Anything and everything about non-human animals.
Rules:
And now I want to know if anteaters are friendly, if you can scratch them behind the ears and under their trunks/snouts/whatever they're called.
The fur looks coarse so it might not be very comfortable to pet them, but they look like they might be pleasant to have around.
Snout seems the proper term for anteaters' and aardvarks' noses. Aardvark means "land pig", so it fits the theme to call it a snout.
All the ones I have seen in captivity have appeared very chill, like in the video you shared. Being wild animals, I was sure they had to be able to defend themselves and there are a ton of videos of them going head-to-head with jaguars, chasing them off or mortally injuring them, and there are even a few cases of people being killed by them, usually when they are corned in a hunting scenario. Their large, sturdy claws can disembowel or puncture arteries.
Coarse fur can be really interesting. I got to pet and feed a large African porcupine and it was full of great textures! The rear quills were of course not great for petting, but they felt like really large feather vanes. The longer, thinner quills were like plastic drinking straws, the bulk of the base fur felt like the plastic Easter grass if you are familiar with that, and the soft spots like the ears were covered with the most delicate peach fuzz, which was so soft and luxurious I still think about it near 20 years later.
I fed it banana slices. It would take it in his mouth, nip the peel , and eat the banana. When I ran out, he still wanted more and tried to jump on my lap! I was not ready for that, but nothing uncomfortable happened. He was a real sweetheart and it was one of my favorite animal experiences of all time. I always feel an anteater encounter would hopefully be similar in fun. They seem like they would be cuddly if they felt safe.
I believe this is the type of porcupine Vince was, an African Crested Porcupine:
Yeah, I wouldn't be so quick to tangle with a porcupine, just because of the... quills? I thought they were called spines. Not like "spinal column" but... for some reason that's what we always called them. Either way. I do see the pig resemblance though, especially in the face.
I never fed a raccoon myself, but my grandfather did. Fed it grapes, and it would rear up on its hind legs, hold the grape in its front paws, and it would savour that fruit.
I always called them quills, so I looked it up:
Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, “spines” and “quills” have slightly different definitions. “Spine” is a more general term for any hair that has been modified into a hardened, spiked structure, whereas quills are a specific type of spine. “True” quills have a spongy core and are found in echidnas as well as some rodents.
There are two families of porcupine, the Old World porcupines ( Hystricidae ), which live in Europe, Africa, and Asia, and the New World porcupines ( Erethizontidae ), which live in North and South America. In both families the backs and sides of the porcupine are covered with true quills, which they erect and flare if predators approach too closely. Old World porcupines have short, flattened spines or bristles on the head, neck, feet, and belly, while the undersides of New World porcupines are covered in much softer fur.
If that is correct, Vince had spines and quills, which makes sense they'd be called different things as they are quite different.
I liked putting blueberries in the raccoons' water dishes and they run over and fish them out. Very cute!
Interesting! I'm not that big on animals — I came into your topic because I browse /all — but I do know some things, but what I don't know is much greater. It's funny because when you said 'quills' I thought, of course that's the right term (and I'd heard it before). Good to know what the difference is, but I'll probably never need the information. It's good information for the comm and the discussion, though, to be sure. I'm just more of a tech guy.
Currently my big interest with animals is the red panda. I've always been a fan since my favourite web browser changed its name from Firebird to Firefox (this was over 20 years ago) and I wondered what a firefox was (it's a nickname for the red panda). Turning Red, the Disney movie, came out and red pandas got a few new fans, but not as many as I'd like. I don't think they're an endangered species, but I think they're the next one up. Protected? Something like that. What I do know is that the red panda is not a true panda (it's not related to China's great pandas, the black-and-white ones everyone knows; it's more closely related to badgers and raccoons), though it does like bamboo. I know it has a unique gland on its tongue that aids its sense of smell, and taste as well, so it loves sweet stuff (fruit), though it'll happily eat bamboo, grass, and other greenery.
The red pandas are very fun! I've also been a fan for a very long time and prefer them over the Giant Pandas. I believe a few places have programs where you can meet and feed them. I had planned to do that a few times, but birds of prey have really taken over my life.
The favorite time I visited a red panda must have been near what would be their mating season. This guy was on patrol all around his space and would walk up to whatever looked good to him and just grind his crotch all over it in very comical fashion. They have some scent glad there, so he was telling any male pandas who may wander into New York I think it was, to get lost, and to any random lady pandas he was single and looking!
And no worries about not being a traditional animal fan. I have a number of people subscribed to me that don't consider themselves big animal people, but they like my more educational focus and focus on conservation and wildlife rescue and rehab. I try to present things people haven't seen before and point out things that may be backyard hazards people are unaware of and all sorts of things like that. Either way, I'm glad you found something intriguing on this post!
Well, you're doing a good job. I know animal people (PETA, and otherwise) like to educate people on the important issues surrounding animals. But a lot of them make it their whole platform and it can be off-putting. But then you got people like Steve Irwin who can really draw a crowd and make people care. You seem like one of the good ones.
You mention birds of prey, I take it you've been following the friends of Big Bear Valley and the eagles and their eaglets? My wife is a big fan and watches it all the time. I've shown her how to cast wirelessly to the TV and turn it into a second monitor, and she could have the trail cam on the TV all the time while doing other stuff... she hasn't done it yet and I don't push it. I like showing it to people, but I wouldn't just watch it for more than a minute or two. The cam doesn't impress me that much. I saw a bald eagle in person a couple weeks ago, out in the wild. Now that was impressive. Seeing one in person is completely different, if you didn't know how big they are (wide their wingspan is). I mean, I'm sure YOU know, but I figure most people think they're just a bit bigger than hawks, and also underestimate the size of hawks, though they do vary. Not a bird watcher, just seen a few birds.
I try to get people fascinated by all the neat things about animals so they want to learn more on their own. It's finding that spark of interest that works for each of us differently. Especially for adults that don't feel close to animals or ones that think they know enough.
I haven't seen the Big Bear stream, I'll have to look at that. I got big into owls especially, and last year I started working at a wildlife rehab so I could work with them, and all the other animals. We have a resident unreleasable Bald Eagle and one patient that was treated for lead poison and an injured wing. They are very imposing birds! The Great Horned Owls and Red Tailed Hawks are already pretty big, but the eagle is on a whole other level!