Animal Rentals Blog

What a great summer it’s been so far!  Even though dad and I are taking a break from traveling the country doing our College Entertainment shows, we have been really busy appearing at fairs and festivals, private parties, trade shows and lots of other fun events.  And of course there is always plenty to do working at the office and taking care of all of my exotic animal friends.  But this summer we are also making a lot of fun changes behind the scenes too.

The most fun change for me so far is re-naming the IQ Zoo to Mindy the Monkey’s Menagerie!  It’s the most fun because it was my idea.  We call it Mindy’s Menagerie for short, but I like the full name better.  All of my exotic animal friends are still included, and we are even adding a couple new friends soon.  But I think the name Mindy the Monkey’s Menagerie really describes us better.  After dad read me the definition from the dictionary, I knew it had to be our new name.

The dictionary says that a menagerie is a collection of wild animals that are kept specifically to be shown to the public.  Doesn’t that sound just like us?  Of course we do more than just let people look at us…interacting with people is so much fun and an important part of my mission to educate and entertain as an Animal Ambassador.  So even though we are more than just ‘props’, menagerie is a perfect name for my group of exotic animal friends.

So Mindy the Monkey’s IQ Zoo is now Mindy’s Menagerie.  You can still learn all sorts of fun facts and interesting things about my friends and I at the Mindy’s Menagerie page.  And you can still pick your favorite exotic animals for your next party or event there.  Everything is still the same but the name!

My friend Pokey is a North American Porcupine with her own built-in defense system.  She has very sharp quills all over most of her body that protect her from predators and attackers.  The quills are really spiny hairs with barbs on the end, like a fish hook.  If you have ever gotten stuck by a fish hook or a quill you know that those barbed tips make it very difficult to get out of your skin!

If Pokey feels threatened, she makes all her quills stand up on end, which makes her look huge and bushy and scary.  That is enough to make most people and animals run away and leave her alone.  No one wants to get stuck by those quills!  If something tries to attack her anyway, they will be very sorry because it is very painful to get a hand or face full of porcupine quills.

Obviously it is not a good idea to try to pet a wild porcupine.  But my dad and his friend Mark taught me a secret way to pet Pokey without getting stuck by the quills.  They teach lots of other people how to do it too, at the animal shows we do at parties, fairs and festivals.  So lots of different people have had the wonderful experience of petting Pokey and feeling her wiry hair and spiny quills.  Pokey likes to be petted, but you have to be very calm and gentle when you do it so that you don’t startle her.  She is a  very sweet porcupine but she scares easily.

Have you ever gotten to pet a porcupine?  Would you like to?

It’s hardly ever quiet at my house.  Dad says he never gets any peace and quiet with me and all of my other animal friends around.  But I think that the noisiest ones in the whole house are the parrots.  Birds are loud!  Luckily they are very funny too, which makes them great company for me and dad.

One of my friends that lives and works with us is a Scarlet Macaw named Piwackett.  He is a big, beautiful bird with a really long tail.  He always looks like he is dressed in fine jewels, because his feathers are red, green, blue and yellow.  One of his special jobs is in the parrots and pirates show, where he gets to stroll around on the shoulder of a pirate and talk to all sorts of interesting people at parties and fairs and other events.  He even gets to ride on a pirate ship, which is really cool!

Piwackett is really funny and he talks all the time.  In fact, sometimes I wish he wouldn’t talk so much!  But people love to hear him talk and laugh.  Some people think he is very snooty, because he laughs in a very snobbish “ha, ha, ha” way.  But he is actually very friendly and he really likes when people pet and hold him.  He loves attention, and if you ignore him he will keep talking until you talk back to him.

Piwackett also likes to dance.  When he really likes a song, he will lift up his wings, bob head head around, and shuffle his feet from side to side.  He is a very good dancer and sometimes he makes us all jump up and dance around with him.  It’s really fun!  So even though he is loud, sometimes it is really great to have him around.

Have you ever talked to a bird?  What did you say?  What did he say?

Hi everyone, I’m Mindy!  I am a Capuchin monkey and I have a very special job as an animal ambassador.  Here on my blog I will be telling you stories about what it is like to live, work and play with all kinds of different animals.

I’m so lucky that I get to travel all over the United States with my dad, Bill Hoffman of Animal Rentals, entertaining people and teaching them about wild, domestic and exotic animals.  I have a lot of animal friends that travel with me and help me with our animal shows, and we always have a great time meeting new people and seeing how happy and excited they are to meet us.

Even though I am only six years old, I have already worked at many different events and met hundreds of wonderful people.  I’ve been on television, worked at parties, fairs and festivals, performed on stage and at college shows, gotten all dressed up for corporate events and trade shows, and even danced as an organ grinder monkey.  My dad is really funny and he makes people laugh a lot while he is teaching them about us and what it is like to live and work with exotic animals.  I think my favorite part of being an animal ambassador is seeing the joy on people’s faces when they get to touch a monkey or a chinchilla or a snake for the very first time.  It sure is a great job, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it!

I’m so glad that you found my blog and I hope you come back often to read about all the great adventures that my dad, my friends and I have working and playing together.   And be sure to like my Facebook page, so that I can get to know you too!