dream pets, documentaries and all things animal

It's not your fault I hate ads! I don't do streaming services, I don't think they'd be worth the money for the amount I'd watch, I never watch You-Tube, it really annoys me and Disney ought to be banned for crimes against Winnie the Pooh, sorry if that upsets you, I know to some its akin to blasphemy.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I am sorry for the frustrating TV experience.

I am subscribed to Disney+ so I don't have to put up with chunks of ads and recaps. But if too pricey and inconvenient for you, then no problem.

You can also find great nature themed content on Ted Talks and YouTube, Amazon Prime and Netflix streaming services, Ted Talks and Youtube (where you can skip the long, chunky ads), particularly by the likes of David Attenborough, big cats, rainforests and marine life. 

I'm sure I would enjoy those NAT Geo programes, if they weren't infested with adverts, follwed by recaps of the last chuck of programe, it ends up were you have about 20 mins of actual programe, with the rest of the time taken up with adverts and recaps. It's one of the reasons I prefer terrestial TV and non commercial channels, I just get so frustrated.

Hergé said:

Fantasy pets would be something like a capybara or tapir, I have a great fondness for manatee but they are a bit impractical as a pet.

Capivaras are encroaching in lots of the waterway-connected areas of my city now and it is quite common to find them wandering down the cycle paths near the rivers and canals.

They are pretty mellow creatures and don't seem fazed by humans at all. I would be tempted to have one as a pet too, but I don't have the sort of habitat for it to live in yet. They are about the size of a beagle so are not too hard to find space for most of the time.

Manatees are a personal favourite of mine - I support one of the charities here in Brazil that looks after them in the wild and visit them about once a year to visit. They are so lovably lazy and trusting. There is an option to feed the babys in the nursing pen at the charity and to hold the pup while someone feeds it from a bottle is amazing.

I'm quite tempted to give some of my time to the charity to work on their infrastructure so I can spend more time with them.

Good shout on your favourites!

Thanks for letting me know about Dog Impossible. I don’t currently have access to National Geographic as I don’t watch a lot of TV. I have a TV licence and am subscribed to Prime at the moment but usually switch to Netflix when there are a few things I want to see. It will go on the ‘to watch list’.

Since I was a small child I have had a fondness for tigers. However, they are unpredictable at best and naturally solitary. Of the big-ish cats the cheetah is probably the best bet for a companion animal, though you would need a great deal of open ground for exercise. Cheetahs, while not as social as lions, tend to form alliances in the wild, usually of siblings, so are definitely more sociable than most big cats.

Hello ArchaeC, and thanks for sharing your thoughts. I too am amazed by how technology has advanced so much (e.g., drones, camera traps etc.) and can now capture such marvellous moments of nature in mind-blowing detail. I personally prefer watching shows where animals display affection, care and loyalty to their family and friends (and try to skip past/avoid the more graphic hunting/killing content when I can). Though natural and realistic, the violence still disturbs my dreams :( 

I am touched to hear you enjoy such a meaningful and happy relationship with your 11-year old dog . Your endeavours to always ensuring he feels happy, comfortable and engaged sounds inspiring, and I am sure your dog always appreciates your company, commitment and care .

As you mentioned you were interested in canine behaviour, you might enjoy Dog Impossible, a Nat Geo TV series where the super patient, wise, empathetic dog trainer Matt Beisner works with hyper anxious dogs to inspire greater confidence, better social and self-soothing skills when interacting with different people and dogs in different environments. It is a great show for dog lovers to watch, for entertainment value, feel good vibes or finding new ways to enrich their own dogs lives.

I would love to watch the TV series on the Orang Utan jungle school and the blue planet series when I get the chance. They sound incredible!

Hello CatWoman, thanks for telling us about the Winter Watch and Super Vet programmes. They sound super cool, fascinating and would love to watch them when I have the time.

Big cats would make awesome pets if you own a huge garden, farm, or fields where they can roam free. I think you would love some of the following Nat Geo films about big cats:

-Wild Cats of India - the renowned Bangladeshi photographer (who used to work for the BBC) Sandesh Kapoor explores forests, desserts and villages in India to photograph their local cats in the wild (e.g., Bengal Tiger, Fisherman Cat, Indian Desert Cat, Clouded Snow Leopard etc.).

-Return of the Clouded Snow Leopard - Sandesh Kapoor and his team of animal sanctuary workers search for 2 clouded snow leopard cubs Roona and Koota they released into the wild, to catch up and check how they are doing. Plot twist: they find 2 NEW leopard cubs on the way and dedicate themselves to nourishing and equipping them for release into the wilderness, like they did with their predecessors. 

-Frozen Kingdom of the Snow Leopard - Set in the perilous mountains of Tibet, this film follows a loyal mother snow leopard's tenacious efforts to protect her cubs from all dangers at any cost (including threatening males who want to slaughter the cubs and mate with the mother, so he can spread his genes and secure his own legacy), and prepare them for life's challenges.

We are a couple of mugs!

I've been well trained by my cats!

Oh yes, tapirs are adorable! They seem to be such gentle creatures!

I met a French Bulldog puppy earlier, she was out for her very first walk and was loving sniffing around the forest, her ears were HUGE, they looked adult sized, I hope she grows into them.

I'd like to have some big cats, but I don't think I could afford that much cat food and as or the size of litter tray needed....no, I think not. But I would love to give a male lion a good ear rub, get my hands into it's mane. I ust love cats and all animals really.

I watched Winter watch on BBC the other week, always lots of fascinating wildlife on there. I used to watch a programe about an baby elephant rescue, another one with rescue chinps and yet anoher with rescue baby orangutans, they're so naughty. I liked watching The Super Vet on C4 too

Animals are terrific and captivating to watch live or on TV. I like your choice of wildlife and nature programmes and would watch more if I had the time. Cinematography and videography using drones and camera traps have enabled viewers to experience some incredible moments of animal behaviour. However, I am rather put off by so much graphic material of animals killing their prey for food, and material with animal cruelty inflicted by humans. I know it is natural and important to show these moments, but I can’t bear watching that sort of thing and usually close my eyes and cover my ears. The TV series about Orang Utan jungle school was great and Blue Planet was an extraordinary series.

My favourite animals are cheetahs, lions, tigers, leopards and snow leopards, elephants, orang utans and mountain gorillas. I also like hippopotami and my dream pet would be a baby mountain gorilla, but it would definitely be a dream as the gorilla wouldn’t be happy living in a house.

I have a dog who means the world to me. I have had him since he was a puppy and he is 11 years old now. I endeavour to make his environment happy, comfortable and as interesting as possible, allowing him choice and freedom where practical. Canine behaviour is one of my interests so I enjoy learning about new ways to enrich my dog’s day and keeping up to date with some research into matters relating to his happiness. In reality, it is my dog who has trained me, he is a manipulater, which sounds negative if applied to a human, but as a dog, he has learned how to get me to to do what he wants, without the underhand streak that can afflict humans, and that is all fine by me.

We used to have lots of pets, but I can't think of any really funny stories about them. We had a marine aquarium once with a puffer fish who would occasionally puff up like a spiky ball, which looked quite funny. We also had a garter snake, which was quite a fascinating creature - we read that they eat small whole fish and worms, but we just fed it whitebait because we thought feeding it live worms was gross. Then it got a vitamin B deficiency and the vet told us if we didn't want to dig up worms for it we had to give it a vitamin supplement, and he gave us small vitamin tablets to put inside its fish. When they ran out, my partner sliced the fish open and put a little marmite inside it and the snake still ate it and was fine. I think it's probably the only snake to ever eat fish & marmite "sandwiches"!

One of my favourite creatures are owls, but I wouldn't want to keep one as a pet as they should be free.

I've got to rescue dogs who mean the world to me. Fantasy pets would be something like a capybara or tapir, I have a great fondness for manatee but they are a bit impractical as a pet.