Animal Rentals Blog

ANIMAL RENTALS helped spread some holiday cheer at a party hosted by FISHER CONTROLS in Iowa on Saturday, December 13th. Animal ambassador, Mindy the Monkey, dressed in her most appropriate seasonal garments along with Purse the Alligator, Sylvester the Skunk, Ruby the African Grey Parrot and others entertained the audience. Photo opportunities were everywhere with people taking “selfies” with our pets.

If you want to know more about our exotic animal show, check out Mindy’s Menagerie on our website. You might also want to read our updated page, ABOUT OUR ANIMALS, and see the excellent care our animals receive.

Loyola University was the last stop on our college entertainment tour for 2014. Our animal ambassadors, including Mindy the Monkey brought their hands-on animal show at the invitation of the Loyola University Pre-Vet Club. These future veterinarians shared in the fund with their fellow students as they experienced face to face interaction with members of Mindy’s Menagerie. An alligator,chinchilla,fennec fox, porcupine and skunk were just a few of our animal friends brought for the event. Check out our new “About Our Animals” page and read how well our pets are cared for.

  Generally, most of the animals that have come to symbolize HALLOWEEN are nocturnal making it almost safe to say that if an animal comes in all black,  it could be considered linked to the supernatural and scary. Sadly,  many of the myths attributed to these  creatures are completely false. Yet, after hundreds of  years, many still believe that the presence of a crow or  raven symbolizes a bad omen.

Below are just a few examples of the myths and        facts about our HALLOWEEN FRIENDS.

MYTH: VAMPIRE BATS  bite the neck and suck blood from people.  FACT: Vampire bats live only in tropical regions of Central and South America.  They feed primarily on animal blood by lapping (not sucking), using their sharp teeth to make a quick slice along the skin.

MYTH:  The bite of a SPIDER can kill you. FACT:  While it is true that there are many poisonous spiders throughout the world, the bite from one of them is not much worse than a bee sting.  An allergic reaction to a spider bite is more serious but no human has died from its venom.

MYTH: BLACK CATS are familiars of witches and bring bad luck. FACT: Black cats are just that—black cats.

So the next time you go to our website, animalrentals.com to book our Exotic Petting Zoo, go to MINDY’S MENAGERIE and look for our special Halloween creatures:  “Cuddles” the Tarantula, “Casper” the Burmese Python, “Sylvester” the Skunk and “Mrs. Clean” the Hairless Rat.

One of the best things about being an Animal Ambassador is helping people understand what exotic animals are really like.  A lot of animals are misunderstood because something about them keeps people too far away from them to really get to know them.  Because of their unique and stinky defense mechanism, skunks are definitely one of those animals.

One of my friends that lives with us is Sylvester the Skunk.  Sylvester is a really nice guy, and I like him a lot, but he always smells like he needs to take a bath.  And he doesn’t even smell as bad as most skunks!  In the wild, skunks spray a really stinky odor to defend themselves against predators – including people.  Sylvester was born on a farm so he doesn’t have the smelly spray, but he still has a gamey odor that is a little unpleasant for most people and monkeys.  It’s too bad that his smell is what keeps people from getting to know how intelligent, interesting and entertaining he is.

Even though he has lived with us all of his life, Sylvester likes to pretend that he is a wild animal.  Sometimes he acts all tough and he stomps his feet and grunts at us.  We all know not to be afraid because he is our friend, but when wild skunks do that we know it is time to run away or get sprayed!  When dad or anyone else picks Sylvester up, he is very sweet and gentle.  He even likes to be petted.  His job is to show people that you don’t have to be afraid of wild animals, but to respect them and not get too close to them when they are in their outdoor homes.  Sylvester loves meeting new people at animal shows and college lectures, and teaching them about what skunks are really like beyond the smell.

Have you ever seen a skunk in the wild?  Have you smelled one?

Last week I promised to tell you a little more about what it is like to live with and take care of exotic animals.  In many ways it is not that much different than taking care of domestic pets like cats and dogs.  Feeding, watering, cleaning, grooming and training are all a part of dad’s and my everyday life.  Today I’m going to tell you about what we do every morning at our house.

The biggest part of our day is spent washing dozens of dishes and preparing food for all of my animal friends that live with us.  I help dad wash and cut up and mix all the different fresh fruits and vegetables, and then I get to inspect and taste everything to make sure it is perfect.  It takes five or six hours every day to feed everyone and clean up their living spaces.  Fortunately, we have wonderful people that work with us and help us, or we would never get finished!

Most of us eat a combination of fresh food and nutritionally balanced commercial food every day.  Dad is very good about feeding everyone exactly what they need to stay happy and healthy.  We get a good blend of fruits, vegetables, meat, vitamins and minerals, nuts and seeds according to what we like and need.  I like pretty much everything, but some of my friends are very fussy about what they eat.  Some of them, like the snakes and alligator, will only eat live food.  Amy the Armadillo loves crickets, and it is lots of fun watching her run around hunting them!  I also share my monkey chow with many of my friends because they really like it.  The rats have their own rat chow, and the birds have their own pellets, but the opossum, porcupine, skunk and others love the monkey chow.  It is pretty delicious!

Some of my friends – the geoffroy cat, opossum, porcupine and skunk – also eat high protein cat food.  For fresh food, we eat just like you do, with whatever fruits and vegetables are in season.  Lettuce, green beans, corn, squash, peppers, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, apples, peaches, pears and everything else in the produce section are things that we like.  The birds and I also like nuts a lot, and we each have our favorite types.  My uncle, Mr. Adam Monk, loves chicken and hamburgers so dad cooks special things for him and always brings him leftovers when we go out to eat.

As you can see, our mornings are very busy with fixing so many different types of breakfast for all of my friends.  After everyone has eaten, there is still a lot more to do for the rest of the day.  Next time I’ll tell you more about what we do in the afternoons, and how we get ready for our different kinds of animal shows, parties and events – so be sure to come back to my blog next week!