When the animals are actually domesticated (born and raised around humans, docile temperament, properly socialized), and when people and the animal are unlikely to get hurt if things go wrong. Adopting a wild frog is a hell of a lot different than adopting a freakin' bengal, let alone a cougar.
Large wild animals are beautiful and mysterious and not something people get to experience every day. I understand how awe-inspiring it could be to live with one, and how privileged it could make a person feel. But if you want a pet cougar/lion/lynx/tiger, go down to the SPCA and get a damn housecat. It can't eat you, but it sure thinks it's a noble and commanding beast, prowling its territory. Isn't that good enough?
Also, the animal's needs have to be met. Even if a line of cougars were to go through several generations of domestication and eventually end up no more likely to maim their owners than, say, a cow... you can't keep it in a one-room city apartment, y'know?
Sorry, re-reading, I realized I put up kind of a muddled sentence. I was using them as an example of domesticated animals that still come with a lot of issues. They're cross-breeds between domestic cats and (wild) asian leopard cats. Thanks to genetics, they've got a host of behaviours that make them challenging housepets, and a lot of them end up put down or surrendered because their owners didn't anticipate the energy or the destruction that goes with them. The further a bengal is from a leopard, the more "typical" housecat behaviours it will have, and the fewer wild ones, but it's a process that takes several years and a lot of very selective breeding.
I probably should have said: there are some wild animals (like frogs) that are less trouble than thoroughly domesticated ones (like cats), and even less-thoroughly domesticated ones (like bengals). And then there are animals which should be born with big flashing "NO! TOUCH ME AND I EAT YOU!" signs on their foreheads.
My bengal is 5th generation, IIRC, which I think is the minimum for her to be considered domestic, and she definitely does have a few issues. I love her dearly, but yes, she's quite challenging, and I suspect if we didn't have her she would not be considered adoptable because of her various issues (territorial peeing, SCREAMING when frightened like when we've had to move, scratching when frightened, and territorial peeing really deserves being mentioned more than once). However, my friend has a bengal who is more like 9th generation, and he doesn't seem to behave any differently than a mundane housecat. Which I suppose agrees with what you just said in a long-winded way.
They can be very rewarding. She takes care of me when I'm sick and wouldn't leave my side when I was pregnant. Because she's so neurotic and freaks out easily, I was worried about how she'd react to my son when I had him, but she's been so good with him. She taught him the right way to pet her early on, and she yells for help when he grabs her tail, instead of scratching as she might do to someone else.
Of course, bengals require so much attention. They're really not for everyone. As I said, she startles and freaks out easily. And pees territorially. If she sees another cat out the window even, she pees on things.
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Large wild animals are beautiful and mysterious and not something people get to experience every day. I understand how awe-inspiring it could be to live with one, and how privileged it could make a person feel. But if you want a pet cougar/lion/lynx/tiger, go down to the SPCA and get a damn housecat. It can't eat you, but it sure thinks it's a noble and commanding beast, prowling its territory. Isn't that good enough?
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I probably should have said: there are some wild animals (like frogs) that are less trouble than thoroughly domesticated ones (like cats), and even less-thoroughly domesticated ones (like bengals). And then there are animals which should be born with big flashing "NO! TOUCH ME AND I EAT YOU!" signs on their foreheads.
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Yeah, I have a sort of guilty fascination with them. I don't think I could actually get one, for a lot of reasons. But they are beautiful.
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Of course, bengals require so much attention. They're really not for everyone. As I said, she startles and freaks out easily. And pees territorially. If she sees another cat out the window even, she pees on things.
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Your original comment had me wondering if you thought a bengal was just a tiger, lol, but clearly you're aware of the breed!
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