Anybody here ever have a pet prairie dog?

[raccoon]

I think they're the cutest little things.

[Doreen]

1. Wild animals should remain wild animal.

[dhill926]

3. Thank you...

[Fla Dem]

4. What about.....

I do wonder about someone rescuing an injured or abandoned baby and then nursing it to good health. Are these animals ok to be released back in the wild never having any experience and only knowing captivity?

Otherwise, I agree.

[Doreen]

8. Of course that is different.

If they CAN be released then they should be but if they can't then the first thing to do is to put them in a controlled area but as close to their natural habitat as possible. If that is impossible then yes living as a pet is acceptable. I just have a problem with taking an animal from the wild and making it into a pet or if they are rescued form an injury and could actually once again survive in the wild they should not be kept as pets. I am also against breeding wolves with domesticated dogs. People do not understand ( or want to ) that wolves act and react on a different level than domestic dogs.

[hlthe2b]

2. Japanese exported them as pets a few years ago...unfortunately,

They also exported some plague-infected fleas with them. It didn't work out so well.

I agree that wild animals should remain so. Enjoy from a distance AND work to fight those who would fight for their eradication, just so they can build a parking lot...sigh

[left-of-center2012]

5. Fleas ...

Plague, rabies ~
oh my!

[pintobean]

6. I walked into a bar in Quincy Il about 20 years ago

and a guy had one on his shoulder. Very cool.

[Drahthaardogs]

7. Grew up on a ranch out west

We always had them in the pastures. Then the plague would rip through the town's. It was eerie afterwards. I would never keep one as a pet. I had a friend with a pet racoon and one with a magpie. I wouldn't keep them either. Dogs cats and horses maybe a burro or a good mule. That's it. Wild animals are wild.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. A friend of mine has one

Hers isn't really all that attached to her humans. My friend would rehome it, but her granddaughter would be upset.