At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is - we believe - the largest professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. Since 2009 we have been running the increasingly popular CFZ Blog Network, and although there has been an American branch of the CFZ for over ten years now, it is only now that it has a dedicated blog.

Friday 4 September 2015

NEXT TYPE OF PET

What will be the next animal to be domesticated?  It must be stated that not all animals are susceptible to domestication.  Dogs descend from wolves and it is thought that the process began when wolves started hanging around  human dwellings or campfires to acquire edibles.

An animal that is certainly doing that today is the raccoon.  Raccoons are regarded by many as a nuisance, but, particularly in urban areas, they have taken to raiding human garbage.  This may be the initial stage of domestication.  In due course they will proceed to the inside of the house and sympathetic humans will feed them - maybe.

However, before you go rushing out to obtain a raccoon as a pet, you should be warned that in areas of the United States it is illegal to keep them in captivity.  They are also susceptible to rabies.  While occasional raccoons have been kept as pets in the past, I think it is a long time until - if ever - they become commonplace in the home.

Raccoon
Well, then, how about a skunk?  It may surprise the reader to learn that skunks have been kept as pets and can make good ones.  However, again it may be illegal in some places to keep skunks.  You'll also need to get a pet skunk deodorized.  In the UK, such an operation is prohibited by law.  However, specialist vets have techniques to make the odor problem less serious, even if deodorization has not taken place.

Below you see a picture of a raccoon and a skunk happily sharing human refuse.  Is this truly the first step to domestication?

Yum! Yum!

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