🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <30e80c3a.2337322@news.demon.co.uk>,
Dave Shillam <dave@marmot.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Do you keep any member of the squirtrel family as a pet?
>
>We are thinking about getting a couple of praire dogs as pets and
>would like to hear from anyone who already keeps them or any type of
>squirrel.
>
>Cheers
>
>Dave


  Squirrels I know of that are kept as pets are Southern Pygmy Flying Squirrels,
Indonesian Pygmy Flying Squirrels, Prevost Squirrels, Java Squirrels, Asiatic
Striped Squirrels and Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels.

  These can sometimes be found in the exotic magazines for sale and you should
NOT go out and catch wild ones. Captive breed animals make much better pets
and you won't be at such a risk for parasites and deseases that wild animals
may be carrying.

  Note that accourding to the records from the Center for Desease Control,
there have been yearly cases of ground squirrels with rabies. Not a lot, but
enough to make one think twice about catching wild ones.  The type of flea
known to carry the black plague has also been reported on ground squirrels
in the wild.

(pardon any spelling errors..I was too tired to spell check)

In <30e80c3a.2337322@news.demon.co.uk> dave@marmot.demon.co.uk (Dave
Shillam) writes: 
>
>Do you keep any member of the squirtrel family as a pet?
>
>We are thinking about getting a couple of praire dogs as pets and
>would like to hear from anyone who already keeps them or any type of
>squirrel.
>
>Cheers
>
>Dave

Dave,

    I would strongly discourage getting prairie dogs as pets.  I work
at the Baltimore Zoo as a junior keeper, and the senior keepers told us
that even though prarie dogs look cute, they are very mean.  Other then
that, you would need to make an accurate habitat for them which could
be quite expensive!