Posts tagged as:

pets

Binturong (Arctictis binturong)

by JR Kinyak on March 31, 2008

in Carnivores

Get ready for the second-ever Daily Mammal 24-Hour Mammal Marathon!

click image to enlarge

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Ivan T. Sanderson calls this guy “one of the most astonishing and paradoxical animals known” in Living Mammals. I had never heard of them until Claire e-mailed me to request one, and I’m so glad she did. They’re related to sloths and to civets, and like sloths, they seem to grow algae on their fur that can give them a greenish hue. They’re nocturnal, eat bamboo, other shoots, fruit, tree frogs, and insects, and they live in Asia. Excitingly, Walker’s Mammals of the World says that binturongs make good pets—they’re very affectionate and follow their owners around like dogs! They are also known as bearcats and they have prehensile tails. Please, let’s get one! Or maybe not:

“Snarling porch sitter thought to be a binturong” from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tagged as: humans, ivan, pets, sleeping

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Back Orders: Campbell’s Russian Dwarf Hamster (Phodopus campbelli)

by JR Kinyak on January 14, 2008

in Mammalthons,Rodents


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This just came from a new Daily Mammal reader. If you’re in the LA area and can help hamsters, here’s your chance. Thanks!



HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!

I KNOW THIS IS AN ODD REQUEST!

EAST VALLEY HAS WAY TOO MANY HAMSTERS, AND BECAUSE THERE ARE TOO MANY THEY ARE HURTING EACH OTHER AND PROCREATING AND ALL THE THINGS THAT WE JUST DON’T NEED. IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WOULD LIKE A HAMSTER,PLEASE SEND THEM TO THE SHELTER AND HELP US OUT!!! THERE ARE PLENTY TO GO AROUND! (OVER 40)

PERMISSION TO CROSS POST FAR AND WIDE!!!

Valerie Markloff – New Hope Coordinator

Department of Animal Services
East Valley Division
14409 Vanowen St.
Van Nuys, CA 91405

main: 888 452-7381 ext 1-4-5
fax: 818 756-9110
valerie.markloff@lacity.org


And now the original post:

Something that I never really thought about before is the idea of hamsters in the wild. It seems so strange somehow to imagine little hamsters living outside of cages. Campbell’s Russian dwarf hamsters live in the steppes of China, Mongolia, and Russia, but people also keep them as pets. In the wild, they live in a system of underground tunnels. They only weigh about 23 grams, which is about the same as 23 paper clips would weigh (using the conversion equation my third-grade teacher Mrs. Beard taught us). This particular hamster is for Luca.

Tagged as: pets

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24 Hours: Kinkajou

by JR Kinyak on December 23, 2007

in Carnivores,Mammalthons


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This is another case where the donor asked me to choose a mammal. For my tia Laura, I chose the kinkajou, a panda/raccoon relative.

I know I was supposed to cut down on research and commentary, but I remember reading a book when I was a kid about a family that had a pet kinkajou (among other exotic pets). I think it had kinkajou in the title, something like Kinkajous in the Icebox. I was wondering what Ivan T. Sanderson had to say about kinkajous as pets, and I thought you might be wondering too:

“They are really very common though most dangerous pets because their honey-eating apparently leads to an insatiable appetite for alcoholic liquids of all kinds. When they are inebriated, they go quite mad, and will attack their owners, latch on with their sharp claws, prehensile tail, and vicious teeth, and continue biting like no other mammal.”

P.S. Only three mammals left in the 24-mammal mammalthon!

—————-
Now playing: Dobie Gray – The “In” Crowd
via FoxyTunes

Tagged as: books, ivan, pets

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24 Hours: Eastern Spotted Skunk (Spilogale putorius)

by JR Kinyak on December 22, 2007

in Carnivores,Mammalthons


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Let’s kick off the mammal extravaganza with a flourish! Kyle requested this eastern spotted skunk. They actually do handstands like this, waving their tails about threateningly, as a warning when they’re about to spray! Ivan T. Sanderson, in How to Know the American Mammals, says that “like all skunks,” the eastern spotted skunks make “delightful, friendly, intelligent pets.” I think I would like a pet skunk.

Tagged as: ivan, pets

{ 4 comments }

Coyote (Canis latrans)

by JR Kinyak on December 8, 2007

in Carnivores


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This coyote is for Maleta. Her favorite animal, like mine, is the dog, the plain old domestic dog, but I can’t draw my favorite in the first few months of a 14-year project! So Maleta requested a coyote, which is also the mascot of the high school in Tatum, where she lives.

Coyotes are also one of my favorites. At my parents’ house, you can often hear them barking and howling. I’ve seen them in my parents’ driveway, just sort of milling around in the moonlight. Coyotes are a prime example of a wild animal that is increasingly coming into contact with humans as we take over habitats and alter food chains. While in a way this is magical—for the humans, anyway—it’s a complicated issue that I don’t think we address very intelligently.

How to Know the American Mammals warns, “They do not make reliable pets.”

“Two Coyotes Killed in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco—Why Care?”

Tagged as: dog, humans, pets

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Nocturnal Week: Fennec Fox (Vulpes zerda)

by JR Kinyak on July 17, 2007

in Carnivores,Theme Weeks

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The fennec fox is one of my favorite mammals; I wish I had done him justice. Someday when I have time for an extra mammal, I’m going to redraw this guy.

If you’re not familiar with fennecs, check out some photographs (these are of someone’s pet fennec fox, and are quite nice). They are the smallest canid, topping out at around 3 pounds. They live in the desert of Africa, where their huge ears help dissipate their body heat. And, of course, they’re nocturnal!

Tagged as: dog, fox, pets

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Golden Hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)

by JR Kinyak on June 23, 2007

in Rodents

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Here is a hamster for Joe Hall. It turns out that the hamster species kept as pets is just one of several kinds of hamsters, so tune in for the next 14 years and you’re sure to see some more! This is a golden hamster. My sister and I had one when we were kids. We went to Jerry’s Pets in the mall and picked out a cute female one, colored just like the one in this drawing. We named her Peachy. Well, one morning less than a week later, we woke up to find seven strange-looking little pink eraser bugs in the cage with Peachy. She ate one, the rest grew fur and opened their eyes, we gave four away, and we kept two: a light brown one I called Kisser and a spotty one my sister named Pinto Bean. Pinto Bean later became a proficient pianist (really!), but I think all three of them ended up escaping, never to be found again.

Tagged as: humans, pets

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