Recent content by CaptainCrunch

My rats would never bite you. :) They usually bite if you startle or hurt them, are you sure you weren't doing either of that? Another thing is that your friend's rats may not be used to being handled, perhaps he doesn't pay much attention to them or they don't like being handled. If you had...

Not all rats are albino. As for cute rats:

Science doesn't really give us a total understanding of the minds of animals though, so this is where personal opinion comes in. You say you're hard wired to feel empathy, but that just sounds like a bit of a cop out to me. Different thought processes? Come on now! You have something that is...

Both, really. There is a larger point: the things are barbaric. Especially when the traps come with instructions telling people just to simply throw the animal away on them. Some countries have them regulated: Additionally, a quick Google search also reveals that wildlife rehab places warn...

That's not what I said. A snap trap usually kills the animal quickly. That's what it's designed to do. I have used them before and all of them were clean breaks of the neck, I did not have an issue. A glue trap is guaranteed misery 100% of the time, it doesn't kill the animal quickly by design...

I don't particularly care how useful it is from an evolutionary standpoint - saying that you aren't bothered by it and then saying you're empathetic to the creature's suffering is a clear contradiction. Don't hide behind scientific literature, I want your personal thoughts. Why do you feel...

That seems quite contradictory to me. There has to be reasons why you're empathetic when you see another animal suffer, that you can explain logically. It isn't as simple as "it just is". You have personal feelings that are invoked when you see an animal suffering, and it's something that you...

Cane toads are a major problem in northern Australia. We have tried just about everything to eradicate them, but to no avail. It is truly man's folly for such things to spread out of control, yet it is rather easy to blame the animal itself.

I thought you said it didn't bother you? I think you're selling animals a little short here. It was demonstrated that rodents can show empathy driven behaviour, rats also laugh when they are tickled. This doesn't seem to be behaviour consistent from an animal that is driven by pure instinct...

It can take a while, because I know little about the person I'm potentially being friends with. If for example he turns out to be some psycho who kicks dogs for fun, then yeah, not really someone to be friends with.

Chocolate easter eggs half price now, hehe. Get them while they're on sale!

Never, but I know a family friend who did, and he's pretty made me from a sceptic to sitting on the fence.

Just wondering. I find them to be very affectionate and amusing pets, with their own little personalities. The downside is they only live for a few years. :(

The dark is peaceful for me, unless I am deliberately blindfolded by a pranking friend.

I've only met a few people from online convos before, and it's always different as I imagined it.