In general I'm not bothered by animals eating other animals. That's what animals do. All the biz about domestication and "pets" seems like a wooby net of rationalization. Cats are predators and kill things all the time: mice, cockroaches, birds et al. It's no fun to be prey, of course, and at least in the wild the mice have a scampering chance.

I'm not bothered by animals eating other animals. I am an animal who eats other animals. But I think you're mistaking reasoning for rationalization. You admire gators? Great. Fascinating wild animals they are. They're not domesticated. You think they ought to be able to kill? Sure. They seem designed to do so. They don't seem designed to need your agency.

Massachusetts (of course) has some of the most restrictive pet owning laws in the nation. Because that's what we do, regulate everything. [link] It's our gift.

For purposes of possession, MassWildlife groups animals in the following categories:

Wild animals, for which a permit is required;
Wild animals exempt from MassWildlife permitting requirements; and
Domestic animals (which include some kinds of animals not typically categorized as livestock or fowl, but which MassWildlife considers to be biologically domestic in nature).

Because everything is regulated, some of our regulations seem to make little sense. For example...

In Mass., you can keep:

One-humped camel

Green iguana

Vietnamese potbellied pig

Burmese python

Ferret (non-breeding kind)

(Ferrets are, I believe, a relatively new addition to legal-in-Mass pet category).

In Mass., you cannot keep:

Two-humped camel

Alligator

Wolf-dog hybrid

Prairie dog

Monitor lizard

I've no bloody clue why the one-hump camel is legal and the two-hump camel is not. Here's a [link] with pictures. It was a side-link to an article about an arrest of a man who'd been abusing his girlfriend and her children, oh, and he'd been keeping a black bear in her house for about a year. [link] (reg required for that one, see bugmenot).

I know prairie dogs are illegal to keep as pets in Massachusetts. I know this because my new housemate-to-be has one. (I've been reassured that they don't smell, so that's actually all I care about.)

Edit: heh, x-post

I'm picturing cows with fangs, wings and claws. And tails with a stinger on the tip that delivers a deadly venom.

I'm sure there's SOMETHING in Australia that fits this description.

So I worked on something last week which involved a lot of salary information. I've now had it twice impressed on me how sensitive that information is. Which I totally get, but... apparently people missed the fact that a whole lot of salary information goes through me every month. This is not new territory. Were there a temptation, I'd already know how to resist it. As it is, I don't give a rat's ass. They make tons more than me -- hello, they're doctors!

It was a side-link to an article about an arrest of a man who'd been abusing his girlfriend and her children, oh, and he'd been keeping a black bear in her house for about a year.

Oh yeah - that was in the Globe magazine. I knew I'd read something recently that listed the animals you could and couldn't keep. And, yeah, what's up with the camels?

I love on the way to my sister's in North Yarmouth, ME, that there's a farm with llamas. They make me smile, but I have no idea what noise I should make out the window at them (ala mooing at cows).

I know prairie dogs are illegal to keep as pets in Massachusetts. I know this because my new housemate-to-be has one.

It's apparently legal in this part of the country, 'cause that's how everyone caught the monkey pox last summer.

A llama once vomited on my cousin (in Maine, no less).

you're on your own. Which I admire.

Yup, me too. Where I grew up there is a lot of BLM and/or Nature Conservancy land with little to no infrastructure. Which I like.

Of course, the fact that people are idiots is also why my dad can be part of 2 volunteer S&R teams for the region, and has had at least 1 callout a week since May. (Some get cancelled before he actually has to go anywhere, but still.)

What would these labels say? "Object is not immune to the laws of physics"? Will someone who doesn't understand gravity actually comprehend a warning label?

Near my parents' home is a big transformer box with a warning label that shows a frowny lightning bolt electrocuting someone: [link]

I can't help but look at it and think "Do not tamper with the Krell machine!"

It's apparently legal in this part of the country, 'cause that's how everyone caught the monkey pox last summer.

You sure you just don't live near Gus?