Animal Rentals Blog

Being the curious animal that I am, I researched my history and found that my ancestors were domesticated as early as Four BC. Problem was we were raised for our meat and quills.   I could find nothing, however, on how we got the name  “hedgehog.”   A few days later the mystery was solved.  I passed by the kitchen and heard mom and dad eating lunch. Hearing the grunting noises and the racket they made while pushing their food around sounded like two pigs eating out of a trough. It was not a pretty sight.

I must confess I am a lover and not prone to fighting. I follow a simple motto:  When the going gets rough, I get going. In the event of a confrontation, though, I pity the fool who goes against me and my 5000 sharp spines that surround my body.  Thanks Mother Nature.

I’m kind of a loner, sleep most of the day and prefer to be by myself except for when we do our exotic animal show display.  To keep me fit I eat a diet consisting of insects, slugs, earthworms and a nasty tasting commercial hedgehog diet. I sometimes wonder what a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach would taste like.  I know its wrong and I feel bad.  After all, they are members of Mindy’s Menagerie and Bugsy is a friend. But in my defense he also is a BUG.  I take comfort by telling myself that Bugsy would be the last roach to be eaten.

One of the perks of being a hedgehog is that the venom from an adder, a poisonous snake, does not affect me.  But how many adders will I run into while walking the streets of Chicago? The guys around here don’t believe me and are attempting to convince Mindy the Monkey to ask her dad to add an adder to the show.  So not funny!

LIKES:  ANIMAL RENTALS, a clean cage, fresh water, good food (maybe including some Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches), entertaining our audiences and a heavy duty toothbrush for my 64 teeth .

DISLIKES: a dirty cage, anyone who calls me “Pokey Junior” and those times when I have a “bad spine day”.

ANIMAL RENTALS visited McNeese State University located in Lake Charles, LA on November 18th, 2014 with their exotic hands-on animal display. The students enjoyed an entertaining afternoon with our animal ambassadors consisting of a porcupine, chinchilla, boa constrictor,alligator,tarantula and others. McNeese State University was just part of our very popular College Entertainment program which criss-crossed the United States. Our Mission is to educate, entertain, and foster caring for and conservation of our world’s animal kingdom by offering people the extraordinary privilege to personally interact with our exotic animals. Go to animalrentals.com for more information.

Here is a television commercial (circa 2002) of spokesperson LYNN HAULDREN of EMPIRE CARPETS and ANIMAL RENTALS very own animal actor “TOM T.TURKEY”. During the filming Lynn was a real trooper as TOM could be a bit testy at times. In fact, both TOM and Lynn became good friends. However, for some reason the big bird never returned Lynn’s invitations to be the guest of honor at his home to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Today TOM spends his days as a member of ANIMAL RENTALS petting zoo and animal displays. Few visitors who see the impressive turkey do not realize they are in the presence of a television star.

Lynn Holdren continued as Empire Carpets spokesperson until his death in 2011.

ANIMAL RENTALS  is on the road again, visiting at least several colleges and making new friends.  For the month of November, we will be bringing our educational and entertaining “hands on”  EXOTIC ANIMAL DISPLAY college entertainment to the following schools.

SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE COMMUNITY COLLEGE located in Memphis, TN on November 11th and 12th.

MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY located in Erie, PA on November 14th.  We will be participating in a “hands-on” “Fear Factor” themed event.

UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY located in Findlay, OH on November 20th.

Our mission is to educate, entertain and encourage conservation of our world’s animals by offering  a face to face interaction with members of  Mindy’s Menagerie, the ambassadors of ANIMAL RENTALS.  

Follow our adventures by visiting and liking us on Face Book;  Animal Rentals and Mindy the Monkey.

When you live with a bunch of different exotic animals from all different climates around the world, you argue a lot about where to set the thermostat.  Here at Animal Rentals we have temperature wars all year long.   A lot of my friends and I are from warm or tropical climates, so like it nice and toasty warm at home and we love the summertime.  But one of my friends likes it so cool that the rest of us think it is downright chilly!  I’m talking about my friend Chi-Chi the Chinchilla – who should have been named Chilly Willy!

Chi-Chi is a really nice guy with a great big family that he supports by working with us doing our Exotic Animal Shows, Petting Zoos, College Entertainment shows and Animal Displays.  Chi-Chi, his wife Camille, and all of his kids have the most beautiful fur coats I have ever seen.  And they are so soft!  Chinchilla fur is the softest fur of any animal.  But it is also really thick – which means Chi-Chi gets hot easily – which means Chi-Chi likes it cool outside – which is just the opposite of what I like!

Chinchillas are originally from high up in the Andes Mountains, where it is pretty cool all year round.  That’s why they need that thick, soft coat – to keep them warm.  People also like to stay warm with Chinchilla fur, and Chi-Chi’s ancient relatives almost became extinct because of it.  I’m glad they are still around – because they are really cool animals and Chi-Chi is a really good friend.  Chinchilla fur belongs on Chinchillas, not people!  Some people still raise Chinchillas for fur, but at least it is illegal to hunt them in the wild now.

Chi-Chi is looking forward to traveling around to colleges, parties, festivals and other events with us this fall as the weather cools down.  In the mean time, we help him out by cranking the air conditioning up whenever he gets too warm.  Helping each other be happy is what friends do, after all!

When you are a monkey April first isn’t the only day that is all about jokes and pranks.  Every day is fun and games day for us! 

Monkeys love to laugh and fool around all of the time.  And we have excellent senses of humor.  In fact, sometimes it is very hard for us to be serious.  And we definitely get excited about things that are interesting and fun.  I guess I can see why dad tells people that emotionally I am at the level of a two year old human child.  But sometimes I think that dad just doesn’t get my jokes.  He has a great sense of humor too, but I don’t know why dad doesn’t think every single thing that I do is hilarious…because I do!

He didn’t laugh the day that I grabbed the end of the toilet paper roll and ran all over the house unrolling it and wrapping it around the furniture in one big long line.  He didn’t laugh the day I grabbed the truck keys out of his pocket and threw them into the wet, muddy water.  And he didn’t even laugh the night that I turned off the lamp every time he just sat down from turning it on so that he had to get back up out of his chair again if he didn’t want to sit in the dark.

Even though dad doesn’t think that everything I do is funny, I have certainly made him laugh out loud lots of times over the years.  Like the time we were traveling to one of our college entertainment shows and I put my water down on the driver’s seat while dad and Mark were pumping gas and Mark didn’t see it when he got back in and he sat right on it and got all wet.  Or the time I was eating strawberries at one of our live exotic animal displays and got sticky red spots from my hands all over dad’s head when I hugged him.  Or the time I pretended to be Lawrence of Arabia on the camel ride at one of our exotic petting zoos.  And he laughed really hard the time I tried to take a picture of myself with his cell phone on the set of one of the television commercials I was in.

So even though today is just a normal day of fun and games for me, I want to wish you all an especially happy April Fools’ Day!  What kinds of jokes and games and pranks did you do today?

When dad and I do our animal shows, animal displays, events and parties, people have lots of different reactions to my exotic animal friends.  Last week I told you that everyone loves Olivia the Opossum because she is so sweet and gentle.  This week I’m going to tell you about one of the scariest members of our traveling family, Cuddles the Tarantula.

Cuddles is a Chilean Rose-Haired Tarantula.  She is about as big as a human hand – about 5 inches – which makes her very intimidating.  She always causes quite a commotion wherever we go.  Lots of people scream and jump when they see her, and very few people are brave enough to touch her or hold her. The really funny thing is that Cuddles is actually very calm and gentle.  She enjoys walking on people’s hands and arms, and will sometimes just sit quietly on your palm or shoulder.

The thing about Cuddles that people are most afraid of is being bitten by a tarantula, because they’ve heard that it can kill you. While it’s true that tarantulas are venomous, a bite from one is kind of like a mosquito bite or a bee sting – more annoying than deadly. A black widow or brown recluse spider is much more dangerous than a tarantula. Besides that, tarantulas rarely bite.  Their first defense is to scrape little barbed hairs from their belly that irritate your skin and can cause a rash and itching.  Of course, any animal can bite, so you always have to be respectful of them.  But, at least as far as tarantulas are concerned, you really don’t have to be scared of them.

When people finally get the courage to touch or hold Cuddles, they are usually surprised at how fun and friendly she is.  Also at how it almost tickles as she walks across their skin.  And how she seems more like a family pet than a scary insect.  So if you ever get the chance to meet Cuddles or another tarantula, be brave and hold her.  You’ll be glad you did and your friends will be amazed!

One of the things that people love the most about our animal shows and animal displays is that they get to touch, pet and hold exotic animals.  Everyone has a different favorite for different reasons.  But one thing that everyone who meets her can agree upon is that my friend Olivia, the Virginia Opossum, is the sweetest and gentlest of all my animal friends.

Olivia was hand-raised from the time she was just a tiny baby by my friend Mark, one of the trainers who works and travels with me and dad.  Baby opossums are born in their mother’s pouch, and spend a couple of months nestled all snug and safe inside. When they come out, they travel around by clinging to their mama’s back.  It’s really cool to see all the babies riding on a mama opossum!  So baby opossums are naturally clingy and cuddly.  Wild opossums eventually grow out of that stage, but because Mark spent hundreds of hours raising and training her, Olivia is still very sweet and cuddly, even as an adult.  She loves to be held just like a baby.

When wild opossums are threatened they play dead in order to discourage their predators.  Olivia can be very still and quiet and not move for hours at a time. That is amazing to me because I don’t like to sit still for even five minutes! Another thing about her that’s really neat is that she has a prehensile tail, just like I do.  She uses her tail kind of like an extra ‘hand’ to help her climb and balance and hold onto things.  Even though we use our tails in similar ways, we are not related. Opossums are marsupials, so Olivia is more like a cousin to a kangaroo than a monkey.  She even has a pouch, too.

Olivia loves traveling with me and dad to all our different events and college lectures.  Because she is so calm and relaxed, she enjoys riding in the car all across the country.  And her favorite thing is meeting and being held by lots of new people – curling up in their arms and laying her head on their chests while they stroke her soft fur.  Everyone loves Olivia the Opossum, and I do too!