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When Squirrels Were One of America's Most Popular Pets
When Squirrels Were One of America's Most Popular Pets
In 1722, a pet squirrel named Mungo passed away. It was a tragedy: Mungo escaped its confines and met its fate at the teeth of a dog. Benjamin Franklin, friend of the owner, immortalized the squirrel with a tribute. "Few squirrels were better accomplished, for he had a good education, had traveled far, and seen much of the world."
atlasobscura.com




When I was at Columbia, there was this dude I nicknamed "The Squirrel Whisperer", who would walk around campus and get squirrels to sit on his shoulder as he fed them nuts. Strange dude.
Haha, just random squirrels? That's pretty neat actually.
O.o It's articles like this that make me love Atlas Obscura
Yeah they have some fun stuff sometimes :)
Now I want a pet squirrel.
Haha, I know right? I mean, its probably not the best idea, but still.
I knew a guy who basically had one. It lived in his backyard so it wasn't totally captive but my friend fed it and took care of it. They hung out all the time. I thought it was entirely uncommon though. Now that I know that there is a whole well-respected history of squirrels as pets...
Also, this friend was one of the oddest people I've ever known so I think I just saw it as another eccentricity.
My uncle kept a chipmunk named... chirpy, I think? He would eat peanuts out of his hand, and from his shoulder and such. He lived in the woodpile outside the cabin, so yeah wasn't captive but was basically his only friend during the long months in the middle of the woods with no electricity :)