On Thu, 5 Feb 2004, Damien Sullivan wrote: > On Wed, Feb 04, 2004 at 06:37:36PM -0800, Philip Hart wrote: > > > I resist the pet idea for Ds - imagine getting a dog knowing it would > > live not 8 years but say 8/40 years = five months. > > People keep pet rats, mice, crickets, and fish. Short life is not a barrier. > It may change the dynamic, but people can keep one cuddly (or pretty) creature > after another. Rats live three years or so, mice live a few years, guinea pigs five years. I assert (no evidence) that on average people grieve more about the loss of a burmese cat or a fox terrier than a rodent. My feeling is that fish are decorative, and most owners wouldn't notice if a similar-looking one was swapped for their pilotfish. Maybe arowanas have personalities - I don't know. Birds live a long time and have personalities to boot. I apologize to cricket owners for slandering their pets. > > As for pets on Earth, I think guinea pigs started out as food animals in the > Andes. > > -xx- Damien X-) >