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”.

The other day was bath day here at Animal Rentals, and I got some great pictures of my dad and my uncle, Mr. Adam Monk.  I love seeing the two of them together, and dad loves reminiscing with Uncle Monk about “the old days”.  Uncle Monk is over 45 years old!  And he and dad have been together a REALLY long time…working, traveling and playing.  Uncle Monk doesn’t travel with us doing Animal Shows or College Entertainment any more, he says his days of being on the road are done and he just wants to relax and enjoy his retirement.  I LOVE traveling and don’t think I will EVER want to retire!  But Uncle Monk and I are completely different.

I guess Uncle Monk is really more of my brother than actually an uncle, since he was dad’s first monkey son.  But he is old and sort of crotchety – which dad tells me is a nicer way of saying cranky, lol – and certainly more like an uncle than a brother.  So he is Uncle Monk to me.

Uncle Monk has had an amazing life – even before he met dad.  He was born in the wild in the jungles of South America, and he was captured and kidnapped and SOLD when he was very young!  He traveled from village to village in small, bamboo cages being sold and traded until he finally came to America and met dad.  Dad likes to say that it was NOT love at first sight – lol.  But he and Uncle Monk grew to first respect then love each other, and together they built Animal Rentals from a highly demanded Organ Grinder act to a business that focuses on bringing people and exotic animals together in an educational and entertaining way.  I even think that it was Uncle Monk’s idea to do our Petting Zoos and Pony Rides. At least, HE says it was.  Dad just rolls his eyes and laughs whenever I ask him about it.

Anyway, I guess after such a long life filled with work and adventure Uncle Monk deserves to relax and be pampered in his retirement.  And he sure does love his bath time!  I don’t blame him, I do too!  What about you?  Do you love bath time too?

ANIMAL RENTALS very own “PIWACKETT” the SCARLET MACAW thoroughly enjoyed the Southern hospitality offered from the students of the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA in Mobile, AL on January 14, 2015. Along with Chi-Chi the Chinchilla, Sahara the Fennec Fox, Cuddles the Tarantula and other members of the renowned “Mindy’s Menagerie”, the afternoon was filled with fun, education and of course many “selfies”.

ANIMAL RENTALS is firm in their belief that only by offering people the extraordinary chance to interact with exotic animals in a personal manner, can they foster the caring for and the conservation of our world’s animal kingdom.

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.

As Animal Rentals official Animal Ambassador, I love any organization that promotes the conservation and welfare of domestic and exotic animals.  Fortunately there are hundreds, even thousands, of just those types of organizations all over the world.  But out of all of them, my favorite is the one that is dedicated to me and my brothers and sisters like me – the Simian Society of America.

The Simian Society of America is dedicated to a lifetime of care for primates in captivity.   What that means is that they help people understand and care for us monkeys, and they help monkeys live the best life they possibly can.  How could I not love them?!  I am a lifetime member of the Simian Society of America, and they are my personal number one charity.  I even have an ad in one of their magazines!   So it was very exciting for me to take a break from our traveling College Entertainment and Exotic Animal Shows to attend the Simian Society’s National Convention Appreciation Day in early October.

The convention was in Branson, Missouri – about 8 1/2 hours from Chicago – so dad and I road-tripped it once again.  Once we got there, we had tons of fun hanging out and talking to people who love monkeys and other primates as much as we do.  And Dad and I got to give a good talk about living and working and traveling together.  But my favorite part of the whole thing was hanging out with other monkeys…it was awesome!  At home I get to spend time with my Uncle Monk – who tells wonderful stories about “the old days” – but at the convention I got to meet all sorts of different monkeys from all over the country.  AND I had a “date” with a really nice male monkey.  Dad says he is a prospective mate for me.  I don’t know about all of that, but it was nice to get to know him for a while.  Maybe we will see each other at next year’s convention.  Maybe sooner!

So now you’ve heard a little about my favorite charitable animal organization – the Simian Society of America.  What is your favorite animal charity and why?  How are you involved with it?

They were making good time while on the way to do a college show at  Southwest Tennessee Community College last night until the “check engine” light went on. Seconds later, the engine stalled and the ANIMAL RENTALS van slowly crept to a stop about two hours from their destination.  Knowing they would never make it in time to do the exotic animal show, Bill Hoffmann called the Chicago office.  An hour later, Mark pulled away from the curb.  Driving non stop throughout the night he met Bill in the early morning.  After transferring the animals to another van,  Mark continued to the College minus Mindy the Monkey who refused to leave her dad.  While waiting for the tow truck, Mindy amused herself  by playing with the steering wheel, while Bill worried that Mark would arrive on time to do the show.  A phone call from Mark a few hours later eased his pain.  Mark was setting up for the first show, the animals were all fine and the show was on schedule.

Later that day, an exhausted and relieved Bill Hoffman drove back to Chicago with Mindy fast sleep in the passenger seat.  They would be home in no time, with a new alternator flawlessly doing its job.

Neither rain, sleet,  snow or a busted alternator can stop ANIMAL RENTALS from completing their job.  Alternators may die, but the show will go on!

We have another birthday to be excited about here at Animal Rentals!  My friend Jesse James the Geoffroy Cat turns 12 years old today.  I hope we get to celebrate with more cake and presents.  I really like birthday cake…it is one of my favorite foods!

I just realized that I don’t know if Jesse likes birthday cake or not.  I’ve never seen him eat any.  Not even at my birthday party.  I’ll have to ask him if he likes cake.  But I’ll have to catch him at the right time, because you never know whether Jesse James is going to be happy to see you or not!

Jesse’s a great guy and all, but he’s still a little on the wild side.  He doesn’t ever really seem to completely relax…even when he’s just lying there, he is always alert and watching everything.  Out of all of my exotic animal friends, Jesse James is the toughest.  He says that all Geoffroy’s Cats are like that, and that they will never be as tame as domestic house cats – even though they are about the same size.  Jesse thinks people should remember that small doesn’t always mean cute and cuddly. ..sometimes it means wild and fierce.

I don’t know if Jesse is really as fierce as he thinks he is, but it’s true that when we do our animal shows at parties, festivals, college entertainment programs and all of the other exciting events that we travel to, people are really drawn to Jesse James because they say he looks like a miniature leopard or cheetah.  It is easy for them to forget that he is a wild animal because of his size.  The rest of my exotic animal friends and I never forget that, but sometimes people do.

Even though Jesse James likes to act tough, he is a really nice guy and a loyal friend – and everyone here at Animal Rentals really likes him a ton!  So we all want to wish him the happiest 12^th birthday ever!  Won’t you join us in saying “Happy Birthday Jesse James”?!

This year Superbowl Sunday falls on one of our favorite holidays here at Animal Rentals…Groundhog Day.  I’m so excited that we’ll get to find out whether a Seahawk can beat a Bronco on the same day that Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog tells us if Spring is coming soon or if we’ll have more wicked winter weather!

February 2nd is also a pretty important day for us at Animal Rentals because my dad and his friend Scooter the groundhog starred in the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray. Well, maybe my dad wasn’t the star, but he did get to be in the movie. You can see him holding up Scooter – who played the role of Punxsutawney Phil – to make his prediction in front of a big crowd of people in the town square.

Groundhog Day is a really funny and very popular movie.  Dad says that most people don’t realize how much work goes into making a movie or a commercial or a television show.  For instance, dad and Scooter had to do their same scene over and over again so that the director could get many different angles and the best take. Dad says that even though it was a lot of work, it was also a lot of fun.

I wasn’t in the Groundhog Day movie because it was filmed before I was even born.  And, I guess, because I am a monkey and not a groundhog.  But I am definitely still a star because have been in other commercial and print ads. Lots of my domestic and exotic animal friends are stars too, and dad has tons of experience providing animal actors for movies, television, commercials, print ads…even operas and magic shows and more!  You can see pictures of me and some of my animal actor friends working in the film and advertising business by clicking here.

As far as the Superbowl…the discussion with all of my exotic animal friends here goes pretty much like this:

“A Seahawk has a great big beak and sharp strong claws so it can beat a horse, of course!”

“Yeah, but a Bronco is big and strong with a really powerful kick so it can definitely beat a bird!”

I guess we will find out who is right this Sunday.  And by the way, did you know that Seahawk is another name for an Osprey and a Bronco is a horse?