Rodger Pettichord Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Hi all. Thinking of Santa's reindeer makes me think of exotic animals in general. Which reminds me of the time I swung a baby gorilla by its hand while I hung over the lip of the gorilla enclosure at the San Diego zoo. The little guy sucked its thumb and swung contentedly while mom looked on with approval and horrified zoo officials came running. One of my life's best moments. And that leads to this week's topic. THIS WEEK'S MEANINGLESS TOPIC: What exotic animal, reptile, insect, or fish have you actually laid hands on? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradB Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 https://www.atlantisbahamas.com/things-to-do/dolphin-cay In 2012 on a cruise with Norwegian in the Caribbean . Cheers John 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 My memory would be patting a snake. A little boring I know but snakes were my biggest fear and still are. They freak me out just the thought of them makes MY blood run cold.🥶 cheers Gumby 4 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingleaf Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Had the greatest experience playing with an Octopus in the Golf Islands BC. Never forget that beautiful gentle creature. k 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilot100 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 A well know Ozzie politician (I won't name him here), IMHO a reptile (could be an insect I suppose), shook hands with him a few months ago. Had to check to see if I still had my watch and all the fingers left afterwards. Does that count, Roger ? 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, gumbypickett said: My memory would be patting a snake. A little boring I know but snakes were my biggest fear and still are. They freak me out just the thought of them makes MY blood run cold.🥶 cheers Gumby Unless we count the posse of squirrels that formed a "welcoming committee" in the Boston Common, I guess snakes would do it for me: 1. Many years ago my then girlfriend, my friend/roommate and I were in the kitchen when the cat brought in a (garter) snake and proudly dropped it at our feet. My roommate panicked! My girlfriend wanted to study it! The cat wanted to play with it, and I just wanted to get it outside. An episode of Keystone Cops! 2. Where I work, several years ago a snake took up residence under a window inside the blacksmith shop. At times it came out to sun itself on the window sill. We sort of made a pet of it. 3. Speaking of pet snakes, Theodore Roosevelt's daughter had a pet snake she named "Emily Spinach." She named it after two things she hated most: her Aunt Emily, and spinach. Until he died recently we had a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator named Jim Foote. One year when he was working for us during the Long Island Fair he had a garter snake named Emily Spinach which he carried around in his shirt pocket. Now about those squirrels. While not exactly exotic, they're not house pets either. But this bunch, on seeing my friend (the same mentioned above) my wife, my mother and i walk by the Common, they came bounding across the lawn right up to us. One then climbed up my leg and stuck his head in my pocket. Such a look of reproach I got when he didn't find any treats in there. Obviously, when walking past the Boston Common one must pay a toll to the squirrels, at least according to said squirrels. Ken Edited December 8, 2023 by Ken Q 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heaton Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Exotic animal ?? - only one - a woman - my wife 👍 - once upon a time - I couldn't keep my hands off her 1 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 I'm with John Heaton. Met her when I was17 (I'm now 90) and we've been together ever since! 4 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boetie Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 2 hours ago, John Heaton said: Exotic animal ?? - only one - a woman - my wife 👍 - once upon a time - I couldn't keep my hands off her Ha ha. I still have a go John but that tazer really hurts 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boetie Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Growing up in Africa and living most of my life in Oz I've encountered many animals both wild and captive - but laid my hands on? I can't recall ever doing that. There was however a rat that was causing havoc in our garage. Eventually I was forced to put some rat poison out. I had to lay my hands on the poor rodent to position it for a wack with the shovel to put it out of it's misery. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heaton Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 3 hours ago, John York said: I'm with John Heaton. Met her when I was17 (I'm now 90) and we've been together ever since! Like wise old mate - we met on her 16th birthday - New Year's Day - 70 years ago - and we also are still together👍 except at night - when she is in her own bedroom - because she insists, I snore 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Burgess Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Around Scotland seals cannot be regarded as either exotic or rare - the guys running tourist boats often promise your money back if you don't see one! However, if I might tweak the topic slightly, they gave me my best memory of meeting creatures in the wild. I used to do some Sea Kayaking and, once in a while, would find myself in the middle of a colony of them. They are inquisitive and heads would appear around you and stare at you. If one got spooked the warning was to splash a flipper on the water and dive, which the others would do as well. Then heads would start to appear again and eyes would study you. The great thing was you could join in. Splash the paddle on the surface, they splashed flippers and dived - then reappeared trying to make sense of this strange creature in their midst. Great memories. All the best, John 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 13 hours ago, boetie said: Growing up in Africa and living most of my life in Oz I've encountered many animals both wild and captive - but laid my hands on? I can't recall ever doing that. There was however a rat that was causing havoc in our garage. Eventually I was forced to put some rat poison out. I had to lay my hands on the poor rodent to position it for a wack with the shovel to put it out of it's misery. A few years ago we bought a new dishwasher. After a couple of weeks it stopped working, so of course we called the repair man. He took one look and apologized: the repair was not covered by the warranty. The wires had been chewed by an animal. So $150 later we had our dishwasher back, but we had no idea what had caused the damage. A couple weeks later it happened again. This time we determined to find the source before trying again. A couple of days later our vice-president-of- rodent-control detected the culprit behind the firewood carrier in the living room. But we couldn't catch the elusive critter. Be we at least knew we were dealing with a rat! We called the exterminator. He sealed up every possible opening in the house, and set traps all over the basement. Over the next week or so we heard the beast in the walls, in the crawl space, and in the basement. Occasionally we got a sighting, but no luck in catching it. Then one day I was in the basement doing laundry, and Chessie our rodent control expert had come down to use his litter box, and the rat slowly sauntered by. BATTLE STATIONS!!! I pursued the rat into the space between the oil burner and the work bench, while Chessie cut off his route of escape behind the oil burner. Trapped! But now what? No way was I going to touch this thing, and Chessie was of the same mind. At my left hand though was a plastic paint pail. Plot! We got him! Nearby was a "Homer Bucket" (A large orange pail sold by The Home Depot). I put that over him too. The the wife came down with a galvanized steel ash can that she uses to store flour and such. That went over too. I called the exterminator company. Happens that their duty man was on the next block, so he was here in five minutes. We slid some stiff cardboard under the whole thing, turned it over and got it outside where the exterminator "eliminated" the rat. The hero of the story: Chassis Cat. Without his teamwork we'd never get him! But unlike Graeme, we were not about to touch that thing, not with those teeth. Ken 5 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Abernathy Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 I had a pet blue bellied lizard as a 10 yr old and made a fine box home with wire mesh top for him. I learned to catch flies bare handed (alive) to feed him. Great fun until he somehow escaped from his box, never to be found, and my Mom put an end to my new hobby. 3 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted December 9, 2023 Author Share Posted December 9, 2023 As far as I can remember, the only truly exotic creature I have handled in the wild was a venomous cone snail in Okinawa. These little critters can poke you with a stinger and cause awful consequences and even death. I had picked one up while reef-walking only to have a companion knock it out of my hand. I had no clue but thank goodness he did. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillwater Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 The two most dangerous animals I have put my hands on are - our house cat, quite unpredictable and equipped with 20+ sharp knives - a Tasmanian Devil in Trowunna Wildlife Center, Mole Creek, TAS. Also equipped with some sharp and powerful weapons. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingleaf Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 On 12/9/2023 at 4:34 AM, Stillwater said: The two most dangerous animals I have put my hands on are - our house cat, quite unpredictable and equipped with 20+ sharp knives - a Tasmanian Devil in Trowunna Wildlife Center, Mole Creek, TAS. Also equipped with some sharp and powerful weapons. Gosh is he ever cute. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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