Ahhhh this one is so hard!
1) Horses - They were my first animal love, I was one of those “horse girls” all the way through high school. I was part of a riding program in preschool & that kicked it all off. I begged for ages after that until I got a couple years of riding lessons in middle school (which ended bc my trainer had to have surgery & stop doing lessons for a long time). I really miss being around horses, it’s been years.
2) Hedgehogs - My first pet of my own was my hedgehog Lily. Getting her started my interest in pet care, animal nutrition, and animal enrichment. I still love hedgehogs because they’re just so...particular to themselves & generally you have to adapt your behavior to their personality and have patience (and treats!) to win them over. And most of them are just sleepy lumps who are pretty content to just hang out on you in a sleeping bag & that is absolutely my kinda pet bc I’m lazy.
3) Harpy eagle - I got totally obsessed with them in college for a little bit, lmao. They’re just so cool looking and I love massive murder birbs. I think they were the first murder birb I fell in love with (cassowary and bearded vultures both followed though). I still kinda hope I could handle one someday, even though they would definitely look at me like I’m lunch, but that is extremely unlikely to happen. I’ll settle for seeing one in person at a zoo, which I’ll still have to travel for. (Last I looked, less than 10 zoos in the US had them.)
4) Hermit crabs - You probably knew this one was coming! These guys just kinda hit on a couple of my weak spots. When I first learned about them, it was from an article discussing how they’re all wild-caught, and it also mentioned how few people know about their care needs & did a brief summary of some of what their actual needs are. I was caught & started reading some more. And then I was REALLY caught because oh god, this entire group of animals that gets horribly abused as a common standard in the pet industry, and so many people don’t know how to care for them, and they live a fraction of the time they should, and I NEED TO SAVE THEM ALL. Almost immediately I got the opportunity to take in a couple from a classmate & then a third from a neighbor. Once I had them, I realized they hit on a couple other perfect categories as pets for me - they don’t need or want handling, but once they settle in, they don’t mind being watched & photographed. And they need a varied diet & can eat TONS of stuff. I really love feeding these lil guys. And now that I’m so attached, I just think so many other things about them are really neat too, like how they can regrow limbs & such.
5) Cats - Another that was probably expected! I tried to think of whether I had anything else for this last one, but....nope, cats. Big cats, medium cats, little cats. I loved big cats especially when I was younger, partly influenced by my dad (who had his classroom covered in big cat decor when I was in elementary school). There’s so many cat species in the world & I like how similar they all still are, despite their major differences from adapting to different regions & niches. And now I have my domestic kitties & I just...really enjoy having cats! I do wish I had more energy to do more things with my girls though, and I still desperately wish they would get along so I could keep Ditto & keep doing fun things with her. She’s just such an interactive cat in a way that Ebony isn’t. I hope that someday I’ll meet another cat similar to her (but maybe better at getting along with other kitties) so that I can have an Adventure Cat. (This would actually be my most likely reason for going to a reputable breeder - to get a super outgoing & moderately active cat who would be down for going hiking & such.)
Thank you for asking, this was fun to think harder about!! :D ♥
