If she had hedgehogs & sugar gliders, then a PD is not far of a stretch. I considered them my ultimate pet. They're huge in Japan, but only native in the western US. Most people here think they're vermin & simply poison them. Like chickens, it's some research to learn about their care & finding a good vet. I still think they were worth it. (Once both kids are older.)You have OUTDONE ME on pets big time. I can never catch up.But one of my daughters still has a chance. Could there be a possible genetic link???
Her latest pets include Hank, a toad, and some unnamed voles. In the past she had Sugar gliders, Hedgehogs, Hamsters, Gerbils, Not to forget her rescue dogs. BTW, she is the one who started me on chickens. Kept asking same question until DW said " OK you can have them" Oh yes cats also with her influence.
Illinois...
- Thread starter mothergoose
- Start date
That is my excuse for no longer having too many exotics...
As soon as the kids get a little older, I will probably finally get off my butt and actually finish filling out and filing for my USDA Exhibitors License, so I can avoid the many hassles and prohibitions of local laws and Illinois laws and do-gooders that like to call the po-po on you because it's not a dog or cat...
I have probably filled out the USDA paperwork a dozen times over the years, just never actually pulled the trigger and sent it in...
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Sounds like they make great pets! What a wonderful story!I used to own exotic animals - before kids. I had ferrets, a wide variety of lizards (skinks, geckos, anoles, euromastix, bearded dragon, iguana, & occasional amphibians), but my favorite was my prairie dogs. They were exceptional pets. I've never had any animal more loyal & loving. I do not have any now because I do not think it's wise to own them while having young children. (Kids may move awkwardly which an animal could view as a threat.) Likewise, young kids put everything in their mouths, so we're holding off on reptiles for a couple years.
Prairie dogs "smile" by opening their mouths. They greet each other by touching teeth - looks like a kiss. When I would come home, they would herald my arrival with their, "Yahoo"s. Pictured above was my Yahoo. (1998-2005) He was on TV with me a few times. The spoiled rodent even slept with me sometimes. They are naturally potty-trained & always return to their cage when needed - even when it means climbing down a flight of stairs. Because they are social animals, we had Yip, Yahoo, & Squeak. Yahoo is the one who was always smiling. As friendly as they are to their families, they can be very protective toward strangers. They had to be caged & could easily bite visitors. I hope to own them again someday, but when our last PD passed, we decided to wait until our kids are older. My son is just now learning how to move around chickens. Several months ago, our poor rooster walked in front of the swings while DS was swinging high. Roo got kicked on the way up & again on the way back down. DS tried to move his legs out of the way, but the clueless bird got kicked about 5xs. Only after the 5th time, did he flare his hackles. By then I was able to grab the roo out of the way. Neither was hurt, but I explained to DS what could have happened. Now my son knows to make sure no chickens are near before he swings.
I remember I had to have some type of licence for the ferrets. I think it was through the IL Dept Nat. Resources. Just paperwork b/c there was never a fee. Just had to let the state know that I owned them. At the time ferrets were illegal in CA & possibly a few other states, so perhaps it was to make sure my caged pet remained in IL.
I don't think I needed a permit for the Prairie Dogs, but I'm sure that has changed by now. One year (maybe 2003) there was a huge monkey pox scare. Basically some new PD owners contracted this African disease via a batch of infected PDs. The state immediately reacted by killing all the PDs & other rodents in pet stores & making the sale of PDs illegal. They contacted me to see if we were ill. Then they let know that they would kill our prairie dogs for us (like it was a favor). They thought I was crazy for wanting to keep them. At that time I had owned PDs for almost 6 yrs & had never gotten monkey pox. To this day, Yahoo was the best pet I ever had. I answered all the state's questions & faxed my sales receipts with health certificates. To me it was obvious that the illness may have been transmitted via a few PDs, but could not have possibly originated there. They told me that PDs were now illegal but my current PDs could be grand-fathered in. They would have to remain at my address & could never be sold or transported off the property. Eventually the state was able to trace the history of the infected PDs back to a train ride from TX to IL where the 200 PDs were shipped next to a sick African pouched rat. Those PDs went to a distributor who then sold them throughout IL, WI, & IN. I don't blame the gov. for reacting quickly in an attempt to prevent a monkey pox epidemic, but in less than 3 weeks, we knew the source had nothing to do with PDs. The news was still reporting that PDs were spreading monkey pox. Besides the pet store inventories, huge wild exterminations were taking place in the western US. The gov in a panic made PDs illegal, but it took over 5 years to repeal the rushed law. That law made it very difficult to buy their proper food & see a vet. (Was I breaking the law when I brought my beloved pets to the exotic vet for their annual physicals?)
This kind of hassle is when the USDA licence comes in handy, I'm sure they could still push culling on a break out, but beyond that the USDA license is the same license that zoos have and thus you are legally a zoo at that point and enjoy exemptions from most state or local bans as most governments don't want to ban animals shows, carnivals, circuses, movie crews or even live performances with animals...
For example here is the exemption in Illinois Dangerous Animals Act
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Well the coyote lives another day, ore maybe not... Went out to close the barn doors about 20 minutes ago and saw the coyote out in the field in a stare down my llamas, only a fence separating them... If I had a rifle in hand it would be gone, but only had the pistol in hand... The coyote was so focused on the llamas I was able to walk though my pasture in the open and get almost within pistol distance, but not really, since there was nothing in the background I let one fly anyway... The coyote ran off but was stumbling a lot as he ran, as soon as it got to the tree line it stopped and looked back at me favoring it's left front leg, so I might have grazed it..
On a side note four of my local deers were also in the same field about 200 feet away from the coyote, I'm guessing the coyote is following them around... Anyway after I took the shot the deer all took their obligatory startled few jumps in the opposite direction but then they all stopped looked at me and proceeded to go about their business as if nothing happened...
On a side note four of my local deers were also in the same field about 200 feet away from the coyote, I'm guessing the coyote is following them around... Anyway after I took the shot the deer all took their obligatory startled few jumps in the opposite direction but then they all stopped looked at me and proceeded to go about their business as if nothing happened...
I gotta get outta town............................
Courtesy of Vectorportal.com
Courtesy of Vectorportal.com
That is about what he looked like, the wife even saw him stumbling across the field from the kitchen window...
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