When a state has newspaper headlines that read, “Avoid reptiles as a holiday gift,” then you know there’s a problem. Florida has a reputation as the number-one state in the US for invasive species. Over the past decade or so, more than 260 exotic animals (that we know of) have escaped their cages and fled into the Florida wilderness. We’re not only talking about lions and tigers and bears (oh my) but also rhinos, jaguars, wolves, orangutans, and just about any exotic creature you can imagine. Many of these escaped convicts remain at large.^[1] However, this list is concerned with the species that, as exotic pets set free in the wild, were able to stick around and multiply. As the wise Jeff Goldblum predicted in Jurassic Park, life will always find a way . . .

Many of us dream of having an exotic pet, like Frida Kahlo with her monkeys or Tippi Hedren’s pet lion. Well, in Florida, you don’t need any special license or certificate to own many types of exotic pets. At the University of Florida, researchers confirm that the pet trade is the main reason for the introduction of invasive species. Exotic animals often begin as innocent pets but are released or escape into the Florida wilderness, for one reason or another, where they can wreak some serious havoc. Kenneth Krysko, manager of the Florida Museum of Natural History, says, “It’s like some mad scientist has thrown these species together from all around the world and said, ‘hey, let’s put them all together and see what happens.’ ” He warns that if the trends continue, Florida may have more invasive species than native. A wildlife ecology professor at the University of Florida likened the situation to “a slow-burning fuse lit to an ecological bomb.” Meanwhile, the exotic pet industry in the US makes $15 billion annually, and people continue to buy that flashy, unique pet that sounds alluring but is severely dangerous to both them and society at large.

10 Burmese Python

The largest Burmese python discovered in the Florida wild was 5.4 meters (18 ft) long and weighed 58 kilograms (128 lb). The man who found it in the brush, being a run-of-the-mill Floridian, grabbed it by the neck and held it up to his friends to see how big it was. The python quickly wrapped its muscled body twice around the man’s legs and then reached his waist. The man’s quick-thinking friend handed him a 23-centimeter (9 in) blade, which the soon-to-be victim used to decapitate the python.^[2]

Now, it is illegal to buy a Burmese python in Florida and for good reason. People used to buy these tiny snakes, which would grow to be about 1.8 meters (6 ft) long in a year’s time. That’s either too much work or slightly horrifying, so the owners would release their beloved pets into the Everglades. This happened enough that the pythons started to breed and thrive in the wet, subtropical climate. In no time, the snakes, who can produce up to 100 hatchlings at once, became the apex predator in the region.

There was a glimmer of hope that native alligators would be able to control the rapid rise of Burmese pythons, but instead, the gators are actually being eaten themselves. In one famous case in 2005, a python tried to consume a 1.8-meter (6 ft) alligator whole, but the snake exploded in the attempt. These battles are becoming a common occurrence. Since the pythons have mostly killed all of the marsh rabbits, bobcats, and other small mammals, the Everglades now call upon hunters to eliminate as many pythons as they possibly can. The hunters are paid minimum wage by the state, plus $50 for every 1.2-meter (4 ft) snake and $25 for each additional foot. In about a year’s time, hunters have bagged 1,000 pythons.

9 Rhesus Macaque

Most people don’t know that you can ride an inner tube down the Silver River in Ocala, Florida, and likely see wild monkeys swinging from the trees as you float by. In the 1930s, the owner of a privately owned park had the harebrained idea to release an entire colony of rhesus macaques as a tourist attraction. The park staff, being the clever humans that they were, put the monkeys on an island in the Silver River for safekeeping. Surprise! They can swim. Now there are hundreds that are spreading like wildfire through Central Florida.

These feral troublemakers travel in large gangs, and they can be aggressive when they feel threatened. They have been terrorizing people in their own backyards, but that’s not even the worst part.^[3] Recently, it was discovered that these macaques carry a herpes virus that spreads to humans through excrement and other bodily fluids. Having feces flung at you from a primate is horrifying enough without the fear of contracting herpes, thank you very much.

On that note, above is a hilarious video of the rhesus macaques chasing down a terrified family. Enjoy.

8 Green Iguana

Iguanas are Florida’s most invasive species. This green menace creates mayhem in suburbia, from leaving gifts in swimming pools and gobbling up gardens to disrupting electrical grids and causing power outages. People discard iguanas as pets because they are more work than expected, as they grow up to 1.8 meters (6 ft) long and require a ton of food. During mating season, they become increasingly hostile and lash out at their owners by biting them. On top of that, they may just try to escape through the doggie door.

Sadly, Floridians have resorted to combating this pest problem they created by using blunt-force trauma. In other words, people are paid to sneak up on them in the dead of night while they sleep and bash in their skulls. Jenny Ketterlin, a wildlife biologist who works for this $63,000 project commissioned by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, ensures the public that swiftly smashing their brains open is actually the most humane way to kill them.^[4] Well, it’s good practice for the zombie apocalypse, I suppose.

7 Nile Monitor: Largest Lizard In Africa

The Nile monitor is yet another escapee from the pet trade that is now calling Florida home, sweet home. Instead of soaking in the sun along the Nile Delta, where they belong, they have wormed their way through Cape Coral’s extensive canal system since the 1990s. These skilled swimmers can reach a gruesome 2.1 meters (7 ft) long. They consume whatever they can get, whether that’s a wasp nest, poisonous cane toad, or venomous rattlesnake. Like wolves, they hunt in packs. Occasionally, they pop up from the canals to make a surprise appearance in someone’s backyard. Hopefully they aren’t hungry because they’ve been known to snack on cats and dogs.

It is incredibly difficult to eradicate them, as nobody has ever found a single monitor lizard nest. There are estimated to be at least 1,000 of these giant beasts currently roaming the Florida canals, tidal creeks, and mangroves. These giant lizards may also be seen if you happen to look up, as they are expert tree-climbers, so beware.^[5]

6 Capybara

Do you know what doesn’t sound like an ideal pet? The largest rodent in the world. A capybara is basically like a 45-kilogram (100 lb) guinea pig that’s semiaquatic. It turns out, that’s not as cute as some pet owners thought it would be. Go figure! As of 2016, there were about 50 capybaras running amok in Florida. In its South American home, it has predators like the puma and jaguar, but in Florida, there are no coyotes or dogs big enough to take down a capybara.

It doesn’t help matters that they are social animals, traveling in groups through thick forest.^[6] As if Florida hunters didn’t have enough game to contend with, let’s throw a giant guinea pig in the mix.

5 ‘Testicle-Eating’ Pacu Fish

The South American pacu fish has an unusual bite because of its eerie, humanlike set of teeth. They are a cousin to the flesh-eating piranha, but instead of the razor-sharp teeth of their cousins, they have teeth that are blunt like our molars. The pacu also grows to be much, much larger. They typically reach about 22.7 kilograms (50 lb) throughout South-Central Florida.

Even though the pacu is normally not an imminent threat to men’s genitalia, it did receive the moniker of “testicle-eating” fish for a good reason. According to Henrik Carl, a fish expert at the National History Museum of Denmark, “There have been incidents in other countries, such as Papua New Guinea, where some men have had their testicles bitten off. They bite because they’re hungry, and testicles sit nicely in their mouth.”^[7] It’s no wonder why owners released these exotic fish! Suddenly, the bizarre allure of a human smile on a fish feels a bit more sinister.

4 Giant African Land Snails

The giant African land snail is not to be confused with any meager snail of small proportions. It is, in fact, the world’s largest terrestrial mollusk. We’re talking a 20-centimeter-long (8 in) snail that’s 10 centimeters (4 in) in diameter. This destructive little creature carries a parasitic worm that burrows into humans and spreads meningitis. It consumes at least 500 types of plants and causes permanent damage to the plaster and stucco of buildings. An adult lays up to 1,200 eggs in a single year, and with no natural predators in Florida, there’s no end in sight for its infestation.

It’s a bit of a mystery why giant African land snails populate South Florida. They are illegal to import into the United States without a permit, and no permits have ever been issued. While no one is positive, it seems the pet trade is to blame for the giant snail takeover. The last known invasion was in 1966, when a young boy smuggled three snails into the country as his secret pets. When his grandma found out, she made him set them free in the garden. It cost more than $1 million to eradicate the 18,000 snails that this incident created.

Another suspicion is that the current infestation of hundreds of thousands of giant African land snails in South Florida has been the result of religious ritual. Santeria is an Afro-Caribbean religion steeped in traditions that developed from the Cuban slave trade. Some of the religious rituals put emphasis on the juice of these snails. It’s suspected that they are smuggled into the country for this purpose.^[8]

3 Wild Boars

Wild boars have been roaming free throughout the Sunshine State since the 1500s, when Hernando de Soto brought them to Florida, not as a beloved pet but as a food source. Now, it has been over 500 years, and these feral pigs are nowhere near domesticated. Four million wild boars have spread across the United States, but in Florida alone, there are half a million.

They are an aggressive, tusked, 91-kilogram (200 pound) Old World swine that carry up to 24 diseases, from tuberculosis to cholera, and constantly consume farmers’ feed and even livestock. They are difficult to control, to say the least, as they are basically one giant muscle. There are also all the usual unpleasantries of invasive species, like damaging native plants and competing with native species. It basically messes up the proper chain of events that lets an ecosystem flourish.

As a result of their continued population growth, Florida hunters have trained bloodhounds to track them down at night. There are no rules that limit hunting to a certain season. There are no size, bag, or gender restrictions. Behind the white-tailed deer, the wild boar is the second most popular animal to hunt in Florida. Some inventive entrepreneurs are even flipping the boar problem on its head, making profit by serving them up on a platter and calling them prime pork.^[9] Bacon anyone?

2 African Clawed Frog

Before modern-day pregnancy tests were invented, doctors used an African clawed frog to assess the situation. The procedure involved exposing the frog to a woman’s urine, commonly via injection, and waiting for hours to see what would happen. If the frog laid eggs, it meant the woman was having a baby. This method of pregnancy detection remained popular until the 1970s, when modern pregnancy kits went on the market.

Needless to say, there was a high demand for African clawed frogs until this time. Thousands of these little critters were shipped from South Africa to labs and hospitals, not only in the US but all over the world. To supply the high demand, they were bred in captivity. They were easy to care for, so a pet trade developed around them in the 1950s and 1960s. From unwanted pets and escapees to doctors releasing them from their labs due to technology advancements, they multiplied fast. These frogs with clawed toes live for up to 15 years in the wild, and females create 27,000 eggs per reproductive cycle.^[10] Their growing numbers are alarming, to say the least.

1 ‘Man-Eater’ Nile Crocodile

The Nile crocodile can grow over 6 meters (20 ft) long and weigh as much as a small car. They eat whatever they can get hold of, including the occasional human (hence its description of “man-eater”). From sub-Saharan Africa, they were introduced to South Florida, presumably via the pet trade, even though whoever thought that a crocodile would make a great pet clearly didn’t have a permit.

Nile crocodiles are much more dangerous than the native alligator population in Florida. In six years, American alligators and crocodiles were the cause of 33 human fatalities, but in the same time period, the Nile crocodile killed 268 people. As far as we know, they have been surviving and breeding for at least six years in the Florida swamps.^[11] As if Floridians didn’t have enough monsters lurking in the water.

Today’s pets are often taken care of with the same level of involvement that people once reserved for their children or grandchildren. We fuss over diet, activity, training, and health care for our pets to make sure that they have the best lives possible. This is the movement that has led to many referring to themselves as pet parents,^[1] rather than pet owners. Experts suggest that the root of this change is twofold. Young adults are having fewer children, while aging baby boomers are becoming empty-nesters. Both groups are filling the void where children would be with new pets.

But the drive for better pet health care has brought an issue to light that was previously unknown to the population at large: Pets need mental health care. Our animals, be they mammal or otherwise, can suffer from myriad mental illnesses and disorders just like we do. Pets also take medication, have therapy, and recover just like we do. As more of us are realizing how important it is to treat our pets’ mental health, it is more important than ever to ask what is causing the distress in the first place. Between our hectic lives and loud modern environment, we may be more responsible than we’d like to admit.

10 Pica

Most dog owners have a hilarious story about how their dog chewed up something important, like homework, or infeasible, like a chunk of drywall, and many cat owners know that it’s impossible for their feline companion to resist a nibble of any plastic bag left out for even one second. What people don’t tend to realize is the extreme cost of this behavior, in both actual money and danger to pets. When an animal eats something that isn’t food, it’s called pica. In cats, it is sometimes known as wool-sucking behavior due to a habit that Oriental breeds and too-early-weaned cats have of nursing on anything soft and fuzzy, usually wool. In dogs, it’s often known as eating your homework.

Regardless of the terminology, pica can range from a minor inconvenience to a life-threatening disorder. Despite the wild tales of garbage-eating dogs and yarn-slurping cats, a small mammal’s digestive tract isn’t that ironclad. Cats especially suffer from obstructions when they eat random objects off of the floor, and the procedures to fix it can set owners back several thousand dollars. And the surgery to remove a hairpin or slipper from a treasured pet’s intestines won’t fix the behavior, so owners might find themselves right back at the emergency vet’s as soon as the pet has healed if they don’t seek mental health treatment. When pica is caused by a nutritional deficiency or dental problem, it is fairly easy to treat. However, pica is often due to boredom or separation anxiety. When this is the case, it can be harder to treat, but more time and play can sometimes solve it. But some pets eat nonfood items compulsively,^[2] and that can often only be treated by locking the items away and cleaning a little more obsessively.

9 Binge Eating

It’s difficult to know if our animal companions suffer from eating disorders as we do, since we can’t easily confirm the mental and emotional drive behind a pet’s eating habits. What we can know is that some animals eat rarely, such as when a pig suffers from thin sow syndrome, and some eat to excess, such as dogs that can eat 16 percent of their body weight per feeding if allowed.^[3] Cats and dogs can suffer from overeating and binge eating, but the problem extends to even more exotic animals. Binge eating in humans is sometimes studied by attempting to recreate the disordered behaviors in rats and mice, with reasonable success. Most animals want to eat and will stuff themselves if allowed. Veterinarians warn about the dangers of overeating in virtually all small pets, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, rodents, rabbits, and hedgehogs.

But many people, professionals and laymen alike, note that you rarely see an overweight animal in the wild. Animals without enough excitement in their lives will often fall back on food for their entertainment, and food-seeking behavior is a necessary adaptation for animals that would have to catch their own meals in the wild. Cats left to their own devices, like those kept on farms, tend to keep themselves busy chasing prey. So treatment for binge eating in pets tends to focus on more exercise, more entertainment, and less food. The last item tends to be the hardest for many owners. When our cute dogs and cats beg for food, it’s hard to deny them. We don’t call them puppy dog eyes for nothing. But professionals suggest diverting a pet’s attention to some kind of activity instead. A bored pet will often literally jump at the chance to play and forget all about the treats.

8 Trichotillomania

Hairballs are a common problem for those who keep cats. Grooming is important for felines, and a lot of fur can end up swallowed in the process. Hairballs are normal, though, and cats that produce them are rarely in any danger. It’s only when a pet starts to groom so obsessively that their fur becomes patchy and their skin irritated that owners should worry. Trichotillomania, “trich” for short, is a compulsive disorder that causes sufferers to pluck their hair uncontrollably and for non-cosmetic reasons. In animals, this is often called over-grooming, and it is most often a response to stress. For most mammals, dogs and cats included, grooming behaviors release calming endorphins.^[4] Many a human has a bath bomb collection for the same reason. Obsessive grooming, like trich, is a calming habit that becomes too much. In some extreme cases, a pet may leave themselves virtually bald by over-grooming.

In cats and dogs, licking tends to happen in places that are easily reached. This can be paws but is more often a place that is harder to spot, like the thighs and underbelly. In rodents, trich is known as barbering and results in bald patches, nibbled whiskers, and irritation both physical and mental. Dominant mice will groom submissive mice normally, but the submissive mice get the worst of it when the dominant mouse experiences extreme stress. Often, a group of healthy mice will be shipped somewhere and arrive with all but one or two balding and annoyed. Even hairless creatures, like birds, exhibit feather-destructive behaviors. No one knows why a bird starts to pluck itself, if the behavior exists in the wild, or how to fix it. Even well-enriched birds in an ideal environment will develop trich. This is true of humans as well and may hint at genetic origins. For many, helping with trich is a matter of adjusting the environment until the behavior calms down and hoping that it goes away and stays away.

7 Autism

Autism spectrum disorder is not so often considered an illness anymore. Many consider autism to be a perfectly normal facet of human psychology that is misconstrued to be a disorder, while others contend that the difficulties faced by autistic individuals justify the disorder classification. Outside of this hotly contested point, the question that some animal researchers have is whether or not dogs can be said to have autism. When a dog whips around in circles to chase its tail, it’s adorable. However, it’s also a repetitive behavior that resembles the spinning and other repetitive motions that autistic people exhibit. And not all dogs chase their tails. It’s linked to certain breeds and certain genetic lines, particularly Bull Terriers, which are the go-to breed for exploring possible canine autism.^[5]

This breed is known for its quirky behaviors, including obsessive tail-chasing, chewing, and playing. They also have more breed-specific oddities. “Trancing” occurs when the dogs come to a slow-motion stop in the midst of play to stare off into the middle distance. “Ghost-walking” or “moon-walking” is a sort of gliding motion that they take on when sneaking under shrubbery. And Bull Terrier lovers affectionately refer to a particular gait where the butt is tucked under and the dog wildly runs as “Hucklebutting.” Obsessive tail-chasing seems to be the best marker to follow when determining whether or not a Bull Terrier may exhibit autism-like traits. Tail-chasing disproportionately affects males and is correlated with partial seizures, skin conditions, gastrointestinal issues, and fixations. As far as behavior goes, this subset tends to be less social with other dogs and humans as well.

Nicholas Dodman, a veterinary behaviorist at Tufts University, has studied children with autism alongside Bull Terriers to determine whether or not this theory holds water. Two blood chemicals associated with autism, neurotensin and corticotropin-releasing hormone, were tested between children with autism, Bull Terriers, and a control group. The chemicals were higher in both the children and dogs, lending a little more weight to the study of autism in animals. Researchers like Dodman are hoping that research into canine autism can help give insight into human autism.

6 Depression

Unlike many other disorders, depression is fairly well-documented in nonhuman animals. Those that have been scientifically shown to suffer depression are nonhuman primates and rats, most likely because these are common test subjects and are observed very regularly. However, many zoo animals show signs of the illness, like lethargy, compulsive behaviors, disrupted appetite, lack of sexual interest, and self-harm. And many veterinarians will prescribe antidepressant medication for dogs that show similar symptoms. But vets are also clear that we don’t really know if our animal companions suffer from depression in the same ways that we do, because we can’t ask them to describe their experience. We can only observe our pets and make our best guesses.

The first course of action for a depressed pet is to eliminate the possibility of an underlying medical condition.^[6] Both depression and physical illnesses can cause unhappiness, withdrawal from social interaction, and other odd behaviors. Once a physical problem is ruled out, a vet may prescribe medication for a cat or dog depending on the duration and severity of the depression. Professionals will also make inquiries about the pet’s environment and events that have recently taken place. The death of a companion is a common cause of depression in dogs. But it is unusual for a dog’s depression to be chronic, so most treatment is focused on alleviating the harmful symptoms until the issue resolves itself. For cats, depression isn’t so much of a concern. Vets agree that cats are much less likely to suffer depression than dogs. A cat’s difficulties in life are much more likely to result in anxiety.

5 Anxiety

Stress is a normal reaction for animals when their environment becomes dangerous. When food is uncertain, noise levels are too high to hear predators approaching, or one finds themselves trapped in a small box, stress tells animals that it’s time to act. These responses can be triggered in a pet’s domestic life. Vacuums, strangers, and missing human companions can make a pet stressed, but some pets will experience far more stress than others. Ultimately, it is the habit of anticipating fear and stress that makes anxiety, which is suspected to be the underlying cause of many mental health concerns in animals. For cats, that means trembling, hiding, aggression, loud vocalizations, and an aversion to the litter box.^[7] For dogs, it’s usually about the same. In birds, signs can include self-mutilation and stress bars appearing near the base of feathers. In rodents, handling anxiety is a well-documented problem that often skews scientific study.

As with many pet mental disorders, a vet will first rule out physical concerns. This prevents unnecessary treatments and, more importantly, catches anything serious early. Once that’s ruled out, a vet will work with the family to find out what is causing the stress and anxiety. If the stressful situation can be avoided entirely, that could solve the problem. That isn’t always possible. Vacuums have to run, vets have to be visited, and various things will happen outside the window that will upset and fascinate our pets. The next option is to train and condition the pet to be less fearful. This can involve training the pet to stay focused on their human, incremental exposure therapy, or using other methods to calm the pet. When a pet can remain calm during a stressful event, they can start to break the negative association. Sometimes, medication will be used to achieve that calm, but other products, like a thundershirt (a vest that makes the animal feel more secure), can help to break the cycle of anxiety.

4 Sleep Disorders

Both cats and dogs can suffer from a few different sleep disorders. Narcolepsy can cause pets to collapse into a deep sleep, sleep apnea can destroy sleep quality and collapse airways, and REM behavior disorder can cause dogs to get up and run into walls in their sleep. Some fear that their pet suffers from night terrors, but this is most often a misidentified seizure disorder. Insomnia is by far the more debatable sleep disorder in pets than in humans. Cat owners often describe their cats as insomniacs, but this often stems from a misunderstanding of the cat sleep cycle. Cats are crepuscular, meaning that they are most active around sunset and sunrise. Some owners think that their cat should sleep at night and become concerned when that doesn’t happen, while others think that cats are nocturnal and fret over how much nighttime sleep their feline gets. In dogs, insomnia is rare but does occur. Both cats and dogs can benefit from getting more activity during the day and can be trained to calm down near bedtime. Insomnia is a bigger concern in older pets. If cognitive dysfunction affects an aging cat or dog, insomnia often develops, along with several other mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.

For smaller and more exotic pets, the issue is more complex. Research suggests that sleep tied to light cycles, or circadian sleep, may go back in evolution to fish. When zebrafish were altered to cause narcolepsy, the fish developed nighttime insomnia instead. But the fish only engaged in napping when left in a dark room, suggesting that light exposure affects them strongly. It’s thought that true sleep, which cycles through different levels of brain activity throughout, developed in a common ancestor of reptiles, birds, and mammals that lived 300 million years ago.

Treatment of sleep disorders varies.^[8] Narcolepsy is incurable but manageable. Sleep apnea may require surgery to fix an obstructed airway. Melatonin, acupuncture, and herbal medicines can help with insomnia, but vets will also sometimes prescribe a special diet high in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants. In older pets experiencing cognitive dysfunction, that will be treated in the hopes that other issues clear up along the way.

3 Alzheimer’s Disease

While aging can contribute to many other mental illnesses in pets, it can also bring its own specific concerns. Many pet owners will shrug off their companion’s strange behavior, especially as the animal ages, but sudden changes are a serious matter for older pets. It is normal for pets to slow down as they age and lose their sight or hearing. However, their mental capacity should not decline significantly. This can signal that a pet has cognitive dysfunction syndrome, or CDS, the sort of dementia that is particular to cats and dogs and which closely resembles Alzheimer’s in humans.^[9] Pets with this disorder may forget well-established routines, wander aimlessly and restlessly, become aggressive, or get lost easily. They may also forget people that they have lived with their whole lives and react as if those people are strangers.

What is extraordinary about CDS in cats and dogs is that Alzheimer’s-like diseases don’t appear in many animals. Scientists have long been frustrated by the lack of dementia symptoms in rodents and nonhuman primates. Researchers think this suggests that cognitive impairment may be a side effect of the long lives that our pets now experience. Since our animals enjoy better diets, environments, and medical care, they often live as long as they possibly can. Wild animals tend to be picked off quickly when they experience even minor impairments, such as bad hips or teeth. Any wild primate or rodent that did develop dementia would likely die before anyone took notice. One animal that may suffer dementia symptoms along with cats, dogs, and humans is the horse. Later in life, many horses begin to show the signs, but the MRI that could confirm the condition is expensive, and the anesthesia is dangerous to the horse. Many owners don’t want to go through the expense or risk their beloved horse for research purposes.

Treatment for CDS is focused on slowing the progression with diet and exercise. The supplement SAM-e is often prescribed in humans and animals for cognitive degeneration. It is also prescribed for managing pain, healing spinal cord damage, and to treat osteoporosis. Specially formulated diets that include antioxidants and fatty acids can help pets’ bodies fight off the onset. Similar to humans with early-stage Alzheimer’s, vets suggest that pets suffering from CDS get more mental stimulation and exercise. Whatever the treatment plan may be, it needs to be started early. Some pets will have a rapid onset and will lose much of their memory and function before their owners take notice of the problem.

2 OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder tends to be oversimplified in casual conversation. If someone likes things a certain way or cleans a little more than usual, people may label them as “OCD.” Cats also get this reputation for their meticulous bathing habits and finicky preferences. But, just as with people, OCD has much more to do with obsessions and compulsions than with quirkiness. In fact, OCD sometimes expresses itself in a way that makes things less neat and clean. For cats, it often leads to illnesses like trich and pica that are anything but tidy. OCD cats may also engage in loud, repetitive yowling and pacing. They may also rip apart our furniture and stop using their litter box. In dogs, the symptoms are much the same. But, like autism, some dog breeds are more prone to OCD than others. About 28 percent of US Dobermans have the disorder, and a study of their brains has shown similarities with brain scans of humans with OCD.^[10]

Treatment for OCD pets is like most mental health treatment. Vets first rule out other causes and then look closely at the behavior and environment it takes place in. OCD involves training humans as much as it does pets. Many owners will attempt to punish the behaviors, which increases the anxiety at the heart of the disorder and may make things worse. A hostile or unpredictable environment will make a pet more anxious. Confinement is a bad idea as well, since pets with OCD often get worked up when they feel trapped. Paradoxically, attention, treats, and play during an episode will also reinforce the behavior. The best approach is to remain calm, remove anything harmful to the pet, and observe covertly. Owners can often find the best way to help their pet just by watching and taking in the episode without reacting. Careful observation can often help people realize what it is that their pet needs to feel more comfortable and calm.

1 PTSD

Service pets are often recommended for people who suffer from PTSD and can be a huge help in their recovery. PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a response to a traumatic event in which serious harm was threatened or sustained by an individual. It features panic attacks, flashbacks, and other anxiety symptoms. Some people will go through terrible events and emerge unscathed, while others may go through a relatively minor event and come out with PTSD. There’s nothing unusual about this; it simply has to do with the way each individual processes stress. For pets, it is the same. Cats and dogs can develop PTSD from being abandoned at a shelter or during massive natural disasters. Dogs in particular often get it after military or police service.^[11] These dogs are often introduced to stimuli like gunfire and explosions in a controlled training environment, but the difference between training and reality is vast.

PTSD or similar disorders appear throughout the animal kingdom. Abandoned birds, especially parrots, show signs of the disorder. They pace, repeat haunting phrases, and call for missing family members. These birds are sometimes employed to give company and comfort to people who suffer PTSD. Rats have been exposed to traumatic events in laboratories to produce PTSD-like symptoms so that the disorder can be studied more thoroughly. Those with PTSD-like symptoms perform tasks more poorly than their more resilient or less traumatized peers, even after time has passed since the original event.

To help pets with PTSD, it is necessary to seek the help of a professional. Therapy is invaluable for helping pets learn to process their trauma and training them to respond to it appropriately. A tricyclic anti-depressant is often prescribed to ease distress, but it is also critical to give pets with PTSD a safe, secluded retreat where they can rest without worry. Play and attention are good passive therapies, but only if owners can keep calm and patient with their pet. Any anger or scolding can cause massive setbacks. However, with patience and therapy, pets tend to recover from PTSD well.

Renee is an Atlanta-based graphic designer and writer.

Have you ever dreamed of owning an exotic pet? Some people have lived that fantasy, keeping wild animals as companions. We’ve already told you some uncomfortably odd stories involving some of the strangest pets on the planet.

But the weird and wacky can give way to nightmares in the waking world. Unfortunately for you, if you have ever dreamed of riding around on the back of an unusual creature, this list reveals 10 times when those cherished companions have turned deadly.

10 Cassowary

The world’s most dangerous bird is the cassowary, edging out both the emu and the ostrich for the win. Although a cassowary is as tall as a person, the real threat is closer to the ground.

The bird has 10-centimeter (4 in) swords for claws on the end of its ridiculously powerful legs. A kick from a cassowary can kill you both by blunt force trauma and blood loss. So naturally, they are sometimes sought out by exotic animal collectors as pets.

In Florida, a 75-year-old man was a breeder of these birds until one of them attacked him in 2019. According to officials, he fell to the ground by accident and then the bird struck. The man was probably doomed from the moment he hit the ground as a cassowary can run up to 50 kilometers per hour (31 mph) and jump 2.1 meters (7 ft) into the air despite being flightless.^[1]

This isn’t the first time that a cassowary attack has made headlines. In 2012, a man was chased by a cassowary and cornered on a cliff above a pool of water in Australia. The bird then kicked him in the back, sending him rolling down the embankment into the water below.

He survived but with bruises and a ripped shirt. He hadn’t done anything to upset the cassowary other than being nearby, but it decided to attack anyway.

9 A Red Deer And Elk Hybrid

On his farm in Australia, Paul McDonald was killed by a hybrid of a red deer and an elk (aka a wapiti). His family had kept the normally docile animal for years before it attacked Paul in 2019.

The deciding factor in the sudden mood shift appeared to be mating season. The animal’s hormones were acting up. Red deer stags live as social animals for 10 months of the year, but for two months, they enter a period of “rutting” in which they display more aggression and other sexual behaviors.

According to research on wild populations of deer, violence is connected to changes in testosterone. So, both castration and social isolation are useful in preventing dangerous outbursts in the animals during mating season. Unfortunately, this animal became unexpectedly violent despite its relative isolation from other deer.

One morning, Paul had gone to feed the hybrid breakfast when his wife and son heard a commotion coming from the animal’s area as the beast attacked. His wife attempted to intervene, but she was injured by the animal.

Their son went to get help. After paramedics and police arrived, they treated the injuries and shot the hybrid. Paul died from his injuries, but his wife survived. She was moved to a hospital where she eventually recovered after several operations.^[2]

8 Hippo

In 2011, headlines were made when a South African man named Marius Els was killed by his pet hippopotamus, which he called Humphrey. The death was notable because Els and Humphrey had appeared in media and videos together demonstrating their seemingly friendly bond.

A video called “My Pet Hippo: I Love Humphrey” was uploaded to YouTube earlier in the year that Els was killed. He had rescued Humphrey as a calf from a flood. Around six years later, Humphrey killed Els by repeatedly biting and gouging him.

It was not the first time that Humphrey, the 1,179-kilogram (2,600 lb) mammal, had killed. He had previously destroyed multiple cows that had been owned by a business partner of Els.^[3]

Friends of Els reportedly knew that it was only a matter of time before the deadliest animal in Africa would off a person. Hippos kill more people each year than several more dangerous-sounding species combined, including elephants, lions, leopards, and rhinos.

Els was known for performing dangerous stunts with Humphrey, especially posing for photographs while riding on the animal’s back. At one point before Els’s death, Humphrey had attacked two canoers who passed too close to him on the river, forcing them to climb a tree for safety and remain there for hours.

7 Southern Pig-Tailed Macaque Monkey

Monkeys may not sound like the most dangerous animals in the world. We often associate them with funny behaviors like eating bananas and throwing feces. But the bites of monkeys can be deadly—especially in this case from Malaysia in 2019 when the monkey bit through a major artery.

A 72-year-old man and his son were both attacked by their pet monkey as they were attempting to get it to climb trees and retrieve fruit. It was the older man who died, although the son received an injury to his neck.

The monkey had been trained to gather coconuts from palm trees by going to something called a monkey school. In Malaysia, monkey schools teach a species called the southern pig-tailed macaque to retrieve these fruits to assist the local economy.

The monkeys have been trained this way for at least 100 years, and each one is typically taught at a school for 2–3 weeks before getting a job as a coconut picker. The training begins by creating an interest in coconuts by encouraging the monkey to play with them. Then it proceeds in stages during which the monkey is taught movements and command words.^[4]

The murdering monkey in question was older than the ideal age for these animals to begin their training, which may be why the schooling did not turn out so well for this monkey. The son discovered that his father was lying in their coconut grove and so went to investigate when he was attacked by the monkey as well.

A neighbor heard the screaming, and the son was rescued. But it was too late for the father. It is unknown whether the monkey mistook their heads for coconuts in need of harvest or if it was in a neck-biting mood for some other reason.

6 Black Bear

In 2009, a pet black bear named Teddy killed one of its owners. Despite the animal’s soft-sounding name, this was not a particularly cuddly murder. Kelly Ann and Michael Walz lived in Pennsylvania, and Michael had previously held a license as an exotic pet dealer. That license had expired by the time that his bear killed his wife.

Earlier, the Walzes had kept various animals in cages on their property. These included a lion, a tiger, a jaguar, a leopard, some relatively small savanna cats called servals, and the bear.

But even though Michael had received the animal permit, it was Kelly Ann who was cleaning the black bear cage one Sunday night when the accident occurred. To keep the bear occupied, she tossed a shovelful of dog food to one side of the cage while she cleaned the other side. The bear attacked her while she was cleaning.^[5]

Kelly Ann had been raising the bear for nine years—ever since it was a cub. Bear cubs are relatively easy to handle. But according to experts, any relationships that may be formed with a cub are destroyed when the bear reaches about four years old and reveals violent outbursts of behavior.

Bears have never been successfully domesticated despite attempts (especially in Russia). They are considered wild and unpredictable animals even if they have lived among humans for long periods of time.

5 Camel

Hypothetically, what would you give your wife for her 60th birthday? Jewelry? Flowers? How about a baby camel?

That was the birthday present that Pam Weaver’s husband gave her in 2007. Living in Australia, Weaver was an animal lover who had previously raised goats, kangaroos, emus, and rabbits.

Having a camel in Australia is not as strange as it may sound. Many wild camels have lived on the continent since they were brought there in the 1800s as pack animals. In fact, there are well over a million feral single-humped camels roaming the wilds of Australia as an unusual invasive species. They cause millions in damages to property each year and are a general nuisance.

The pet camel is believed to have knocked Pam Weaver to the ground and then straddled her body, killing her. Pam had raised the camel almost from birth, and it was just 10 months old when the tragedy happened. Reportedly, the camel had displayed erratic behavior before—such as straddling Weaver’s pet goat.^[6]

One expert stated that the strange behaviors were undoubtedly sexual in nature and that the young camel was attempting to engage in some type of mating behavior. Of course, the headlines wasted no time with their insensitive puns, declaring that the woman had been humped to death.

4 Crocodile

In January 2019, an Indonesian woman fell into an outdoor enclosure containing an illegally kept crocodile named Merry. The woman’s name was Deasy Tuwo, and she was the head of a pearl farm laboratory that produced beauty products. It was unknown what a crocodile was doing on the laboratory property because these creatures are not known for their beauty. But apparently, it was being fed like a pet.

It is believed that Tuwo fell into the enclosure by accident or the crocodile was able to leap far enough up the 2.4-meter (8 ft) concrete wall of the enclosure to snatch her. Crocodiles make powerful leaps using their tails to propel them almost entirely out of the water in which they are swimming.

In some places, taunting crocodiles by holding meat above the water and forcing them to jump to grab it is a popular tourist attraction called a “jumping crocodile cruise.”^[7]

By the time that Tuwo’s body was found, Merry had eaten one of her hands and most of her abdomen. To remove the dangerous and illegal reptile from the property, the police, the army, and conservation officials all pitched in.

It took dozens of people to organize and complete the three-hour operation to evict Merry the crocodile. She was then strapped to a flatbed truck and driven away to a wildlife rescue center.

3 Elephant

A man named Ram Lakhan Verma was a politician affiliated with a political party in India called the Bahujan Samaj Party. The official symbol of the party is the elephant. As a gimmick of sorts, Verma kept an elephant as a pet that he would use during political campaigns.

In 2003, the elephant began behaving wildly. So Verma brought him to the outskirts of the village and tried to calm him down. At first, it seemed to be working, but then the elephant became enraged again.

At that point, Verma lashed out and tried to strike the animal on the forehead with a sharp iron rod. Eyewitnesses reported that the weapon ended up lodged in the elephant’s ear. Verma then lost his balance and fell to the ground.

The panicked elephant crushed him to death and then ran back toward the village. Unfortunately for the skittish animal, the villagers were ready. They opened fire on the elephant with their guns and shot him over 200 times in total.^[8]

Did the massacre of their mascot hurt the chances of the political party?

Not so much. In the next countrywide election held in India after the death of the elephant and its owner, the Bahujan Samaj Party won the state assembly election with a non-coalition majority, the likes of which had not been seen in well over a decade.

2 Wildebeest

The gnu, a species of African antelope often called a wildebeest, weighs hundreds of pounds, and both the males and females grow large and intimidating horns. This did not deter one man in Indiana from keeping three wildebeests as pets: an adult male, an adult female, and a calf born to the adults.^[9]

In 2004, Klaus “Dick” Radandt was trampled to death by one of his wildebeests behind his home. The animal had been made safer to handle by cutting off most of its horns, but that turned out not to matter in the end. The coroner declared that the wildebeest had inflicted blunt force trauma to its owner’s head and chest, probably first by ramming him and then by trampling him.

What most likely set the wildebeest off on its murderous rampage? It was the beginning of the mating season. He may have been extra aggressive to prevent Radandt from being around his mate. Radandt and his wife also kept emus, reindeer, and other exotic animals on the farm where he was killed.

His wife discovered Radandt’s body after realizing that he had not come back from the barnyard for quite some time. Presumably, she did not react well when she discovered his body among their implausibility of gnus. Yes, a herd of gnus is called an implausibility. At least you got that fun fact out of this sad story!

1 Black Mamba Snake

In Putnam, New York, a couple was keeping around 75 snakes, including a black mamba, in their home. The black mamba is considered the second-deadliest snake in the world based on its venom’s neurotoxin power.

The snakes were not just roaming free among the cabinets and furniture, of course. They were contained in various glass aquariums and acrylic snake pens. Unfortunately, the locks on the black mamba’s enclosure were mysteriously open one day.

In 2011, the 1.5-meter (5 ft) venomous reptile bit owner Aleta Stacey on her forearm. The snake is known for its venom because nearly 100 percent of bite victims will die within 20 minutes if not treated.

Stacey died from the bite, and it appeared that she had not tried to call for help of any kind. There was some discussion that the death may have been intentional, but proof of this was not found. Her boyfriend discovered her body and then found that the snake’s cage was unlocked.^[10]

The possession of some of the snakes was illegal, especially because over half of them had venom known to be harmful to people (such as the cobra they also owned). In the end, the pile of snakes, including the black mamba, were turned over to the Bronx Zoo.

Alexander R. Toftness runs a science and history channel at https://www.youtube.com/artexplains and can be found on Twitter @ARTexplains for more strange facts.

Animals have an uncanny ability to know when a natural disaster is about to strike. Sometimes, they run away or hide, and their humans have no way of finding them in time to evacuate. More often than not, a pet owner has no choice but to leave their animals behind in order to save themselves.

At the end of every natural disaster – whether it be a flood, earthquake, tsunami, fire, or tornado, local shelters have to gather abandoned pets and attempt to reunite them with their owners. Many pets go unclaimed, and other times, people learn that their pets are not among the survivors. But in these next ten stories, pets are reunited with their owners in the most amazing ways.

10 Cadie the Cat

Judy Pugh was an elderly woman sitting in her home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama when a tornado hit. A wall fell on top of her, which held her body down as the rest of her house was sucked up into the twister. Neighbors called her name and lifted the wall off of her, and the storm continued to move on and ravaged the rest of the town. Pugh had three pet cats, and finding them after the storm was her only concern.^[1]

She managed to find two of the cats soon after. but sadly, she could not find her third cat, Cadie. Her family suspected that the 10-year old feline was carried away in the twister. Despite the fact that over a month had passed since the storm, she did not give up hope. Pugh continued to show up to the wreckage of her home and search for the cat every single day. A local TV station found Ms. Pugh standing by the wreckage and interviewed her. In the middle of the recording, Cadie the cat silently emerged out of the remains of Pugh’s house. He found his way home home after all.

Cadie was skinny, dirty, and could not even muster the strength to meow. Pugh walked over to him, gingerly scooping his tiny body into her arms. “I have everything in the world, now,” Pugh said as she began to cry. She cuddled her pet close to her chest. The TV microphone picked up the loud purring emanating from the tired cat.

9 The Farm in Plum Grove

Lester Morrow had no choice but to abandon his farm animals in Plum Grove, Texas during Hurricane Harvey. He was able to bring his dog with him, but they had no time to hitch a trailer behind their truck, and left behind several horses, donkeys, goats, and a potbelly pig named Patty.^[2]

When Morrow returned to his farm, he was recording the devastation on his cellphone, starting at the end of his long driveway. There was still a lot of water on the property, and he commented about the trash and debris that floated onto his land, when he saw in the distance that Patty the pig was so happy to hear Morrow’s voice, she was wading through the water to greet him. He immediately began sobbing, and recorded the animals who had survived the storm.

Many of his horses had broken legs, and over a dozen animals had died, but several of them managed to break down a fence and stand on the porch of the house in order to survive. He posted the video on YouTube to share with friends and family, and it went viral. He made a GoFundMe campaign to help his animals, and he raised $14,000.

8 Ban

On March 11, 2011, Japan was hit by an 9.0 magnitude earthquake that was followed by a tsunami that hit the northern part of the country. Three weeks after the disaster, the Japanese coast guard was still flying over the ocean to search for bodies that may be floating in the water. A mile away from shore, they spotted a dog walking around on top of the roof of a house that was floating in the water. Somehow, it had survived the tsunami. They lowered a man down from a helicopter to rescue the dog, who was later identified as “Ban”. The dog was wrapped in blankets, given food and water, and the rescue team carried him out on a stretcher.^[3]

Ban was reunited with his owner, who wished to remain anonymous in the media, so she wore a medical mask in the video of when they reunited to conceal her face. Ban still recognized her, and jumped up, wagging his tail and snuggling into her chest as she hugged him. “Thank goodness…I’ll never let him go,” she told the press.

7 Izzy

In 2017, wildfires spread across Santa Rosa, California, destroying thousands of homes in its path. The Weaver family was forced to evacuate, and they could not find their dog, Izzy, in time to escape. On October 10th, Jack Weaver and his brother-in-law Patrick Widen returned back to Weaver’s property to see if there was anything left. He began recording on this cellphone, and even from far away, he could see that their home was completely burned to the ground. Even though it was a long shot, they began whistling and calling Izzy’s name, in hope that he somehow escaped the flames.

Their disappointment was almost immediately replaced by joy, because Izzy the shaggy Bernese Mountain dog began walking towards them. Not only did he survive, but the loyal dog was waiting in the ashes of his former home for his master to return. It was totally unexpected, and the brothers began screaming out of joy as their reaction was captured on film.^[4]

6 Rica

Charles Trippy gained Internet fame by daily vlogging every single day for several years. He had continued to do this for so long, he even holds a Guinness World Record. When Florida was expected to be hit by Hurricane Irma in 2017, their town was ordered to evacuate. Charles and his family decided to take their chances by staying at home with their dogs and an electric generator. Since vlogging on YouTube is his job, Trippy recorded the experience of living in a town that was almost completely empty before, during, and after the storm.

Just as Charles and his wife Allie were driving home from with supplies from the hardware store to officially hunker down for the night, they spotted a tiny 4-week old kitten standing in the middle of the street. They got out and took her into their car and refused to leave the baby behind. That night, the amount of damage and flooding caused by the storm was worse than they imagined, and they were lucky that their house survived. They knew that if they had not rescued the kitten, there is no doubt that it would have died. They decided to name her Rica, which is short for Hurricane.

5 Junior

A tornado hit Granbury, Texas in 2013. A man named Jerry Shuttlesworth was living in a trailer park. Without a basement or a place to hide, he had no choice but to shut himself in the laundry room with his dog, a pitbull named Junior. The tornado directly hit his trailer, and Shuttlesworth described it like the home was being crushed down, and then sucked up. He flew into the air, and the wind flipped him upside down. He was desperately trying to hold on to Junior, but the tornado ripped the dog out of his arms.

The tornado dropped Shuttlesworth about 20 feet away, but the dog had completely disappeared in the twister. He laid on the ground with broken bones, looking up at the tornado. He described seeing debris circling in slow motion above his head, and it was so surreal, it was unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. After getting rescued and getting Internet access, Shuttlesworth posted a photo of Junior as a missing pet on Facebook.

By no small miracle, the local animal shelter found him. They called the news, and the best friends were reunited on film. He told the reporters that he was going to treat Junior to a meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken. “I think he flew through the air. Y’know, dogs weren’t meant to fly. But he had an angel with him.”

4 Snoopy and Abbey

After Hurricane Harvey, Texas shelters were filled to the brim with pets in cages, waiting for their owners to find them. In August of 2017, reporters rode along with The Humane Society of Dickinson, Texas. They were responding to phone call from people who were displaced from their homes, and pleaded for them to find their missing dog and cat. They arrived to the flooded neighborhood, whistling and calling the names of the pets, and found two dogs.^[5]

They were a poodle named Snoopy and English bulldog, Abbey. A kind stranger saw the two dogs swimming through the water together. She rescued them and brought them to her house, which was above the flood line. A man named Ryan Johnson showed up to claim Abbey and Snoopy from the shelter. He knew that they belonged to his father-in-law, who was having nightmares and losing sleep over the fate of his dogs. “He can finally sleep tonight,” Johnson said.

3 Odin

Ronald Handel lived on a ranch in California. He owned two Great Pyrenees mountain dogs who took care of their 8 goats. It was their job to protect the goats from predators in the California mountains. In 2017, when the wildfires were approaching in the distance, Handel scrambled to get his daughter and the dogs into the car so they could evacuate.^[6]

One of the dogs, Odin, refused to neglect his doggy duty. He laid down with the goats, and stared at Handel, as if to say, “I’m not leaving.” Handel waited as long as he could for Odin to come around, but they had to leave. He describes a horrific scene of the fire being so close behind him and his daughter as they drove, it sounds like a scene out of an action movie. They could see parked cars a few yards behind them filling with flames, and heard explosions from propane tanks, and the shriek of grinding of melting, twisting metal.

After the flames were put out, Handel and his young daughter did not expect to find anything when they returned to their property, but Odin was still there. He and the goats were slightly burned in a few spots, but he had managed to bring them all to safety, despite the fact that everything else around them was burned to the ground. He was limping, and very tired, so Handel knew that Odin had been on an adventure of his own to save his friends. If only dogs could talk.

2 Mei-Chan

After the 2011 tsunami in Japan, Fuji TV was filming the damage from the disaster, and they spotted a Brittany Spaniel. She walked up to them urging them to follow her. She walked over to an English Setter who was laying on the ground, clearly injured and unable to move. While the men sounded sad and concerned for the dogs, and they sent a message to “please help” to the Nippon SPCA, the witnesses failed to do anything to help the pups themselves.^[7]

The video made its way to YouTube, called “Stay together dogs”. It went viral, and people around the world were heartbroken and started sending money to the Nippon SPCA to help their rescue efforts. However, the video started a controversy, and the SPCA began to receive threatening phone calls from people accusing them of not working hard enough to save the dogs. Owners of dog food companies created raising money for their own campaigns to save the “stay together dogs”. People were very invested in the fate of the pups.

The dog’s owner saw the video, and recognized her dog, Mei-chan. The second dog, Lee-chan, also belonged to her. It took eight months for the Nippon SPCA to finally find Mei-chan, and she was reunited with her owner.

1 T2

In 2002, a retired K-9 police officer named Perry Martin adopted a ginger kitten and named it T2. Hurricane Jeanne hit Florida in 2004, and everyone lost their power, and they could not turn on the air conditioning in the summer heat. Martin started leaving his windows open to let some air in. The 2-year old cat climbed through a window and out into the hurricane aftermath. Martin searched for a long time, and notified all of the local shelters, but after enough time passed, Martin accepted that he would never see T2 again.^[8]

In 2018, a local animal shelter found a skinny stray cat and brought him in. The scanned him for a microchip, and called up Perry Martin. When they told him that they had the cat that had gone missing 14 years earlier, he did not believe them, but sure enough, he was reunited with his cat, who was now an elderly 16 year old. They have no idea where T2 was for 14 years, or how he managed to survive, but during media interviews, he looks very content curled up in Perry Martin’s lap.

Shannon Quinn (shannquinn.com) is a writer from the Philadelphia area. You can find her on Twitter @ShannQ

Many writers and artists had cats and dogs, and sometimes used them as inspiration for their stories or their paintings. The poet Emily Dickinson owned Carlo, a large dog that she took with her on long walks and that she mentions in a few poems and letters. The Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges had as a companion for 15 years a white cat, Beppo, to whom he dedicated at least two poems. The painter Edward Munch, creator of “The Scream”, had a dog that became so inseparable from him that he took him even to the movies. But other artists had a bit more unusual pets. Here there’s a list with some of the more exotic ones.

10 Heartwarming Stories Of Pets Who Survived Natural Disasters (Videos)

10 Frida Kahlo’s deer, Granizo

Frida Kahlo loved all kind of animals and had several unusual pets. In her famous “Blue House” in Mexico where she lived and worked, the famous painter kept several monkeys, cockatoos, parrots and an exotic dog of the Xoloitzcuintli breed — hairless dogs that, it is believed, were first domesticated by the Aztecs. Of the 143 paintings by Frida Kahlo, 55 are self-portraits that include at least one of her animals. But one of her most beloved pets was the deer Granizo (Hail), which posed with her in many photographs, used to sleep with her, and served as inspiration and model for one of her most famous paintings, “Wounded Deer” (1946), where she portrays herself as a deer with a human face.

9 Ernest Hemingway’s Six-Toed Cat, Snowball (or Snow White)

Not many people would think of Ernest Hemingway as a cat-person, but he loved cats and owned several of them during his life. When he lived in Key West, Florida, he received as a gift from a captain’s ship a cat that he named Snowball (or, according to other accounts, Snow White). The unusual thing was that the cat had six toes on each paw, because he suffered from a congenital anomaly called polydactyly. Today, several of Hemingway cat’s descendants, about half of them also polydactyl cats, live in his former house that was transformed into the Hemingway House-Museum.

8 Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Wombat, Top

The writer and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, perhaps the most famous member of the “Pre-Raphaelite” group in the 19th century, loved exotic animals. He was especially fascinated by wombats, those rare Australian marsupials. He adopted one that he named Top and let him sleep on the table during meals, to the horror and chagrin of his guests. When the pet died, he cried and wrote him an epitaph in verse. He also immortalized him in at least two drawings. Rossetti’s growing interest in exotic animals over the years culminated in the adoption of a llama and a toucan that he brought from South America. According to legends, he trained the toucan to ride on the llama with a gaucho hat and to gallop around the dining room table.

7 Charles Dickens’ Raven, Grip

The English writer Charles Dickens had a beloved pet raven called Grip, which he even used as a character in one of his novels, Barnaby Rudge (Edgar Allan Poe, who later reviewed Dickens’ novel, might have been inspired by it to write his poem “The Raven”). Dickens, who was fascinated by taxidermy, preserved his raven after its death, and kept the stuffed bird on his desk as a source of inspiration. After the death of Dickens, the stuffed Grip was sold at an auction, and eventually bought by an American collector. Today it can be seen in a museum in Philadelphia.

6 Lord Byron’s Tame Bear

Lord Byron most famous pet was likely his dog Boatswain, who followed him in several adventures and to which he composed an epitaph in verse. But he also had many other pets during his life, including a tame bear. The story goes that Trinity College, in Cambridge, where he studied from 1805 to 1808, did not allow dogs to be kept on the college grounds. Angry at the rules, Byron reportedly bought a tame bear at a fair, and took him to live at the college with him. Since there was no mention of pet bears in the statutes, the college authorities had no legal right to expel the bear or its owner. Byron walked the bear on a chain and treated it like a dog, and when he left Cambridge he took the bear to his estate in London.

10 Bizarre Ways People Have Been Killed By Pets

5 Flannery O’Connor’s Backward-Walking Chicken

Before becoming famous as the author of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and other brilliant short stories, Flannery O’Connor was briefly famous as a 5 year old child, but for owning a chicken that could walk backwards. The animal and the young future author were recorded in a Pathé newsreel in 1932, a film that can still be seen today. Her fascination with fowl continued throughout her whole life. Besides chicken, which she used to dress in clothes she made herself, Flannery owned several beloved peacocks (her favourite animals), and reportedly also a toucan and an emu.

4 Charles Baudelaire’s Bat

Charles Baudelaire, the famous French author of Les Fleurs du Mal, lived at the Hotel du Grand Miroir in Brussels from 1864 to 1866. One day as he was walking in the hotel courtyard, a bat fell to his feet. Worried that it might be ill, he picked it up with a handkerchief and took care of the animal as he recovered, feeding him with bread and milk. The bat slept upside down in an empty cage that had before housed a canary, and Baudelaire enjoyed caressing it, to the horror of his young maid, Nelly. When the animal was fully recovered, Baudelaire promised to release it back to the crevices of Sainte-Anne chapel across the street, where it seemed to have resided before.

3 Alexandre Dumas’ Vulture, Diogène (previously Jugurtha)

Alexandre Dumas (father), the author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte-Cristo, was another writer who enjoyed having exotic animals. In his country estate, besides five dogs and a cat, he also kept three monkeys, two parrots, a golden pheasant and a vulture. He purchased the vulture at a cheap price from a local in Constantine, Algeria, but bringing him to France cost him quite a bit more. He named the bird Jugurtha, in homage to the ancient emperor of Numidia who was born in the same city (called Cirta at that time). However, when at the writer’s house, the vulture took an empty barrel as his preferred residence, and so it was renamed Diogenes, in homage to the Greek philosopher who reportedly lived inside a barrel as well.

2 Henrik Ibsen’s Scorpion

In 1865, the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen was still unknown and was living in Rome, surviving on a meagre scholarship. There he started to write “Brand”, the first play that would make him famous. As he wrote the play, he found a scorpion crawling on the floor, and decided to keep him at his desk as he wrote, inside an empty beer glass. As he later told it in a letter to a friend, “During the time I was writing Brand I had on my desk a glass with a scorpion in it. From time to time the little animal was ill. Then I used to give it a piece of soft fruit, upon which it fell furiously and emptied its poison into it —after which it was well again”. Of course, it could be that the animal was simply enraged at his fruit diet, as scorpions are predators who normally prefer to eat insects.

1 Princess Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy’s Lion, Goldfleck

Almost forgotten today, Princess Vilma Lwof-Parlaghy was quite famous as a painter in the late 19th and early 20th century. Perhaps her most famous painting is her 1916 portrait of Nikola Tesla, the only portrait for which the inventor posed during his life. Born in Hungary, Vilma lived in several cities including Paris and Prague, where she married and quickly divorced a Russian prince, earning her Princess title, then she relocated to New York in 1909, taking residence at the Plaza Hotel. She loved animals and once took a fancy at a lion cub that she saw at a circus. When the circus owner refused to sell her the cub, she asked her friend and Civil War hero Daniel E. Sickles to get it for her. The circus owner could not refuse to give the cub to a war hero, and he then gave it to the Princess. She called him Goldfleck and lived with him and several other animals at her suite at the hotel. She occasionally took him for walks on a leash in Central Park. The animal unfortunately didn’t live long, becoming ill just two years later and dying in 1912. He is the only lion interred at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery.

Top 10 Exotic Pets That Killed Their Owners

About The Author: Tomas Creus is the editor of Contrarium and the author of the book “Our Pets and Us: The Evolution of a Relationship”.

Many of us own and love our pets, even with the occasional moment of mischief, perhaps a scratched piece of furniture or ruined rug every now and then, we’re able to look past that and relish the keeping of various animals, typically dogs or cats, though sometimes more exotic or niche choices, as companions.

While the animals on this list can be very lovable and none of them are evil by any means, even possibly kept properly without many problems by the right, experienced and well-researched keeper, for an average, perhaps impulsive and uninformed pet owner, through no fault of any of these animals but simply due to their instincts or difficulty of care, they frequently end up becoming a living nightmare.

10 Human Mental Disorders That Affect Pets Too

10 Chameleons

Chameleons are fascinating animals to most people and it’s no surprise that they’d be a beloved animal in the pet trade, their reputation among keepers, however, isn’t as bright as their charming, expressive colouration and cute looks would suggest.

While not dangerous to the owner, they’re considered an advanced pet, and frankly, not ideal pets to begin with due to their specialised needs that vary wildly from species to species, they require a unique and difficult to maintain environment, most don’t enjoy being handled and may be distressed from interactive keeping, and even the most social, healthy, and least demanding individuals, a keeper must deal with the problems of them being fragile animals with complex lighting and nutritional requirements that may become ill and die in one’s care very suddenly.

Beautiful and mesmerising, chameleons should only be kept, if at all, by advanced keepers who don’t mind observing a pet rather than playing with one, though, as is the case with nearly all of the animals on this list, if one doesn’t know all of the information listed here about a specific animal off the top of their head already, they’re not ready to keep one and likely won’t be for years.

9 Parrots

Highly social and intelligent, in fact, one of the smartest and most social animals on the planet, parrots generally require a ton of time and attention, and, contrary to popular belief, are incredibly affectionate and must not be kept in cages for an extended period of time, not display pets, their social needs often exceed that of cats or dogs.

While many of their traits sound wonderful and may very well be that, the truth is that keeping a parrot can be very difficult and the main problem is that most go into it without knowing that. Complex diets with plenty of foods that may harm or kill the bird, a huge time investment for most species that may only be plausible to someone working from home, incredible intelligence and vastly varied personalities that need to be understood, a generally high level of noise, and a need for space, playtime, attention, and the minimising of stress means that these wonderful birds sadly often only live to half of their generally multiple decades long lifespan due to owner neglect and being kept in a cage. If you can find a way around these issues, however, parrots may make wonderful, though still somewhat difficult pets.

8 Old World Tarantulas

While to some, or, let’s be honest, many people, the notion of keeping a spider as a pet would already be enough to land them on this list, the fact is that, for someone who’s not afraid of them, many spiders make excellent and incredibly reasonable pets, easy to take care of, fun to interact with even if most can’t be handled, and usually met with excited, terrified, and other extreme but ultimately fun reactions by friends, many, such as jumping spiders or New World tarantulas are fantastic pets.

Old World tarantulas, however, that is, tarantulas that are native to places other than the Americas, as opposed to their New World cousins from the Americas, are incredibly different and much less reasonable. While New World species are often calm, even calm enough to be handled with some behavioural knowledge without even risking a bite, these spiders aren’t so friendly when they come from elsewhere. While Old World species can’t kick irritating hairs, they’re generally much faster, a lot more defensive, and may even have more dangerous venom, which, while not typically deadly, is sure to keep most people away from these hairy giants that aren’t as gentle as their American relatives.

7 Highly Venomous and Constrictor Snakes

Keeping a lethally venomous snake or a constrictor snake may obviously be a bad idea to most readers here, similar to reading about someone advising you against keeping a shark or a lion, the shocking truth is that many people apparently don’t instinctively feel this way, as these animals, especially in the 20th century but, to an extent, even today, have been popular impulse-bought pets for a lot of people around the globe.

While the idea of bragging about keeping a snake that could easily kill a person may sound impressive for a moment, the reality has been a lot grimmer to many who have attempted it, or, surprisingly, sometimes to the animals themselves. Aside from fatalities brought about by misinformed keeping of these animals with either a lethal bite or the size and muscle strength to strangle an adult respectively, many have also been de-fanged or barely interacted with or even fed due to fear of the animal. A common practice in the past that has thankfully been disappearing, these are pets no one aside from licenced experts should attempt keeping.

6 Goldfish

After defensive spiders and potentially lethal snakes, goldfish may seem like extremely mundane pet choices, often gifted to children as easy first pets, but the sad reality is unfortunately that most goldfish given to children really do end up with the fate of being flushed down the toilet way before it was natural for them, even ignoring the fact that a properly kept goldfish would be far too large for a toilet to begin with.

While they’re considered rewarding animals in the fish-keeping hobby, goldfish are difficult to take care of, have fairly specific water requirements, certainly need a proper tank rather than a bowl, and may keep growing pretty much indefinitely in the right conditions, also one of the longest-living fish species that’s kept, they may live to be decades old when cared for properly, a condition which sadly isn’t met by most adult keepers and certainly not the children they’re irresponsibly given to.

5 Giant Centipedes

The same thought that many felt with tarantulas may very well rise up again with giant centipedes, and, fittingly, the two are quite similar, except for the fact that giant centipedes are like Old World tarantulas with every potentially bad aspect multiplied.

The description “giant centipede” is enough to make many people shudder, yet these interesting yet terrifying creatures are, regardless, fairly popular in the exotic pet trade, and while they can be taken care of and kept relatively easily if someone’s careful enough, they’re massive with sizes going above a typical human hand, incredibly strong for their size, possess an incredibly painful and potentially dangerous venom that they deliver through legs modified into fang-like appendages called toxicognaths, with incredible speed and terrifying aggression that puts all tarantulas to shame alongside it.

Never to be handled, these are purely display pets for the most extreme arachnid keepers, though, if you follow their care guide properly, purchase a suitable and escape-proof container to keep them in, and make sure they don’t dry out, they may make decent albeit still terrifying pets.

4 Reptiles

Certainly a very broad category of animals, reptiles as a whole certainly deserve a spot on this list, though, before reptile lovers gasp in horror, it’s not that they can’t be kept properly, it’s that, most of the time, they’re not. While incredibly exciting and beautiful animals, many keepers fail to give them a happy life in captivity, and, even worse, a study finds that three out of four keepers fail to keep them alive for more than a fraction of their potential lifespan.

Frequently mistreated and not too hardy, with many specimens also wild-caught and riddled with health and temperamental issues alongside the potential threatening of the species in the wild, lizards have complex care requirements, require special bulbs to give them proper heat and lighting, and they’re another pet people get without proper research beforehand, often for their children, that sadly fail to live long or happily.

3 Ferrets

Adorable, intelligent, curious, highly social, and an animal that’s sometimes trained, bred, and used specifically for hunting, these wonderful creatures may live to be a decade old and are actually the domesticated form of polecats, also related to weasels. Certainly unique and with a massive number of good qualities, they also come with equally massive challenges that keepers sadly fail to account for a lot of the time.

They require a degree of time investment comparable to parrots, training, frequent exercise and playtime that may take up hours of your day everyday, with a demanding, carnivorous diet, extremely high expenses, large space requirement, and a potentially aggressive temperament if not trained or interacted with properly, these animals can be wonderful in the right hands and live a very happy life as highly rewarding pets, but their cuteness and exotic and approachable nature frequently fools people into getting something they’re simply not ready for.

2 Birds of Prey

The dream of having a pet owl, eagle, or falcon has captivated many who rightly find them to be quite incredible, but, they are one of the worst pets one could keep not really because the animal is necessarily a danger to the owner, but because they should not be kept as pets and will not thrive or even survive.

Aside from claws that may still potentially harm you, these animals require the most space out of any animal on this list, they’re incredibly difficult or perhaps impossible to keep properly, require frequent and incredibly intensive care, expenses that most people could never afford, may suddenly die even when their keeper somehow, miraculously manages to do everything right from a variety of relatively unavoidable causes, and simply will not be happy in captivity.

There’s a reason these animals require permits and may only be kept by the most knowledgeable experts, as incredible as they seem, they’re best to admire from afar.

1 Iguanas

Iguanas, particularly green iguanas, are another example of frequently kept animals that simply should not be kept by most people. While reptiles, and chameleons specifically were already covered, iguanas deserve the spot the most out of any for being incredibly popular, yet incredibly problematic and generally a horrible experience both for the keeper and the animal.

While some describe keeping perfectly calm iguanas, exotic angel pets, the majority of the time, iguanas are antisocial, aggressive, refuse to be handled or even interacted with due to the amount of stress it causes for them, while they have access to tools that leave very serious marks on anyone they wish to lash out on, which happens to be anyone in their vicinity whenever they feel stressed, so, a lot of the time, combined with the fact that they live for decades, are so large that they’ll often take up a room in a house that one will specially need to have others construct or do it by themselves, and if all of that, even the risk of frequent hospital visits, haven’t deterred a potential keeper, the massive costs of care and keeping just might.

10 Incredible Pets That Returned Home After Years Of Being Lost

About The Author: Just a curious person with a passion for all things scientific, mysterious, and strange.

Whether you want to be that guy at a party with an iguana on your shoulder, or you just can’t live without an adorable little monkey, odds are, you’re into exotic pets! The exotic pet trade is global, and it includes many cute and interesting animals.

Of course, not everything available is necessarily a good pet. Some are incredibly difficult to care for, while others are just plain dangerous. These ten critters may have seemed like a good idea at first, and there are places where you can own them, but you absolutely shouldn’t.

Top 10 Exotic Pets That Killed Their Owners

10 Prairie Dogs

Prairie dogs are adorable rodents found throughout the Great Plains of the United States. They are often seen standing outside their burrows as lookouts for predators. Prairie dogs are a type of ground squirrel, though they don’t have long bushy tails. Regardless, they are cute little critters, so many people have taken them in as pets.

This is probably the worst thing you can do, but not because of potential damage to your home. Prairie dogs are social creatures that live in family groups of between 15 and 26 individuals. These groups are called “towns,” and they can span a large area. Inside their groups, prairie dogs engage in grooming and oral contact called “kissing.”

Depriving a prairie dog of its social grouping means you will have to take the place of dozens of prairie dogs. Taking one as a pet means you’ll have to spend several hours each day grooming and caring for your prairie dog. This may be fun at first, but eventually, the little furball will see less and less of you (in most situations).

Some people have taken in prairie dogs and managed to care for them properly. However, it’s recommended you take in more than one. Caring for them is difficult and time-consuming, so keeping these critters is a responsibility few can fulfill. Ultimately, it’s far better to leave them alone and watch them from afar.

9 Fennec Foxes

Fennec foxes are one of the few foxes taken in as pets, and they are best known for their large ears. They are the smallest of all the canids, weighing less than 3 lbs. (1.3 kg) at most. Their large ears, small size, and adorable features make them desirable as pets (They look like Pokémon). Still, you need to know what you’re getting into if you adopt one.

Fennec foxes are crepuscular by nature, so they are most active at twilight. Even if they are tamed, this isn’t likely to change, so you’re getting a pet that would undoubtedly wake you early in the morning or keep you up at night. They also love to dig and have been known to create large holes, looking for insects to eat.

It is illegal to own Fennec foxes in most places, so you’ll want to check with your local laws to make sure you can have one. If you cross that hurdle, you’ll need to feed your pet properly, and regular dog food won’t cut it. It can become a large part of their diet, but they’ll need more.

You have to supplement their diet with fresh fruit, vegetables, and freshly killed rodents. They will live longer in captivity (14 years instead of 10), but they require a lot of specialized attention and accommodation. They should not be adopted lightly, so do your research and prepare accordingly if you insist on having one.

8 Servals

A serval is a species of wild cat found throughout the non-rainforest regions of Africa. They evolved to have the longest legs of any cat (relative to body size) and are often spotted with a golden-yellow coat. They are gorgeous animals, and while they look somewhat like a domesticated cat, that’s not what they are.

Some serval cats have been tamed, but they aren’t a domesticated species. Despite this, they have held a place in human history for quite some time. Their representation has been found in 4,000-year-old Egyptian art. They were often given as gifts from Nubia, but today, they’re a part of the exotic pet trade.

Servals are illegal to own in many places, but some parts of the world welcome them as pets. The biggest problem with keeping them as pets is that people think of them as a sort of exotic cat. In a way, they are, and they aren’t, but the biggest difference between the two is the Serval’s need for a large area to explore and hunt.

They aren’t going to be content sitting on a bed in your apartment — these animals need to stretch those long legs! They require special (expensive) diets and often need specialized veterinary care. They also mark their territory and don’t adjust to litter boxes well. Ultimately, it’s far better to adopt a standard-issue housecat and leave servals to their natural environment.

7 Capybara

The capybara is the largest rodent species, and it looks a lot like a giant guinea pig. Like everything on this list, they are cute and fascinating animals, which can be adopted as pets. Of course, they’re on this list, and you should avoid adopting them for various reasons.

Like prairie dogs, capybara are social creatures, and they usually move about in groups of 100 individuals. Some live in smaller groups, but they are never alone, and they should never be left alone. They’re rather large, but saying these are the largest rodent species may not paint the right picture.

When they think of rodents, people tend to picture mice or other small animals, but these guys can grow to two feet in height (0.6 meters) and weigh in at 170 lbs. (77 kg). That’s significantly larger than most dogs, and because these are social animals, you can’t keep only one… you’re going to need to get several.

Capybara are legal to own in very few places, and if you do keep them, you’re going to need ample space. They will need a pool of standing water and around 12 feet by 20 feet (3.6 to 6 meters) of space per pair of capybara. They may be cute, but keeping them as pets is costly, challenging, and inadvisable.

6 Kinkajous

Kinkajous, also known as “Honey Bears,” are small frugivorous mammals native to Central and South America. They are related to raccoons, and while they look a bit like primates, they aren’t related to them. They live in the trees and are nocturnal, so they don’t interact with people in the wild.

They are hunted in their natural habitat for the exotic pet industry, though it can be difficult to purchase one. Still, you can get kinkajous as pets in some parts of the world, but like everything on this list, you shouldn’t unless you have a lot of time, money, and space.

Kinkajous may be kept as pets, but they are rarely considered tame. They tend to scratch and bite their keepers in zoos and in homes, so they don’t make for great pets. Their saliva carries dangerous bacteria, which can cause severe and potentially deadly reactions in some people if they are bitten.

Aside from the potential danger, it’s difficult to house a kinkajou in an environment suitable for them. They live in dark rainforests, so they have light, humidity, and flora requirements that can be difficult to maintain. You can get them as pets, but it’s best to leave these creatures in their native habitat.

5 Sloths

Sloths have become popular critters, thanks to the plethora of photographs and videos shared online. They are adorable little slow-moving animals, and pretty much anyone who sees one immediately wants to adopt it as a pet. They are actually legal to own in many places, leading people to believe they could be good family pets. Of course, they’re on this list, so they aren’t!

Sloths may seem cute, so they don’t seem threatening, but they are wild animals. Sloths haven’t been domesticated, and they need to remain in their natural habitat. They thrive in the canopy of tropical rainforests and don’t do well in captivity, even if you take great care of them.

Despite appearances, sloths can be dangerous to people. They have large sharp teeth, and they aren’t afraid to use them. A bite can deliver a bacterial danger to a human, but more than that, they are strong. Pound for pound, a sloth is three times stronger than an average person, so an aggressive sloth can be dangerous.

For the most part, a sloth makes for a lousy pet because it’s stressful for the animal. These aren’t creatures accustomed to humans, so they don’t adapt well to captivity. While it’s true they will live longer if well cared for, they are best left to trained keepers or their natural habitat.

4 Monkeys

There’s no denying that monkeys are adorable. They look like furry little babies you can play with and enjoy. Even Ross had one on Friends for a little while, though David Schwimmer said how much he hated working with it. Monkeys are cute, but they don’t make great pets.

It is legal (in some places) to adopt a monkey, and there are several options. You can legally adopt a capuchin, guenon, tamarin, marmoset, macaque, or squirrel monkey. Ross had a capuchin, which is the most common monkey pet. They are also often used as animal actors, so you’ve probably seen them acting cute on TV.

The reality of owning a small monkey is far different than whatever makes it out of the editing process on a TV show. They can be expensive to buy (around $7,000 and up), and caring for them is also costly. They require diapers, special food, specialized veterinary care, and a lot of attention.

Monkeys can become aggressive and dangerous to you and your family. They can’t be kept in a small home either, as they require a large area to jump and climb. Keeping them in the house is often seen as cruel, so if you want to see a monkey, the best thing you could do is head to your local zoo.

3 Chimpanzees

If your interest in primates extends beyond monkeys, you may decide to bring a chimpanzee into your home. These members of the Great Ape family are our closest animal relatives, so they would make excellent pets, right? No, no, and a thousand more noes! Unfortunately, keeping a chimp is not a good idea.

Regardless, you can keep them in pets in some areas of the world, though it’s illegal in most places. Like monkeys, they require diapers outside their enclosures, as they’ve yet to master toilets. If that doesn’t dissuade you from getting one, they can live for up to 60 years in captivity and require a massive amount of time, money, and attention.

If you’re still on the fence about getting a chimpanzee as a pet, you need to understand that these creatures are unpredictable and incredibly strong. A chimp can weigh up to 154 lbs. (70 kg) and stand as much as 4 feet 11 inches (150 cm). They are also around 1.5 times stronger than a human.

Chimps have been known to become enraged and maul humans. They have the strength to rip a person’s face off. Literally. They are dangerous to strangers and their caregivers, so do as the good Dame Jane Goodall advises, and do not try to keep a chimpanzee as a pet!

2 Tigers

If you watched Tiger King, you’re probably aware of the sad fact that there are more tigers in captivity in the United States than there are in the wild. It’s unfortunate but true, and the numbers are staggering. Around 5,000 of the big cats reside in the U.S., while only an estimated 3,900 are in the wild.

Despite being the largest cats in the world and an apex predator, people have been keeping tigers as pets for centuries. Tigers are, in no way, domesticated animals. They can be kept as pets in loving environments, but at the end of the day, you’re bringing a 600 lb. (272 kg), 11 foot (3.3 meters) monster of teeth and muscle into your home.

While many tigers live in the States, they are illegal to keep in most places. The biggest problem with keeping a tiger is that they need a large area and a lot of food to remain healthy. You can’t take them to the local vet either, so you’re looking at a massive expense that is always hungry.

Captive tigers eat around 9-18 lbs. (4-8 kg) of raw meat five days a week. On top of that, they need to roam in a territory of up to 40 miles (64 km) for males. Females can work with a smaller area, but most people can’t accommodate either. They can be incredibly dangerous, and they can and will eat you should they choose to do so — there’s not a lot you can do to stop that.

1 Bears

Bears are the largest land carnivore roaming the world today. While they do look adorable, they are insanely dangerous. Depending on the species, some bears can grow to massive proportions, and their claws are like small blades attached to all of their paws (which are huge). Despite this, there are plenty of people who have kept them as pets over the years.

Caring for a bear is as difficult as it sounds, but some people do it. They can very rarely make good pets, but only to certain people in very specific situations. Most countries do not allow their citizens to keep bears as pets, but some areas permit special licenses. Still, it’s not advised to take a bear home with you if you’re not a professional keeper… even then, it’s inadvisable.

Bears are large animals weighing up to 1,500 lbs. (680 kg), and they grow quickly. A bear cub can grow into an adult in very short order, and caring for them is not easy. They require a lot of food and a large enough place for them to roam about. They aren’t going to be happy in a small enclosure.

If your pet bear decides it doesn’t like you anymore, that’s pretty much it. In the war between human and bear, the human doesn’t come out on top. These are massive beasts with sharp claws, huge teeth, and the strength to tear a person apart.

10 Uncomfortably Odd Stories Of Exotic Pets

Healthcare is always a hot button issue. Some people have it, some can’t afford it, but everyone needs it. So it becomes a little crazy to think that, astonishingly, your beloved, furry, little pets might be getting better medical treatment than you. How does that happen, exactly? Well, since you asked…

10. Vets Make Fewer Referrals

How many doctors does it take to heal a broken bone? If the patient is human, then your General Practitioner will refer you to a different specialist depending on which bone is broken, who (after sending you to a radiologist for x-rays) will turn around and send you to a physical therapist. That is, assuming nothing out of the ordinary is involved. Specialists and GPs alike often refer to the huge variety of education they require to practice medicine, and how impressive and expensive that is.

It is impressive, except that veterinarians have to study the same magnitude of subjects, multiplied by all the many various species of animals Americans like to keep as pets. Simply studying all the various mammals would be challenging enough, but vets routinely provide care to reptiles, amphibians, birds, and even exotic zoo animals replete with claws, jaws, and venoms that make an accidental needle stick at the free clinic seem downright playful by comparison. A given veterinarian will see any number of different species every day, each requiring everything from the standard array of vaccinations to complicated surgery, as well as screening and treating diseases unique to a specific subpopulation of a particular animal—all within the same clinic.

In fact, even if a particular pet or ailment requires a specialist—there are veterinary radiologists, pathologists, and even oncologists (sadly, animals get Cancer too), as well as behavior specialists, psychologists, and nutritionists—they will often be housed in a larger specialty clinic together, so as far as the pet-owner is concerned, they get to talk to the same doctor throughout the whole ordeal. Your dog’s doctor is usually your dog’s dentist, so you seldom get charged for a consultation only to discover that you’ll have to schedule another appointment with a separate vet somewhere else.

Given the crazy variety they must be prepared to handle, it would be understandable if vets came to work with outsized egos, but…

9. Nurses Are Treated as Equals

Do you know the difference between a physician and a nurse? The difference can actually depend on what state you live in, since the various states have different regulations stipulating what nurses can and can’t do. That, and the fact that every nursing specialty and level of education, from an entry-level RN to a Nurse Practitioner who has a freaking doctorate (but never call one “doctor” in earshot of a physician), is expected to carry the same generic “Nurse” title.

Meanwhile, in animal care, there are no nurses per se; Veterinary Technicians (Vet Techs) are perhaps the closest equivalent, but since they provide everything from patient-facing services (check-in, measuring vitals, STUFF) to assisting doctors during surgery, they don’t have to put up with near as much “just a nurse” bullshit. So while physicians grow increasingly whiny in the face of NPs and their ilk providing a growing array of primary care services (in the face of a physician shortage, no less), Vet Techs are treated as indispensable, working alongside Veterinarians in clinics with a greater focus patient care than on their relative status and acclaim.

Come to think of it, self-centeredness is the opposite problem most vets have…

8. If Anything, They Care Too Much

Ever heard of compassion fatigue? That is what happens when you are so emotionally engaged, empathetic, and, well, compassionate toward others (especially those in distress, i.e. patients), that you develop mental and emotional problems. It is also part of the reason why veterinarians have among the highest occupational suicide rate of all professionals: roughly one out of every six veterinarians has contemplated or attempted suicide.

When someone decides to become a vet, it is almost always because they are passionate about animals; not every doctor likes people, but you can bet that every vet has at least one pet. So while veterinary schools are increasingly incorporating training to fight compassion fatigue, medical schools are beginning to address the pervasiveness of the so-called “God Complex” among physicians, reminding them to be more relatable and accessible to their patients.

Certainly, physicians care about their patients—but while physicians enjoy a deferential attitude from their patients, vets seldom get such appreciation from theirs. To continue practicing, vets simply cannot let ego get in the way; among physicians, arrogance is hazard that patients simply have to learn to deal with.

Of course, even the most compassionate physician may not be totally committed to patient health…

7. Every Patient Matters

The sad truth is that, at the hospital, you will receive different care depending on whether you are black or not. America’s long, complicated history of race and inequality means that, unintentional or not, clinicians’ prejudices show up in their care they deliver. When it comes to looking after pets, on the other hand, it doesn’t matter if the vet self-identifies as a Cat Person or a Dog Person; there are just too many varieties of “pet” for vets to get hung up on petty biases.

If a person brings a sick or injured pet in, the stakes couldn’t be higher for vets, and they will perform honest-to-God surgery on a goldfish if that is what it takes. But while Cedric the Goldfish can count on fish-whisperers to come to his rescue in the fight against the Big C, minority patients can’t even count on their doctors to administer as much pain medication as white patients get—even when the patients are children.

You might think that the doctor and patient being the same species would give human clinicians a leg up on their veterinary counterparts, but it turns out, the reverse is true…

6. Empathy Rules the Day

Humans make terrible patients. In the hospital world, patients scam for drugs, misrepresent symptoms, forget key elements of their medical history (like what prescriptions they take or whether they are allergic to latex) and generally present a major obstacle to actual healthcare delivery.

Veterinarians, on the other hand, never have to navigate the nuances of doctor-patient communication, mainly because the average pet can’t communicate using words. So instead of cutting through the bullshit that human patients are constantly shoveling through the hallways of hospitals everywhere they seek care, vets have to learn to read body language, distinguish vocalizations ranging from barks to squawks to whimpers to discern how the pet-patient is feeling, and find ways to mitigate fear and discomfort without being able to employ cold logic or statistics on procedural success rates.

Ultimately, it means that for vets, bedside manner isn’t just what separates competent doctors from great ones; it is a key, complex skill set they all need to master to even have a chance of treating their patients.

5. Insurance is Optional, Not the Root of the Whole System

Yes, pet insurance is a thing. It is especially popular among breeders, who either own purebred dogs and cats for “showing” and specialized training, or who hold genetic lottery tickets like race horses whom they can pimp-out for a lucrative “cover” charge. But unlike in human medicine, where insurance is a federally-endorsed disaster whereby consumers are insulated from the real costs of care, enabling prices skyrocket without oversight or transparency, and ensuring America outspends all other developed nations on healthcare without any apparent correlation in quality or health outcomes—pet insurance works pretty much how it is supposed to.

That is, pet insurance is only necessary for animals with chronic conditions or who otherwise require extensive veterinary care, but isn’t needed for the average pet. That is probably why only 1-3% of pets have any insurance policy, while the Affordable Care Act aspires to get every American citizen insured, lest they go broke trying to pay out-of-pocket for a single visit to the hospital.

Vets are expensive to see, just like doctors—it is just that the system surrounding animal care hasn’t been polluted by bureaucratic interference, partisan grandstanding, and corporate money-grubbing to quite the same extent that human healthcare has.

4. Less Litigation, More Trust

Odd as it may sound, people tend to really trust their veterinarians. Animal docs tend to pay much less for malpractice insurance, because, well, they don’t get sued as often as medical doctors. When they say they’ve done everything possible to save Fido but he dies anyway, people are generally a lot more willing to accept that, unlike when they learn that their doctor or hospital provided anything less than a miracle cure for their self-destructive eating and exercise habits or chronic oldness.

American healthcare is unaffordable in part because clinicians need malpractice insurance to even see patients, driving up the cost of their service; they also wrack up the volume of services—which increases costs—because defensive medicine entails ordering magnitudes of tests and repeat visits, looking at every conceivable medical possibility before actually diagnosing or treating, just to make sure patients have no basis for saying they didn’t receive sufficient care. So while veterinarians pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand—depending on what sort of animals they see more of—medical doctors treating homo sapiens pay insurance premiums costing tens of thousands of dollars on the low end.

Bottom line: as a profession, veterinary doctors are more trusted than medical doctors. That comes in handy when it comes to things like disease control, because…

3. Everyone Gets Vaccinated

Lots of animal boarders—that’s doggy daycare—will straight-up refuse to let an animal onto the premises if it doesn’t have its shots. Vaccinations are standard order in the animal care universe, because nobody wants to see nasty viruses mutating and jumping from pets to people and wreaking havoc on the world any more than they want to relive the end of Old Yeller.

There is no nonsense about contradicting medical science with the brilliant preface, “As a mother, I’m concerned about—”. You have a pet? You are getting it vaccinated. Unless—and this is really the only plausible exception—you adopted, in which case, you can bet the agency helping you adopt will make it all too clear that your new family member was already vaccinated, saving you the trouble.

And speaking of distractions missing from animal care that make it just ever so practical compared to human care…

2. Birth Control is Non-Controversial

Birth-control is one of the most common services people get from their vets. Pet owners and vets alike recognize that everyone and everything wants to reproduce—but, in light of limited resources and all, probably shouldn’t do it. In the interest of the health and welfare of the animal—along with the pressing, obvious need to control the stray population—birth control services are standard order, for both male and female pets. It isn’t awkward, it isn’t debated, and it isn’t expensive.

Yet while The Price is Right’s Bob Barker was able to turn “Get your pets spayed or neutered” into his trademark sign-off, you (unfortunately?) never see Wheel of Fortune ending with Pat Sajack reminding viewers to take the pill or get a vasectomy, even though human populations are just as critical—if not more so—than pets’. Try walking into a hospital and asking for some basic reproductive services, and see how far you get before someone reminds you what Jesus wants from your genitals.

The inarguable reality of pet populations is that there simply aren’t enough safe, clean homes to take proper care of all the domestic animals that would exist without some form of birth control—and quality of life is as important as protecting life itself, because while death is unavoidable, suffering doesn’t have to be.

But this attitude, yet again, sets vets apart from their medical counterparts, because…

1. They Acknowledge that Death is Natural

Nothing creates drama in a medical TV show like someone pounding on the chest of an unconscious patient, cursing the heavens and screaming things like, “Don’t you die on me!” Although this may be cartoonish misrepresentation of real medicine, it is sadly reflective of the general attitude held by most of the fine folks treating humans. Namely, Death is the Great Enemy, and any and all action must be taken to fight back against the Dark Infinity, no matter the cost (financial, emotional, physical, ethical, etc.).

In human hospitals, death is never an option: it is literally illegal in almost every state for doctors to even consult, much less intervene with an eye to ending a patient’s life, even at the patient’s request.

But remember how veterinarians struggle to cope with compassion fatigue? That is because they are actively concerned with the holistic wellbeing of their animal patients, and frequently have to make a professional judgement as to whether a patient’s quality of life has reached a point where death is a more compassionate, humane option than any more invasive interventions to keep them alive. What is worse, they often have to explain this reality to distraught pet owners who aren’t ready to see goodbye, even if it means an end to their pet’s suffering. And, contrary to any concerns about desensitization, euthanizing animals is never easy.