Greg Jordan: Do your homework before bringing a new pet home to live
Feb. 16—I've met politicians, people who witnessed historical events and even celebrities, but I'd never met a ringtail lemur. That changed last Friday when I went to the Rotary Club of Princeton to get a picture.
Ringtail lemurs are primates from the island of Madagascar. Now, I've seen them on channels like Animal Planet and cartoons like "Madagascar," but I had never seen one in person until I went to that Rotary meeting.
The owners of a local pet shop called Snook's Wings and Things brought one of their lemurs, a female named Annie, to the meeting so the Rotarians and local officials could see her.
Well, Annie's a pretty amazing animal.
Except for apes like gorillas and chimpanzees, I had never seen an animal with hands. Annie can grab a grape or a piece of kale as easily as we hold an apple or a sandwich. And she's adorable.
Imagine a cross between Baby Yoda on that show "The Mandalorian" and a raccoon.
I learned that lemurs can live 35 years and that they have two tongues, one for tasting and a rough one for grooming.
I can imagine having one as a pet, but it would be a long-term commitment.
And I was warned that they're a handful. Just picture a 2-year-old child all wired up on coffee. If I had the time and energy for it, I could seriously consider having one even though I'm more of a dog person.
A long time ago, I learned that you have to do your research whenever you think about getting any kind of pet.
For instance, each breed of dog has its own temperament, size and needs. Dogs are individuals, too.
The Mercer County Animal Shelter has a room where you can meet a dog or cat you're thinking about adopting and see whether you, well, click.
I have a California King Snake named Alice, after rock star Alice Cooper, and he's about 5 feet long.
I did a lot of research before I decided to buy him. All my sources said that king snakes tend to be good beginner snakes for people new to keeping them. They have good temperaments if you handle them correctly, they don't grow to huge lengths like some pythons and they don't require expensive housing.
Even more important is the fact that king snakes are not poisonous.
I've heard of people keeping poisonous snakes, but there's no way I'd get one. Alice has bitten me four or five times, usually after he mistakes my thumb for a mouse.
If Alice's bites delivered poison, I would have been in serious trouble.
No matter how careful you are, you're going to be bitten sooner or later.
The same applies to "bug" pets like tarantulas and scorpions. A lot of people think tarantulas are deadly, but that's not the case. Their venom is lot like the venom bees and hornets use. Most scorpions in the pet trade such as Asian Forest Scorpions don't have serious venom, but there are species packing dangerous stings.
Once again, do your research before buying a pet and make sure the animal is something you can take care of and safely handle.
Make sure you know how big a cute baby animal will be when it's an adult.
You want to make your pets happy, so make sure you can feed and house them the right way.
I'll admit that I'd love to see how my family would react if I arrived at my sister's house with Annie perched on my shoulder. Karen, my nephews, my mom and everybody else would love her.
I'm not sure how the family dog, Walter, would react to Annie or how Annie would react to him. I doubt it would be love at first sight. And my nephew Alex and his fiancé MacKenzie have a new dog, Mable the Beagle.
Young Mable howled when she saw one of those robot vacuum cleaners for the first time, so I don't think she would like Annie right off the bat.
That's just one of the things I'd think about before I brought Annie to a family reunion.
Greg Jordan is the Daily Telegraph's senior reporter. Contact him at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
