Exotic Pets

Teddy Bear visited us last week, using his snacking skills to predict the winner of yesterday's Super Bowl. And wouldn't you know it? The New York Giants won the game, just like Teddy Bear said they would (much to my chagrin, as I hail from New England and a dyed-in-the-wool Patriots fan).

Fresh from his prognosticatory success, Teddy Bear is setting his focus on the next great holiday, Valentine's Day. Does Big T have a secret admirer? It's not us. Our admiration for Teddy isn't secret; it's public and well documented. But somebody sent the porcupiny paramour a heart-shaped box full of corn. Naturally, Teddy opted to wolf down all the corn in one sitting rather than try to make it last until the 14th. But why stop there? Corn wasn't all Teddy Bear got from his valentine. "Rose petals for eaty taste good?" Teddy, nooooo!

THIS PORCUPINE BE SNACKIN'!

We're still waiting for Teddy Bear to show up and munch on something new, but in the meantime it's important for all of us to remember that there's more than one porcupine in the world!

This is Irwin, and while he may not love snacking quite as much as Teddy, he does love to drink. Coffee, that is! Just like you and me, Irwin can't get his morning started without a steaming mug of that elixir.

OK, that's not entirely true. Irwin doesn't actually drink coffee. Porcupines can't have coffee! (Wait... Can porcupines have coffee?) Shut up; that doesn't matter. What matters is that coffee mug. It matters to Irwin. It matters a lot!

Remember Lil' Drac, the adorable, orphaned baby bat that we met last month? His mother abandoned him and he was being raised by hand at the Bat World bat sanctuary.

Here's a new video to update us all on Drac's progress. Watch Drac eat his first solid food, and learn to fly. Get a hanky ready or a box of Kleenex, because you're about to cry, you're about to laugh, and you're about to rush out to the pet store to see if they carry bats.

A note from Bat World Sanctuary: We would like to get the message across that is is not a good idea to keep bats as pets. Many of the bats at our sanctuary are cast-aways from the exotic pet trade. Bats like Lil' Drac have a life-span of up to 20 years in the wild but rarely last a year when kept as a pet. They need large flight enclosures, dozens of roostmates and an enriched life in order to survive any length of time in captivity. Some of Lil' Drac's mother's roostmates were sent to the pet trade when the zoo closed. We took all the females from the zoo in order to keep the breeding population down in the pet trade.

Our comment about rushing out to the pet store was of course tongue-in-cheek. While we stand by our claim that Lil' Drac will make you want to keep a pet bat, by no means should you. Instead, please consider sponsoring a bat in need through Bat World, or even simply making a donation.

Mea culpa: We don't feature ferrets often enough on Paw Nation. Ferrets are popular pets! They're too popular for our lack of notice to continue on much longer. With that in mind, watch this ferret. Watch it for six seconds before it is shot and killed before your very eyes! OK, that's enough with the ferrets.

Kix: Iquana-Tested, Mother-Approved