesticated foxes? We did it before with dogs, cats, cows, horses, and many more. Why not foxes?
Of course I’m assuming it can & is done humanely.
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Words I never expected to read and will try to fit into future conversations.
Because there is no good reason to do so?
On the other hand, what’s one more species fucked up purely for the enjoyment of humans in the grand scheme of things.
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And there’s not even a Disney movie fueling the recent fox trend.
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True. The problem here is they are trending on social media. People have been seeing more of them in downtown settings over the past couple of years. That led to a rise in pictures and videos posted along with increasing numbers of fans. So, there’s a progression among some fans from observing something to wanting to possess one by trapping it and forcing it to live in a house. Not creepy at all… 
The word the character River Tam used to describe controlling humans fits - meddlesome. There’s already a source of revenue for towns that require certain pets to be licensed and given regular shots. Maybe the next level will be annual home visits, just to check for health and safety.
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Are dogs just a fucked up species for our enjoyment? Seems to me both dogs and humans are better off with them.
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Ever seen the skull of a pug?
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When dogs were bred for sport or work, etc, they tended to be healthy, functional, all this characteristic obsessed inbreeding has caused multiple dog’s ruin… the british bulldog being a prime example of form over function, even selecting for champions has caused genetic issues for working dogs.
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