I’m insatiably curious about all kinds of things, so when my Pet Connection co-writer Kim Campbell Thornton suggested we tackle pet trivia for our column this week, my only problem was narrowing it down to a number of fun facts that would actually fit in a newspaper!
Here are a few:
1. Cats rub on people, other cats and even other animals as a sign of affection. They may do it most insistently when we are about to feed them, but they also do it just to say, “Hey, I like you.”
2. In mythology and folklore around the world, dogs are associated with the afterlife. They were believed to act as guides to the underworld and howl as a warning of impending death. The jackal-headed Egyptian god Anubis was a protector of the dead.
3. If you want a long-lived pet, consider a bird or reptile. With good care, leopard geckos can live 20 to 30 years, and cockatoos and Amazon parrots can live an average of 50 years, with some living much longer.
4. Lionfish are popular to keep in aquariums, but if released into the ocean, they can wreak havoc on reefs, eating up other fish that are important to reef health.
5. According to a 2013 survey by the American Pet Products Association, 32 percent of dog owners take their pets with them in the car when they are away for two or more nights.
6. By the numbers, freshwater fish are the most popular American pet, with 145 million found in U.S. homes. If we’re talking mammals, cats are most numerous: They number 95.6 million. Dogs are nipping at their heels with 83.3 million.
Read the rest, and more, here!
