Question of The Day. Saturday 8th of August.

[klunick]

I believe skunks are currently illegal as pets here in New Jersey. I don't know that I would want another one.

1) They are nocturnal. I could wake him up in the daytime but if I was not actively engaged with him he'd find a corner to go off and sleep. He was caged at night.
2) He was toilet trained to a place. If the litter pan was there he'd use it. If it was pushed a very few inches away he'd use where it should have been.
3) Very easy to feed. Eat anything - dog kibble, vegetables, fruit, eggs, grasshoppers, meat, cheese, peanut butter - anything.
4) Could walk upstairs but too short legged to come down. He'd stand at the top and thump his feet (skunks are silent) until I'd come and get him.
5) Very powerful - if I was on the sofa with him and he wanted to get behind me I could not push back hard enough to keep him from doing so. Cupboards and the refrigerator had to have mechanical, hook-and-eye latches.
6) Skunks are so susceptible to rabies I always confirmed that the vet was using the killed form of the vaccine as the attenuated rabies vaccine could trigger it.

Once I had tamed him he was a rather placid animal. I would bring him to the pre-school story hour at the library and all the shrill little children would gather round, chattering away, pet him, and he'd put up with it. I would say he was tame, not domesticated. I could say in thus-and-such a situation I think he will react thus-and-so. But would not extrapolate to what another skunk might do.

Of course this was many decades ago so maybe pet skunks are different now.

A couple of years ago, I had an encounter with a baby skunk while leaving for work at 3:30am. It must have been under a small fir tree we have by our porch. Walked past it and heard a noise. Turned around and there he was. He was so cute!!!

Anyway, he started stomping his little feet at me like he was about to turn and spray. I took off running for my car. Got in and rolled down the passenger window to get a photo of him but he was gone.

 

[catapault]

Decades ago I was doing garden maintenance at a client's place. Went into the toolshed for something. And there was an adult skunk peacefully sleeping on some burlap or whatever. Went to the kitchen to ask the maid for some cheese. Back to the toolshed, madam and maid following cautiously behind me. Tossed a piece of cheese. Skunk woke up, gobbled down the cheese. Both women peering over my shoulder. Repeat, repeat, until cheese was gone. Withdrew, closing the door behind me.

 

[Willowy]

One ferret book was written by an author that also owned skunks. She said pretty much the same thing: that skunks are fairly similar to ferrets (the litterbox thing and the rabies vaccine thing are similar, although ferrets are pure carnivores so feeding is different) but once they grow up they become a bit of a "potted plant"; they look pretty but don't do much. I also don't know if the pet trade has succeeded in changing some things (ferrets are a lot tamer now than in the '70s, for instance), but I imagine there's only so much you can change their skunky nature.

 

[catapault]

I thought ferrets had been semi-domesticated for a very long time over in the UK, used in rabbit hunting / rat control. Not as pets, but working animals.

My skunk really loved me. We'd go for walks outdoors and he'd follow right with me. While he was de-skunked he wasn't neutered. Things could get interesting in the spring breeding season - I had to tuck my feet up under me when I sat in a chair. And he'd hide behind an upholstered chair and then rush out to semi-attack my husband when he came home from work.

 

[Willowy]

I thought ferrets had been semi-domesticated for a very long time over in the UK, used in rabbit hunting / rat control. Not as pets, but working animals.

Yes. I believe Romans kept them for rabbit hunting too, so it's been a while. But a hunting ferret or one raised for fur doesn't have to be very friendly (perhaps tame isn't the right word), whereas a pet ferret needs to be friendly and not terribly bitey.

I think some small breeders are still working with the old lines but the ferrets you get from pet stores won't have a lot of instinct left.

 

[aliceneko]

I have a goldfish who is actually 15 years old! She did end up eating her brother, so maybe that's why she has lived for so long...! (This is a habit for fish, sadly.) My mum retires next year and we might also get a dog.

I haven't had any other pets apart from her and my cats, though my mum always grew up with animals. She had a few cats as a child and a couple of budgies, too.

 

[Tobermory]

Growing up I had, at various times, two dogs (Skeeter and Lance), two cats (Elvis Presley and Fooey), a turtle (Toby), a guinea pig (Gumdrop), a couple of hamsters (Cheese and Danish), and tropical fish (unnamed). As an adult, it’s been one betta (Yul, who swam across—under?—the Bridge many years ago) and the rest cats: angels Sara, Brandy, Teddy Bear, Mayflower, and Max, and current kitties Lily, Iris, and Mocha.

 

[Furballsmom]

a betta named Hanzo, six adult danios known as "Them," and six baby danios.

lol

I have two quite spoiled Bettas but I have yet to come up with decent names for them besides Big Blue and Little Red

 

[jeannem]

We've had 2 dogs. Lucy a 'pure bred' mix, sort of like a small 30 lb. black lab. Rascal. I maybe pure bred beagle we adopted from the dog pound. She was a Miss congeniality and never met a dog, cat, human she didn't like. She knew what she wanted and went ahead and did it (Like sleeping with us) We lost her to lung cancer April 22 at noon time nap. We had an appointment that day to take her to the vet. She was having to labor to hard to breath. I still miss her. We adopted Suki from the Humane Society about 3 weeks later. Neither of us has ever been owned by a cat. We are still figuring out if hubby and I have any say over our lives anymore!
j

 

[Kat0121]

At various times over the decades I have had:

Dogs, rabbits, hamsters, snakes, iguanas, a bearded dragon, turtles, various fish, a parakeet, a ferret and now the cats. Not planning on adding any more animals to the mix anytime soon.

 

[Elphaba09]

lol

I have two quite spoiled Bettas but I have yet to come up with decent names for them besides Big Blue and Little Red

I love picking out names. I would name the danios; however, they all look alike and I would never be able to tell them apart! We had one who was a loner that we called Aspasia. Unfortunately, she died.

 

[Elphaba09]

In my married life: cats, mostly two at a time. An elegant standard smooth coat red dachshund. A lovely lab / weimaraner crossbreed, beautiful black hound. A pet skunk for five years - yes he was de-skunked - bought as a kit in a pet store. Didn't think of the goldfish as "pets."

I LOVE skunks! I have always wanted one. We have a family of skunks that come to our feral houses that make me happy.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I had 2 dogs when I still lived at home. DH and I also had a fish tank for a while. I liked the fish (and so did Mooch and Noodles when they were young; CatTv ! ) but the upkeep when my kids were small was just too much. I didn't need one more thing to care for.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I currently only have cats, but growing up, I had a few dogs (Bart, Lucy and Maya), parakeets (Skippy, Snickers, Skippy II, Clover), guinea pig (Tobey), and then all of the other cats I had/have (Casey, Milo, Mistletoe, Willie, Lilli, Fiona, Kirby, Maisie, Remy, and Flora).

 

[Xraystyle]

My brother has had dogs that lived with us, but they weren't *my* pets, per say. Only rarely did I take direct care of them.
We always had fish growing up. Just your typical little ones like tetra and a couple of betta. When I was in junior high, my dad got on a fish kick and got a huge saltwater tank and in there we also had shrimp and crabs and such to go along with the tropical fish.

 

[Norachan]

I would name the danios; however, they all look alike and I would never be able to tell them apart!

My brother had a tank full of stick insects once and they were all called Iggy.

 

[Mia6]

We lost her to lung cancer April 22 at noon time nap. We had an appointment that day to take her to the vet. She was having to labor to hard to breath. I still miss her.

I am so sorry. She sounds like she was a sweetheart.

 

[maggiedemi]

I just have the 2 cats now. When I was a kid we had cats, bunnies, hamsters. We took in a few stray dogs, but Dad would always give them away really quickly, so I can't technically say I ever really had a dog. I had 7 chickens for 5 months a couple years ago. I would like to get a llama.

 

[mani]

Just my cats, now.
When I was really young my brother worked as a jackaroo.. he was a big softy, and used to bring home orphaned kangaroos.. but we didn't keep them for long.