if you believe in evolution then your statement is hypocritically ridiculous, since according to evilution all our pets are bred down from tamed down wild animals.
OTH if you're a devout creationist, then i must point out that man has already successfully used his dominion over the animals to tame down wild animals for pets, specifically over half a dozen rodents, ferrets, sugar gliders, rabbits, parrots, parakeets, raptors, hedgehogs, foxes & cats (and many others i can't think of off the top of my head) are kept as pets that haven't had a wild ancestor for more than 10 generations (in some case more than 1000 generations) and are genetically distinct from their wild ancestors. further the successful keeping of wildlife as pets is a common occurance older than EVERY nation currently in existance.
of the newest animals the various lynxes (including bobs) and foxes are some of the easiest to deal w/ since their needs are similar to more familiar more domesticated animals.
while not a good fit for everyone, they are still options to be considered but most especially by a single pet home.
I agree with pops about this.
Also, I used to be a member of the Phoenix Exotic Wildlife Association, devoted to fighting species specific legislation (and BSL, we weren't picky
)
Many of the members kept large and small cats. About the following:
Bobcats are fantastic pets for very
special people. By special, I mean, they don't mind that their bob sprays everywhere, because they will no matter if they are altered of not. And bob spray will make your eyes water. I know of one guy whose bob decided that the hallway to the bathroom was HIS territory, and his owner had to go through a ritual of submissive posturing in order to get permission to pass through every time he wanted to use the bathroom. :rofl1: However, that did not bother him. To him it was worth the sacrifice to have an incredibly special relationship with his animal, and vice versa. I know another old man with three 28 year old bobs, from the same litter. Those cats were his life, and the same back.
Lynxs I think are better. They tend to spray less, and naturally defecate in running water so you can actually train them to use your toilet and flush. The biggest drawback to a lynx is that they bond so strongly to their human keepers, that if you ever had to rehome it, you die, send it to a sanctuary, etc. it would literally starve itself to death pining for you. Basically, don't get one unless you KNOW you can keep it forever, and be prepared to euthanize if something unforeseeable happens because the alternative for the cat is much worse.
Cougar, at best are unpredictable. The president of the club had three, all littermates. Two of them she absolutely could not ever trust. Ever. They were housed in deluxe acre+ outdoor enclosures with heated buildings that would make most zoos jealous. The awesome one, Jake, was just awesome. He lived in the house with her most times. She told me the mistake she made with the other two, that she avoided with Jake, was playing dangly yarn/cat toy type games with them. That is how they learn to hunt, and if you are part of that hunting game the chance they will one day slip and injure/kill you is MUCH greater. With Jake, she yowled in pain any time his teeth or paws EVER touched her. He thinks she is made of sugar, and treats her accordingly.
According to her, adolescent cougars go through a phase where they play "hot lava" for a couple of months. Meaning, your floor is hot lava and they can NOT touch it. Which results in destroyed furniture and broken TVs. That is the point where most are given up by undedicated keepers.
The best candidates, IMO if someone is seriously interested in exotic cats, are servals and caracals. They are very dog like, a manageable size, and trainable. One of the members had a caracal who worked as a therapy animal at a VA in New York. She was very good at what she did.
Personally I will never have a big cat, but it's not up for me to decide if people keeping them is right or wrong. Wrong for most people, but the right people..It would blow your mind if you could see the relationship those people have with their cats, and the way they house their exotics. They get better housing and treatment than big cats at zoos, besides the fact that they are not subject to be ogled by random strange humans. Most people have a hard time believing some people can coexist with them like that, but then again those people never make the news...just like the good pit bulls never make the news.
