Most people, and even animal enthusiasts, have favorite animals. Some of us are bonkers about dogs, others are horse crazy or refer to themselves as “cat people”. However, when you look up statistics on companion animals, it becomes clear that there are many other animals we invite into our lives. Rodents (such as guinea pigs, hamsters or gerbils), bunnies, birds (for example parrots or finches), fish (like guppies), ferrets, hedgehogs etc. The European Pet Food Industry Association found that, across Europe (they also count in Russia and Turkey), cats are the most popular pets (102.691.000) with dogs coming in second place (84.911.000). However, the number of small mammals, reptiles etc. combined, exceeds the number of cats kept (102.993.400).
Unfortunately, many of these animals are often treated as “lesser pets”, meaning that people buy them, if they don’t have time or money for a dog, as toys for their children or generally speaking without thinking much about the consequences of their purchase. The underlying idea seems to be that because the animals are often small and cheap to buy, they have limited needs, value and play a minor role in our lives.
Let’s change that. The size of an animal or the purchasing prize are not related to the effort one has to invest in the companion. Whenever we give an animal a home, we have to consider its needs and inform ourselves about how to care for that species.
Personally, I am super fond of the animals that are unfortunately often considered “lesser pets”. Here are some cool facts about these companions:
- Guinea pigs: Their babies are born with their eyes open and full fur. After a few hours they are already able to run.
- Gerbils: Mother and father gerbil are involved in taking care of their babies. Very modern thinking there!
- Bunnies: Bunnies chew 120 times a minute.
- Budgies: The yellow feathers on budgies are fluorescent.
- Turtles: They live on every continent except Antarctica.
Are you also a fan of small pets? If so, what is the most fascinating fact you know about them?
The image of the cute gerbil on top is by auenleben on pixabay.
Pawerful Thoughts 