Which of the above animals would you have as a pet?

[Ymir's blood]

I decided to start another poll and came up with two choices. The first was on nose picking. However common decency prevailed so...

Which of the above animals would you have as a pet?

[livius drusus]

I had to go for the ferret, guinea pig and chicken trifecta, although to tell the truth I would probably dig having one of each. Except for the milk. Unless it can be vanilla almond milk.

[Petra]

Why is there no horse? I'd love me a horse!


:gallop:

[Ymir's blood]

Uh, hold on... :doh:

[Petra]

It's okay. I scored me a dog, a monkey and a penguin. I'm happy. :)

[HighOnHotSauce]

All but the three toed tree sloth monkey parrot and well the milk of course because, well, milk can be downright unruly

[viscousmemories]

It should be noted that my vote reflects what pets I would have if they required no extraordinary care. (Like say shoeing, living on a farm, stuff like that.)

[Ymir's blood]

It should be noted that my vote reflects what pets I would have if they required no extraordinary care. (Like say shoeing, living on a farm, stuff like that.)
Yes, well you're going to have clean up anything that monkey throws!

:rainshit:

[viscousmemories]

:monkey:

[Ensign Steve]

Milk is a pet? I'm so confused.

I'd vote for robot dog, but it's not up there.

[Didymus]

Sadly, I'm not seeing any of the obvious ones for me.

Based on what I've had in the past, I'd have selected Flyingfox, Brushtail possum, Ringtail possum, Feathertail glider, Sugar glider, Wallaby foetus (yes, wallaby foetus), and an incalculable number of very fast-dying native birds.

Of these, Brushtail possums make the best pets of all. They're as smart and as cuddly as a cat, but far far more personable and without the seething bloodlust. They really should be legal pets.

[Legs]

Okay who are the weirdos picking 'spiders' ? :glare:

[Didymus]

http://www.ento.csiro.au/insect_id/images/images_spiders/mouse_spider2.jpg

What? Not cute enough for you?

(the australian mouse spider is related to the notorious funnelweb, but does not possess venom dangerous to humans. Nice, huh? Unfortunately the story doesn't end there: While the funnelweb's fangs point down to stab the venom into you, the mouse spiders fangs go in towards each other. This is so they can hang on, and they are not in the habit of ever letting go. Mouse spiders, so called because they can grow to the size of large mice, often have to be surgically removed from their unfortunate human victims.

I have them in my back yard!

[Ymir's blood]

Milk is a pet? I'm so confused.
Pet Milk (http://images.google.com/images?q=pet+milk&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images)

It must be pretty regional.

I'd vote for robot dog, but it's not up there.
I'm not going to ask livius to add any more! :scared:

[Ymir's blood]

Okay who are the weirdos picking 'spiders' ? :glare:
It's a public poll. Click on the numbers in the results to see who voted for what.

[livius drusus]

I'm not going to ask livius to add any more! :scared:

I'm glad to oblige even unasked, although I was compelled to charge an obliging tax in the amount of one more poll option.

[Ymir's blood]

I'm not going to ask livius to add any more! :scared:

I'm glad to oblige even unasked, although I was compelled to charge an obliging tax in the amount of one more poll option.
Those things are more dangerous than poo flinging monkeys!

[Petra]

http://www.ento.csiro.au/insect_id/images/images_spiders/mouse_spider2.jpg

What? Not cute enough for you?

(the australian mouse spider is related to the notorious funnelweb, but does not possess venom dangerous to humans. Nice, huh? Unfortunately the story doesn't end there: While the funnelweb's fangs point down to stab the venom into you, the mouse spiders fangs go in towards each other. This is so they can hang on, and they are not in the habit of ever letting go. Mouse spiders, so called because they can grow to the size of large mice, often have to be surgically removed from their unfortunate human victims.

I have them in my back yard!

Ahh, yes. I remember Australia well. :scared2:

[Legs]

they are not in the habit of ever letting go. Mouse spiders, so called because they can grow to the size of large mice, often have to be surgically removed from their unfortunate human victims.

I have them in my back yard!

I have a bit of a phobia where spiders are concerned, totally irrational and disabling :nooo:

[Didymus]

Ahh, yes. I remember Australia well. :scared2:

Heh. The most dangerous beastie in New Zealand, of course, is an oversized grasshopper that can give you a mild nip. Oh my!

On the downside, a billion years of paradise has turned all New Zealand native fauna into total wimps. Observe my avatar: the NZ kakapo, worlds most adorable, wimpy, and useless animal. Its natural response to confrontation with a sharp-clawed predator (say, a domestic cat) is to look slightly suprised for the remaining few seconds of its life.

There's something to be said for a bit of bite in your native fauna, muses me.

[Petra]

Hey, we have white tail spiders, y'know! And some of our people are very dangerous - just look at Winston Peters. His hairstyle alone has toxins and teeth.


Oh, yeah, and thanks for those white tails you sent us. Where would we be without them. :(

[Didymus]

Oh, yeah, and thanks for those white tails you sent us. Where would we be without them. :(

We had to introduce those in an attempt to control the horribly out-of-control brushtail possum population we introduced earier. You should be thankful.

Don't worry, if the spiders get too problematic, we'll just send you some cane toads to control them.

[Petra]

Hehe. Cane toads.

:toad:

[MooseIBe]

You are so putting me off ever going anywhere near Australia, Didymus. If one of those ever latched onto me, I would have died of fright before they got me to hospital to remove it.

I voted for dog, cos i didn't realise it was a multi choice poll. Now I know that it is, I'd like to add a cat and a guinea and, erm, a milk to my cart as well, thanks.

I used to have a pet rock. He was called Livingstone but I dunno what happened to him.

[Didymus]

Remind me never to tell you about our inch-and-a-half long metre-high jumping indescribable-pain ants. Or our common garden snakes of instant death. Or our 'kick-your-intestines-all-over-the-place-as-soon-as-look-at-you' kangaroos.

Have you heard of the dark side of the Koala?

[MooseIBe]

No, do I want to?!

I heard of box jellyfish though. That would be enough to stop me even taking a SHOWER in Oz.

[Didymus]

Ahh, the box jellyfish. Did you know they have eyes and can hunt?

If you decide you want to hear about the Dark Side of the Koala, just yell.

[Stormlight]

Ahh, the box jellyfish. Did you know they have eyes and can hunt?

If you decide you want to hear about the Dark Side of the Koala, just yell.

Dark side of the Koala? Surely, there is no dark side to a Koala. They're funny and cuddly and cute. :closet:

[fragment]

Boring old me went for cat, and no others. I like plenty of the other animals, but I'd prefer to just live somewhere where they are wild. I'd consider chooks, but that would be as much for eggs and fertiliser as for pet-type reasons.

Didy, I've been wondering why you have a kakapo avatar... do you feel some kind of kindred spirit with them? :D

[Adora]

First Option: Sloth. There is nothing cooler than slots. They have entire ecosystems residing on their fur, and they recycle their poo.

Second: Penguins. So awesome.

[HighOnHotSauce]

Okay who are the weirdos picking 'spiders' ? :glare:

I'm a spider weirdo. They're cool little creatures.

[MooseIBe]

Okay okay tell me about the dark side of the koala, since you're obviously bursting to ;)

*sighs resignedly and settles back to be disilluisioned about yet another cute furry creature*

[livius drusus]

I'm a spider weirdo. They're cool little creatures.
I don't know about little, but ever since I got over my tarantula aversion I've had a thing for Cobalt Blues. They are just so incredibly gorgeous. Pics. (http://www.bighairyspiders.com/cobalt.shtml)

Not that I'd get one, mind you. They're not for amateur idiots like me.

[HighOnHotSauce]

I’ve always had a think for Vietnamese spiders especially the “bird killer spider” http://www.richard-seaman.com/Insects/Vietnam/Spiders/Highlights/

[MooseIBe]

Hmm interesting site Liv but I gotta say, that guy's a lunatic.

[livius drusus]

I’ve always had a think for Vietnamese spiders especially the “bird killer spider” http://www.richard-seaman.com/Insec...ers/Highlights/

Yeeeeahh... Well, the thing is, once the multiple eyes become very clearly visible, I revert to full on creeped out by spiders mode. :shudder:

[fragment]

Those are some purty spiders! Love that cobalt blue, Liv!
:spider2:

[ceptimus]

Australia even has a poisonous shellfish. And you don't have to step on it either, it will pursue you.

[viscousmemories]

There is nothing cooler than slots.
I'm a big fan of slots too.

[Didymus]

Okay okay tell me about the dark side of the koala, since you're obviously bursting to

Well, only since you asked, mind.

The fluffy side of the Koala is well known to all, but the truth is, they only sit still when alsleep and/or heavily sedated for zoo pictures.

When a koala is angry, however, things get ugly fast.

The first thing you must know is that Koalas it that they are diprotodonts- meaning that they have a set of front teeth like fucking bolt cutters.

Observe: http://www.nhc.ed.ac.uk/images/collections/mammals/marsupials/koalaskull3.jpg

These are attached to jaws used to chewing gum leaves, which are tough as wood, and so these facts combined mean that an angry koala is well and truly capable of removing a sizable chunk of flesh from you, or taking off a poorly guarded finger.

Secondly, an anecdote. Once, when my family was part of an injured native animal rear and release program, a large, injured, unconscious male koala came under our care. we transported the poor fellow to our bathroom - tiled in slate, and once there, he proceeded to wake to consciousness in an unholy rage. It was all we could do to lock him in there, but before he'd calmed down, he'd managed to carve half-inch-deep scars into the stone tiles.

The lesson of this anecdote is that koalas have claws as strong and sharp as razorblades. This alone wouldn't be so much of a problem if the first instinct of a distressed koala wasn't to scramble to the nearest vertical object and climb it. It will look around, and it will see you.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of all this, is that while all this is going on the usually silent koala, when angry, emits an appalingly loud and ungodly scream, the sound of which is often likened to that of a man in terrific pain.

I can tell you, that sound is often joined by the sound of a man in terrific pain, that of whichever poor sod is closest to the unhappy koala.

Still, they can't kill you, so that makes them slightly cuddlier than most of our other fauna.

[MooseIBe]

*looks unhappy*

you were just bursting to tell people that, weren't you?! :)

Why anyone would wanna live in Australia is beyond me. I mean sure, great climate, lovely beaches, but seems like it's inhabited entirely by variously legged creatures that want you for lunch.

[Crumb]

I'm a spider weirdo. They're cool little creatures.
Do they go well with hot sauce?

[godfry n. glad]

What!?

No bunnies?

No donkeys?

No gerbils?

No mice?

No cockatiels?

No budgies?

No lovebirds?

Man... What a half-assed list. (Well, no-assed list is more like it.)

[viscousmemories]

I have wild bunnies running all over my neighborhood. I saw a little one yesterday. :pleased:

[Crumb]

There were wild bunnies all over left field last night. I found it odd that no one seemed to care. It didn't seem to interfere with the game though. :sigh:

[HighOnHotSauce]

I'm a spider weirdo. They're cool little creatures.
Do they go well with hot sauce?

Hmmm? :chin:

[Dingfod]

I used to have a pet rock. He was called Livingstone but I dunno what happened to him.My pet rock and GI Joe went to war in Iraq and haven't been seen or heard from again. Oh, the rock's name? Sgt. Rock, of course.

I guess I'm the onliest one that picked poor Pet milk. I cannot imagine making chocolate fudge without it.

[HighOnHotSauce]

I guess I'm the onliest one that picked poor Pet milk.
I think perhaps some of the membership here is lactose intolerant. Poor milk.

[viscousmemories]

I think perhaps some of the membership here is lactose intolerant. Poor milk.
:laugh: