I had 3 raccoons( not at the same time) that I bottle fed as babies and let go in the wild. They are not meant to be kept as pets. A goat, who I also bottle fed. This was in the suburbs, so for a while he lived in the house. When he was older, I brought him to a nearby farm to live and I'd visit. His name was Clown. My raccoon friends were called Clyde, Critter and Claude.

It is her man....his forum name was krupa and he was wild and carefree... Soufie managed to tame him.

I never really understood what makes something meant to be a pet or not. Dog cat horse snake turtle fish pig. It did cross my mind to release it but it bonded with my daughter so tightly I couldn't separate them. It was a part of the family. It would even successfully play with the fisher price shapes barn. Put the square in the square circle in the circle and triangle in the triangle. Used crayons on paper and used cups at the table. In my heart I would have felt like I was throwing my own child out. No creature should ever feel miserable in captivity. Like birds. They need to fly. But this little guy. I just couldn't do it

And he was anything but miserable. I'll pull a pic off my fb page of him and my oldest Ava. You'll see what I mean

See what I mean

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The pic did not show. I get it, it would be like abandoning a child. Family is not always human. Like a cat or dog etc.

Oh I see
Explains why Google couldn't show me lol

I had lots of horses growing up. I love washing and brushing them, getting all the tangles out of their mane and tail. Their so majestic. Such a treat to feed them oats and put hay in their stall. Get them salt licks and others treats.

My favorite time was to ride them bareback in an open field without a bridle. A few brisk kicks and hold onto to their mane and you become the wind as they gallop.

I loved going to the feed store to get supplies and such. Good times.

Now the feed store is a Bank of America and my open field is a subdivision.

Tulip
That brings memories for me with my horses.
Long summer days of riding enjoying the company of your best friend. I spent many hours with my ponies. I used to camp in the paddock with them .
The smell of leather as you clean the gear.
Riding bareback through the river.

That's pretty awesome. Its amazing how well we can coexist with animals

When i was younger i had a bunny, that guy follow me in store, market etc., he was like a dog. :(

So cute

Bunnies are pretty smart I have one right now. She is allowed out on the deck she likes to play with all kinds of kids toys.

The most unique pet I have ever had was a chicken. Smarter than any parrot, and she gave me breakfast every morning. She looked after me. I didn't have to look after her!
I had her for dinner when she got old.

I have a kinkajou! & numerous reptiles, which most people consider unusual.

<jaw drops> DANG, I would've *sworn* that I would've been the only person that had a raccoon as a kid, but there's already two others! Mom found the one we had in the mountains injured. She caught him, brought him home, we nursed him back to health, then Mom took him back where she'd found him, & released him again.

We also raised chickens & rabbits, but those were more "additions to our diet" than pets. Hmmm, I raised ferrets for a while, had horned toads, hermit crabs...

Oh, & Mom trained K9s for a couple of local LE agencies from when I was about 11 until I was about 15 or 16... Had *one* dog that took a dislike to me, & attacked me one day (fortunately he had a muzzle on!). The _bad_ thing about that is that you can't have someone else subdue the dog & get it "back in line", whoever he attacks has to do it, or the dog won't respect that person.

Even with a muzzle, subduing that 90-lb dog was EASILY one of the two most difficult things I've ever done... If you're _ever_ in a situation (God forbid!) where a cop says "Come out, or I'm sending the dog in!" - TRUST ME, just come out...

Between the K9 thing & raising/selling AKC-registered dogs for years, I learned quite a bit about dogs.