Monkey Business

[Bright_Star]

I'm sure you've all heard about that chimp that went bonkers who mauled a 55 year old woman & had to be killed to stop its rampage.
Why anyone would want to keep a wild animal as a pet boggles my mind. Even with more standard pets such a dog or a cat you have to respect them. As cute as a dog or cat looks you must understand that they're NOT
"little kids with 4 legs" but animals who will defend themselves if stressed to the point that they have no other choice but to become aggresive.
You must respect nature cause if you don't then it'll turn around and try its damndest to take a nice large bite out of your ass.
AND if you really want a chimp then buy a toy one...lol.

[blas]

Well, I have two coworkers who, one night, thought it would be a GREAT idea to try to coerce a SKUNK into coming over by our picnic table where we were eating.

Yes, and to them, I'm the idiot......

Oh I was furious. I was not going to get sprayed by a skunk because my coworkers were thinking that a skunk was just a "stinky kitty". That is not a kitty. That thing is twice the size of a normal kitty, that is a BOY skunk....see his tail go up? You're lucky he's nearly 20 feet away....if he gets any closer, you will be in range and if you startle him....you know what will happen.

It is NOT cute. Do NOT attract it!

[Gerrinson]

You're lucky he's nearly 20 feet away....if he gets any closer, you will be in range and if you startle him....you know what will happen.

20 feet is isn't close enough? You must have some weak skunks up there. The skunks here can spray 30+ ft. no problem.

In fact, some years ago my stepmother's old dog (a miniature toy poodle weighing in just under 4 lbs) scared a skunk that was out by the car. The skunk up and sprayed but missed the dog (she was too short!) and overshot the car too (yay!). Unfortunately, the skunk hit the second story window that was nearly 20 ft. away (horizontally). Said window was open for air circulation so the skunk musk went through the screen and landed...on the bed where my dad was sleeping since he was on 11 - 7 shift. It was really a combination of and because he STUNK! For weeks. And when they moved out of that apartment, the bedroom still reeked of skunk even months later.

Skunks around here you take real seriously. Although they have inspired some serious acrobatics on my part. I once headed out of my grandmother's house to go out and you didn't trip the automatic outdoor light until you get about 3 steps away from the bottom of the stairs. Well, the light kicks in and I see green eyes staring up at me. At first I assumed it was my cat, but instead there's a confused skunk staring right up at me from the middle of the walk. I took one leap to the foot of the steps, one leap up all the stairs, rolled into the front porch and slammed the door shut. All in about 2 seconds flat. I looked out the window and I swear the skunk was in the middle of the walk.

[Bradester]

Most of the cute little chimpanzees you see on TV and in movies are very young. Sexually mature chimps, particularly males, are surprisingly large (think 200-300 pounds) and immensely strong. Three chimps escaped from their enclosure in a small-town Nebraska zoo a couple years ago- they couldn't be controlled, and tranquilizers didn't work, so the zoo director shot and killed them with a deputy sheriff's service revolver. I believe a couple of them were 'retired' from the entertainment industry.

Domestication takes thousands of years. Wild animals are not pets.

[blas]

I'm not exactly sure what the range is on a skunk......I just knew we were in a positon where we could duck if need be and not get sprayed easily. The skunk was several feet away in the grass......as this was before winter set in.

[Camry178]

I actually think skunks are cute. Now would I want one next to me? Only if Jack Hanna was handling him and his stink glands were removed.

As far as other wild animals, I would love to deal with the babies that are deserted by their mothers. Just to be able to take care of them and help them until they were able to be released back into the wild is something I would love to do.

I'd much rather deal with animals than people.

[sarasquirrel]

i dont understand why she would have a chimp. i can understand some people rehab 'wild' animals. but why the hell a chimp here in CT? its been on the news all the time, and they played the 911 tape, the woman sounded like she was a nut job. she sat in the car while her 'friend' was being attacked

[Amethyst Hunter]

You're lucky he's nearly 20 feet away....if he gets any closer, you will be in range and if you startle him....you know what will happen.

Skunks also can carry rabies, so even if a spray is avoided, there's the possibility of getting bitten and infected with a lethal disease.

Unless one is an experienced zookeeper, there's no reason on earth why someone needs to have a pet chimp or tiger or whathaveyou, considering the dangers these animals can pose. I love cats, but no way in hell would I even dream of trying to keep a Bengal tiger as a pet - this is not something little and cute and fuzzy that you can just pick up and cuddle whenever you feel like it, and if it happens to be having a bad day it can eviscerate you in .2 seconds flat.