The Lost Pets in Fiction

Lately I’ve been concerned about the Lacey Act Amendment that will be the first step in removing all exotic pets from American homes, and it makes me think of several works of fiction, usually science fiction, that deal with the loss of more common pets, usually due to a virus. These animals are sometimes replaced by even more exotic animals.

Quails, Expected and Unexpected

Often I am surprised at how much I like my quail: both the tiny button quail and the decent size coturnix quail are fun to be around, easy to care for, and have such cute personalities if you get to know them. There are two points that are not fun with these birds, however. One, they often do not like to incubate their eggs, and if the eggs hatch they are horrible parents; the dads especially will often kill the chicks. The other point is how violent their mating can be, especially if you are introducing new hens to the mix.

What Parrots Do to Their People

Unlike owning a dog or several dogs, living with a parrot or any avian companion is full of strange and different realities. I’ve been lucky, or unlucky, in experiencing these realities many times, from parrots to finches, canaries to quail, they all have the knack of doing exactly the worst thing now and then.

My Crows

While I am in favor of having some avian species as either companion animals or breeders, I don’t care very much for making pets out of wild species. Some of the YouTube channels I subscribe to feature folks who have made friends with wild animals without removing them from the wild. For example, Choo Choo’s Story features a woman and her husband who know a lot of the chipmunks around their Canadian home. They also have had blue jays stop by and deer wander through their property.

Matchmaking for My Birds

I don’t know how many years I have with my sweet avian family. There are some things I would like to accomplish before I need to re-home any of them. If I can provide proven pairs of any species, they will find good homes with no problem. But it’s not easy, especially now that everything is so expensive.