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What's the strangest animal you've ever touched?

post #1 of 70
2/24/11 at 5:01pm
Thread Starter 
I got to pat a baby kangaroo. I was at the learning center in a zoo. They were trying to train the kangaroo to be used to people, so they could use him in an educational program with some local schools. He was kinda afraid of us, and stayed very close to his trainer. He was cute!
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post #2 of 70
2/24/11 at 5:20pm
Well I had a beautiful rat snake wrapped around my neck this evening...
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post #3 of 70
2/24/11 at 5:33pm
If it is strange, I don't touch it.
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post #4 of 70
2/24/11 at 5:45pm
I got to pet a king snake when I was a kid and lamas and they spit, and I used to catch frogs and toads all of the time.
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post #5 of 70
2/24/11 at 5:59pm
My ex-husband
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post #6 of 70
2/24/11 at 6:05pm
Forget the exact species, but it was a particularly weird looking sea cucumber, and it splooged on me when I picked it up. Impossible to get off your gloves!
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post #7 of 70
2/24/11 at 6:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
My ex-husband
Oh I love it!
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post #8 of 70
2/24/11 at 6:18pm
It's a tie between a skunk and a baby bison.
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post #9 of 70
2/24/11 at 6:25pm
Oh I dunno depends what you class as strange, I've stroked snakes,alpacas and even eagles they were amazing and heavy
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post #10 of 70
2/24/11 at 6:26pm
Probably a Bighorn sheep in Banff Park
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post #11 of 70
2/24/11 at 6:50pm
Hmmm.... bats raised in captivity - part of an education program at the local science center... They are really cool. Their fur is very soft and their wings are leathery - as you would expect.

And an albino python... a BIIIG one!
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post #12 of 70
2/24/11 at 6:58pm
Dead or alive?

Alive: A sting-ray.
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post #13 of 70
2/24/11 at 6:58pm
Not a fair question, I used to work at a zoo.

Sea otters, penguins, harbor seals, baby giraffe, elephants, hippos, zebra, bald eagle, red panda, are just a few I've interacted with and touched.
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post #14 of 70
2/24/11 at 7:56pm
A baby crocodile
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post #15 of 70
2/24/11 at 8:52pm
There was a zoo where I lived when I was little (http://www.biopark.co.jp/en/overview.html) that had capybaras and wallabies running loose, and visitors were allowed to interact freely with them. So I touched capybaras and wallabies all the time! They also had llamas, alpacas, vicunas, etc., but they had handlers with them because they weren't very nice. So you had to ask the handler if the animal was in the right mood to be petted or not. And there were squirrel monkeys and marmosets, too. I don't think such a concept would work in the U.S., but in Japan, if you get bitten by a zoo animal, it's your own fault!
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post #16 of 70
2/24/11 at 10:42pm
Haha, too many too say! But maybe the weirdest is a leech, but thats not really weird, its just... I dunno haha.
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post #17 of 70
2/24/11 at 11:14pm
I've touched several "exotic" animals, but the biggest thrill was scratching a rhino behind the ears. He kept batting his eyes and pushing against my hand for more.
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post #18 of 70
2/24/11 at 11:41pm
Oh, yes, I forgot. . .there's an elk farm near here and sometimes we go scratch the buck through the fence. During rut he's in a bad mood and will charge the fence, but the rest of the year he seems gentle and welcomes the scritches. The does won't come near us. There are bison, too, but they won't come close enough to the fence to be scratched.

I also one knew someone who had a baby alligator---that's a bad idea, I don't think there are many people who should have baby alligators and there should be stricter rules about who's allowed to sell them and who they sell them to---but she did have one (it didn't live long, of course ) and I did handle it fairly regularly.
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post #19 of 70
2/25/11 at 3:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
I also one knew someone who had a baby alligator---that's a bad idea, I don't think there are many people who should have baby alligators and there should be stricter rules about who's allowed to sell them and who they sell them to---but she did have one (it didn't live long, of course ) and I did handle it fairly regularly.
You just reminded me of a story I read in the newspaper tonight - it's worth a read

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...20035457.shtml
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post #20 of 70
2/25/11 at 3:14am
I don't know. I've touched Koalas, Snakes, Kangaroos, Lizards.. not really unusual!
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post #21 of 70
2/25/11 at 3:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
My ex-husband


I held a baby Alligator when we went to the Everglades

Oh and i touched the Dolphins at Seaworld as well!
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post #22 of 70
2/25/11 at 3:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosiemac View Post


I held a baby Alligator when we went to the Everglades

Oh and i touched the Dolphins at Seaworld as well!
Oh yeah I've touched a dolphin too - they feel amazing!
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post #23 of 70
2/25/11 at 4:01am
I've Touched a stingray and also a full grown bison, he sneezed right after i touched him and scared the heck outta me. I wasn supposed to be as close as I was.
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post #24 of 70
2/25/11 at 4:13am
I petted a Camel once.
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post #25 of 70
2/25/11 at 7:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
My ex-husband
Oh Carolina

I would say, for me it was my nephew's Tegu lizard, it is about four to five in length and man, those teeth!!!!! Beautiful lizards though.
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post #26 of 70
2/25/11 at 8:47am
I've never petted anything I'd consider strange - mind you I'll hold spiders and scorpions and consider that normal.

More unique and uncommon would be a pair of okapi a few years ago. They're very friendly and I'm sure were hoping I had a snack. While it really wasn't set up so that you could pet them, they came over and stretched up for me. I suspect they have a keeper there with long blonde hair and glasses. The pair had a calf back in '09.
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post #27 of 70
2/25/11 at 8:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by WellingtonCats View Post
Oh yeah I've touched a dolphin too - they feel amazing!
Like a hot dog, LOL. . .

Yeah, I've been to SeaWorld and touched the dolphins and the stingrays. Wow, I'm remembering all kinds of odd animals now!

There's a picture of me feeding the giraffes at the zoo when I was little, but I don't remember it. Does that count?
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post #28 of 70
2/25/11 at 10:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
Forget the exact species, but it was a particularly weird looking sea cucumber, and it splooged on me when I picked it up. Impossible to get off your gloves!
LOL, I thought they were the coolest things when I first started diving! The fascination wore off pretty quick. In Guam, the islanders used to wrap that sticky stuff on their feet to protect them when they walked on the reefs to fish. Just a little trivia thrown in.

I once went swimming with jellyfish...on purpose lol. In Palau, there is a freshwater lake that is full of jellyfish. They have been there for centuries and have lost the ability to sting. From what I remember, it is the only place on the planet this particular species is found, so the lake is protected but you can snorkel there if you get permission and are very careful. At sunrise, they all come up from the bottom so we went there at sunrise. It was beautiful! You really didn't have to try to touch them because they came up all around you and bounced off you trying to get to the surface. They felt so weird, like they weren't really there.

Here's a few pics:



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post #29 of 70
2/25/11 at 12:03pm
Oh yeah, you guys are reminding me a dolphin and stingray too!
I picked up a sea cucumber, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to at Marine World cuz it was in the same area where you can pick up the starfish and so I thought it was okay until an employee schooled me, whoops
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post #30 of 70
2/25/11 at 1:33pm
Uhm, ew... I'll stick to flipflops, thanks! Yeah, I had heard about those, but never seen em in person like that, how neat! The strangest thing is that they are AFAIK the only vegetarian jellies that exist. Instead of catching fish/eggs/etc that floats by in their tentacles for food, these survive by absorbing nutrients from the algae that lives in their bodies.

Pretty sure that officially makes them the laziest animal in the world, having no predators and just having to float in the water under the sun for food. Makes a tree's life seem stressful.
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