EXOTIC PETS: Know the commitment you are making

I OFTEN see that neighbour’s cat hunting in the garden and wonder whether cats are simply born to be wild. Several domesticated cats ‘run away’ from home - adding to the growing number of strays that hunt birds, rodents and lizards.

To my knowledge, the domestication of animals by humankind began with the reindeer. Since then, pet stores have thrived, and now offer a variety of exotic animals from the scaly to the fluffy - from around the world for people to keep as pets.

I can understand the lure to own an exotic animal. The good than can come from this is that it should encourage the owners of such animals to take a bigger interest in their lives and better understand their worlds. As an owner of exotic fish, I also understand the chances of survival of such animals in the wild. But once equipped with the right knowledge, the hobby of keeping exotic fishes extends to recreating a safe and happy habitat in which they may thrive.

I all too often notice people coming into pet stores, noticing them see something unusual and getting excited, buying something exotic, and exiting the store without the proper knowledge of how to properly care for their new pet. Pet stores do offer brochures and guidelines on how to look after most of the exotic animals they sell, but what’s really needed is more expertise and customer interaction between animal experts and consumers.

As far as exotic fish are concerned, I appeal to pet store owners to simply print out and place relevant information regarding proper care of different fish species above each tank in the pet store. Information regarding their diet, tank requirements, how large they grow and what other species of fish they can be kept with. This way, at least consumers may get the information they need for proper care of these animals at a glance.

More importantly, it is the responsibility of all those who wish to acquire an exotic pet, to do their homework beforehand and fully understand the commitment they are making. It can be a thrilling and educational experience. Let it be that rather than a tragic and sad end.

Related posts:

• Bioluminescent pets - A glowing debate
• A beginners guide to keeping tropical fish

** More Opinion & Analysis Articles **

MOTHER NATURE: Treat her with respect or face her wrath

I'M sure we've all experienced cases of "nature gone mad". While some fauna tends to wait for the most opportune moment to attack, others are just trying to protect their turf. Cross some animals the wrong way and you may be attacked my a murder of crows, or involved in a kangaroo punch-up! These animals don't take too kindly to people toying with nature.

Whether you're trying to go for a jog, scale a mountain, enjoy a game drive or simply photograph nature, danger may be lurking around the corner. One can't help feel that the animals are in the right and take sides with them. I wonder what caused these attacks of nature...

When birds attack

Bird Attack

Monkey mugging

Monkey Mugging

Kangaroo punch-up!

Kangaroo punch-up!

Hippo Attack

Hippo Attack!

Eagle Attack

Eagle Attack!

Pigeon bomber

Pigeon poop attack

Polar Bear Attack! Eish...

Swan Attack

Swan Attack! lol

Weird goat thing attack

Weird goat thing attack

Crocodile Attack

Croc attack

Enraged Elephant Attack

Enraged Elephant Attack

Hungry lions waiting for dinner...

Hungry lion waiting for dinner...

Monkey car assault

When monkeys attack!

Don't you just love animals?

** More Happy Friday Humour **

PET HUMOUR: What our cuddly little pets are really thinking

A Dog's Diary

• 8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
• 9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
• 9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
• 10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
• 12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
• 12:30 pm - Bath time! Bummer!
• 1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
• 3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
• 5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
• 7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
• 8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
• 11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

A Cat's Diary

Day 983 of my captivity.  My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.  The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.  In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet.  I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of.  However, they merely made condescending comments
about what a 'good little hunter' I am.  Bastards.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking.  I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.  The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return.  He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant.  I observe him communicating with the guards regularly.  I am certain that he reports my every move.  My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe... for now...

Will keep you posted.

Best Happy Friday post yet: If historic people had Facebook :D

** More Happy Friday Humour **

BIOLUMINESCENT PETS: Glowing creatures that light up your life

BIOTECHNOLGY is a fascinating field. It has so much to offer society. It is not inaccurate to say that it will inevitably be the salvation of our planet. Advocates can immediately point to its beneficial uses in agriculture and the production of eco-friendly fuels.

However, it seems that a very fine line is crossed when science begins to toy with nature. In fact, it is almost impossible to utter the term “genetic engineering” without raising several ethical questions and rallying its opponents.

The world today would be a very different place if science was unregulated. In many instances, control over its application is necessary for there is such a thing as mad scientists who will stop at nothing to test their latest scientific experiments. However, the more level-headed scientists become frustrated when practical and theoretically beneficial applications are simply dismissed on ethical grounds.

Bioluminescent biotechnology is one seemingly innocent branch of science that has brought some interesting ideas to the table. Bio-geneticists in this field have spoken about glowing trees that light up highways, agricultural crops that glow when they need watering, and even bioluminescent methods of detecting dodgy meats and other foods. Yet the real controversy arose when they began speaking about bioluminescent pets.

Bioluminescent pets: GloFish sparks debate

Pet stores in the United States have been under the spotlight since 2004 over the sale of genetically-modified fish that glow in the dark. Sold under the name GloFish, these creatures carry a lofty claim to fame: they are the nation’s first officially sanctioned genetically-modified pet, and scientists say that they won’t be the last.

The GloFish is a Zebra Danio that is made to glow red by the insertion of a gene found in sea coral. Naturally black and white, the new GloFish has gone from curiosity to a focal point in the debate over biotechnology and bioluminescent pets.

There are valid points to be made on both sides of the debate. The central ethical concern centers on the idea of altering the genetic make-up of an animal when there’s no purpose besides our own pleasure. However, most bio-geneticists will argue that this has already been occurring for years.

Bioluminescent Pets: The Eighth Day

The pet industry is in many ways a peculiar venue for such a heated debate over the wisdom of genetic modification. The whole notion of a pet, after all, is based on generations upon generations of selective breeding aimed at drawing out certain characteristics that make animals more suitable companions.

Think about dog breeding and all the breeds of dog that wouldn’t be around without human interference. These pooches may not glow in the dark, but the fact that their genes were somehow manipulated can still be used in favour of genetic engineering.

The scary part is that geneticists could very well create an alien-looking, glow-in-the-dark dog. They’ve done it with mice and fish — the latter being the more popular. In fact, the GloFish has absolutely opened the floodgates to a whole new pet trade in genetically engineered animals.

Bioluminescent pets: Upsetting the natural balance of the wild

People who are opposed to the idea may also bring up the risk of unregulated gene-altered or bioluminescent pets upsetting the natural balance of nature and the wild. However, the idea of a rogue GloFish escaping its aquarium and spawning an army of mutant glow-fish in the wild that ultimately wipe out other species of fish, does not presently have a lot of backing.

Yet the question remains: How will a glowing fish benefit society? What’s interesting is that the GloFish was not originally engineered to be a pet. In fact, its creation was rather strange. According to a Washington Post article:

"... glowing fish of a related species were originally developed in a Singapore laboratory for use as a modern-day canary in a coal mine. The fish were supposed to indicate, by glowing, if a given body of water is polluted."

Although this practical use of glowing fish failed, there still seems to be more weight on the side of the debate that argues that genetic modification of animals in general can be advantageous to both people and pets. Researchers are already at work trying to create a cat that won’t aggravate its owner’s allergies. Other possible creations include a dog that isn’t as susceptible to hip dysplasia - an ailment common among German shepherds and Labradors that is associated with over-breeding.

Proposed applications of engineered bioluminescence

Some other proposed applications of engineered bioluminescence include:

• Detecting bacterial species in suspicious corpses.
• Novelty pets that bioluminesce (rabbits, mice, fish etc.)
• Agricultural crops and domestic plants that luminesce when they need watering.
• Bio-identifiers for escaped convicts and mental patients.
• Glowing trees to line highways, thus saving on government electricity bills.
• Christmas trees that do not need lights, reducing danger from electrical fires.
• New methods for detecting bacterial contamination of meats and other foods.

So will (or should) biotechnology be left to genetically modify our future pets? It seems that this is already the case. Whether they will be bioluminescent remains a question of personal taste and will ultimately be left to public demand. There will always be a market for the bizarre. Would I ever add a GloFish to my aquarium? Sure. You can get them in the U.S. for $5.

Related posts:

• Exotic animals: to pet or not to pet?
• A beginners guide to keeping tropical fish

** More Quite Interesting Posts **

What happens when you introduce 500 volts to the rear end of a horny black rhino - A factual account by Wilbur Smith

The Electrician and the Horney Rhinoceros

THE plight of the Black Rhinoceros is, of course, due mostly to the value of its horn and the ferocious poaching that this engenders. However, a contributory factor to the declining rhino population is the animals disorganised mating habits.

It seems that the female rhino only becomes receptive to the male's attentions every three years or so, while the male only becomes interested in her at the same intervals, a condition known quite appropriately as "Must". The problem is one of synchronisation, for their amorous inclinations do not always coincide.

In the early Sixties, I was invited, along with a host of journalists and other luminaries, to be present at an attempt by the Rhodesian Game and Tsetse Department to solve this problem of poor timing.

The idea was to capture a male rhino and induce him to deliver up that which could be stored until that day in the distant future when his mate's fancy turned lightly to thoughts of love.

We departed from the Zambezi Valley in an impressive convoy of trucks and Landrovers, counting in our midst none other than the Director of the game department in person, together with his minions, a veterinary surgeon, an electrician and sundry other technicians, all deemed necessary to make the harvest.

The local game scouts had been sent out to scout the bush for the largest, most virile Rhinoceros they could find. They had done their job to perfection and led us to a beast at least the size of a small granite koppie with a horn on his nose considerably longer than my arm.

The trick was to get this monster into a robust mobile pen
which had been constructed to accommodate him.

The Electrician and the Horney Rhinoceros continued...

The Pursuit of Happiness

With the Director of the Game Department shouting frantic orders from the safety of the largest truck, the pursuit was on. The tumult and the shouting were apocalyptic. Clouds of dust flew in all directions, trees, and vegetation were destroyed, game scouts scattered like chaff, but finally the Rhinoceros had about a litre of narcotics shot into his rump and his mood became dreamy and benign.

With forty black game guards heaving and shoving, and the Director still shouting orders from the truck, the rhino was wedged into his cage, and stood there with a happy grin on his face.

At this stage, the Director deemed it safe to emerge from the cab of his truck and he came amongst us resplendent in starched and immaculately ironed bush jacket with a colourful silk scarf at this throat. With an imperial gesture, he ordered the portable electric generator to be brought forward and positioned behind the captured animal. This was a machine which was capable of lighting up a small city, and it was equipped with two wheels that made it resemble a Roman chariot.

The Director climbed up on the generator to better address us. We gathered around attentively while he explained what was to happen next ...

Enter Electrician

It seemed that the only way to get what we had come for was to introduce an electrode into the rhino's rear end, and to deliver a mild electric shock, no more than a few volts, which would be enough to pull his trigger for him.

The Director gave another order and the veterinary surgeon greased something that looked like an acoustic torpedo and which was attached to the generator with sturdy insulated wires. He then went up behind the somnolent beast and thrust it up him to a full arms length, at which the Rhino opened his eyes very wide indeed.

The veterinary and his two black assistants now moved into position with a large bucket and assumed expectant expressions. We, the audience, crowded closer so as not to miss a single detail of the drama. The Director still mounted on the generator trailer, nodded to the electrician who threw the switch and chaos reigned.

In the subsequent departmental enquiry the blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of the electrician. It seems that in the heat of the moment his wits had deserted him and instead of connecting up his apparatus to deliver a gentle 5 volts, he had crossed his wires and the Rhino received a full 500 volts up his rear end.

His reaction was spectacular. Four tons of rhinoceros shot six feet straight up in the air. The cage, made of great timber baulks, exploded into its separate pieces and the rhinoceros now very much awake, took off at a gallop.

We, the audience, were no less sprightly. We took to the trees with alacrity. This was the only occasion on which I have ever been passed by two journalists half way up a Mopane tree.

Chariots of Desire

From the top branches we beheld an amazing sight, for the chariot was still connected to the Rhinoceros per rectum, and the director of the game department was still mounted upon it, very much like Ben Hur, the charioteer.

As they disappeared from view, the rhinoceros was snorting and blowing like a steam locomotive and the Director was clinging to the front rail of his chariot and howling like the north wind which only encouraged the beast to greater speed.

The story has a happy ending for the following day after the director had returned hurriedly to his office in Salisbury, another male Rhinoceros was captured and caged and this time the electrician got his wiring right.

I can still see the Rhinoceros's expression of surprised gratification as the switch was thrown. You could almost hear him think to himself. "Oh Boy! I didn't think this was going to happen to me for at least another three years".

- The Electrician and the Horney Rhinoceros by Wilbur Smith

Best Happy Friday post yet: If historic people had Facebook

** More Happy Friday Humour **

MOSQUITOES: And why you should feel no remorse when killing them!

IF you live in big (or even not so big) city, then you would have felt the scorching summer rays that seem to have a worse effect than a grade A hangover. You can’t even go to the beach these days without looking like the Abominable Sunscreen Man. We may as well be living in the Sahara desert. At least the evenings would be cooler.

Although we must protect ourselves from the Global Warming, there is a bigger nuisance that spawns during summer time. I’m talking of course about the worst creature that ever evolved - the ever so deadly (and bloody annoying) household mosquito.

Mosquitoes don't care who you are or what you've done - they simply want to get you! If mosquitoes don’t already scare you shitless, then there are some things that you need to know about them:

1. The mosquito is the deadliest animal on the planet

The mosquito is responsible for the most human deaths throughout history. It has single-handedly killed more people throughout time than war. And when I say “single-handedly” I don’t mean with its hands – but rather with its mutant-like feelers and probiscus.

Mosquitoes are estimated to transmit disease to more than 700 million people annually in Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico and much of Asia with millions of resulting deaths.

2. It is the female mosquitoes that sap your blood and life force

The male mosquitoes (the large ones) live off tree sap, and are admirably vegetarians. The girls use your blood to lay their eggs and spawn their offspring. The females will also bite you up to 20 times before they find the right blood vessel and get their fill.

3. Breath of death

The females hunt down their prey by detecting carbon dioxide in the air from up to 40 metres away. This is why they always buzz around your face the split second you try and get to sleep.

4. Mosquitoes saliva

In order to fest on a blood meal, the mosquito injects its poisonous saliva into its victims. Mosquito saliva affects vascular constriction, blood clotting, platelet aggregation, inflammation, immunity, and angiogenesis.

Mosquitoes are a vector agent that carry disease-causing viruses and parasites from person to person without catching the disease themselves.

5. The night stalker

Most species of mosquito are nocturnal, and hide in cool places during the day – waiting until nightfall to attack. They are also adept at infiltration and have been known to find their way into residences via deactivated air conditioning units.

And now for the important bit: how to get rid of the bastards!

• Mosquitoes lay their eggs in shallow water, usually in murky puddles around the garden that receive a good dose of sunlight. So step one is to roam your garden and empty all containers or other water-catching devices and turn them upside down. Or just chuck them away.
• A mosquitos favourite place to chill inside a house and plot your death is inside bedroom cupboards. Simply lock them in for the night by closing all the cupboards in your bedroom.
• A bedroom fan (preferably a ceiling fan) does wonders to keep the buggers off you while you sleep. The mosquito is a puny and weak demon-spawn that cannot compete with the powerful gush of a human-made fan.
• The household gecko and fish – man’s new best friends
  If you're not really a gecko or a fish-person now might be a good time to become one. Keeping a well-stocked, open-topped fish tank in your house is not only aesthetically pleasing, but does wonders for mosquito control. Geckos are even more effective at chowing mosquitoes throughout the night.
• If you prefer turning to science and drugs to help with your mosquito problem, there are several options here. But believe me I’ve tried them all. Probably the oldest product is Tabard – the pungent roll-on that makes your hairs fuse together. There are also those electrical plug-in jobs, but it’s hard to tell when these are used up and I’m sure it’s not good to inhale those fumes while you sleep.

The best mosquito repellent I’ve tried is the spray-version of Peaceful Sleep. It says that one shouldn’t simply spray this into the air but rather on your bod – which does make your bed-sheets pong a bit – but I’ve found it to be effective as an air-pray. You can pick up a bottle at Pick n Pay or other leading stores for about R32.

Lets all do our bit to save the fate of humankind this summer by killing as many mosquitoes as you possibly can!

Related post: 20 things you didn't know about mosquitoes

** More Quite Interesting Posts **