THE FUTURE OF PETS

It doesn't require extraordinary predictive power to figure this one out. The future of pets is the miniaturization of already existing species. Taking your elephant for a walk may be as common as taking your dog for a walk now.

Maybe tiny elephants will be kept in miniature herds.

This (above) is a picture of a present-day tiger cub. In the near future this could be a picture of a fully-grown mini-tiger, one that's kept as a house pet.

Lots of large animals will be bred as miniatures.

Even Great Whites will be obtainable as little aquarium pets.

Of course some creatures (above) will get a size boost.

Small insect-type robots with cameras might be the first responders to 911-type calls to the police.

I do believe that science might revive the T-Rex. Recently tiny bits of soft dinosaur tissue were discovered. It's not impossible that the DNA of these beasts might be recovered. If it is then I imagine that some people will want to keep tiny versions for pets.

MORE ABOUT CAT HOUSES

'Still on vacation. I'm back to post a few more cat pictures then I'll retreat back to my mint julep and pool.  

About cats: the new trend in cat ownership is to have lots of cats, rather than just one. Now, where did that idea come from? Maybe it's the fault of all those reality shows that make maverick pet owners look sympathetic. I'm not sure.

I'm a dog person myself but I have to admit that cats have advantages. If you're going to have huge herds of pets it's better to have multiple cats than multiple dogs. At least cats don't bark at the neighbors.  

Pet stores sell elaborate cat trails that you can attach to walls.

How do you like these cat book shelves (above)? I think they're great! I don't even have a cat and I want one. 

Some of the latest cat furniture (above) looks like human furniture. You could be in a house with cats and never know it.

Where do you think the idea for cat trails came from? Maybe from Dr. Seuss. I can imagine an indoor cat city along the lines of the drawings in his books.

Or maybe the cat trail fad started with Habittrails. Like Sara implied in a comment to the previous post, maybe people began to envy the cool space stations their hamsters lived in. 

Where's all this leading? My guess is that we're psyching ourselves into building Habittrails for humans. Isn't that what Disneyland's "Tarzan's Treehouse" is really about? The attraction is leading millions to ask why hamsters should have all the fun.  

PARAKEET DETECTIVE

"It was a cheap frowzy cage in a cheap, frowzy living room in Cincinnati. Empty husks of birdseed lay in a pile on the floor under the cage, awaiting a clean-up that would never come. The room didn't seem to care. It was that kind of room. The killer was that kind of bird.

"Phillip Parakeet's the name. I'm a private detective. Decent birds scrub floors to hire me to find out why their hoodlum sons get murdered. That's what happened in this case."

"There's the kid, dead as a door nail, killed for a few seeds just like all the others. Of course he was no altar boy. He was a heavy-set, swarthy bird with a hunger to be a "big shot." As everyone knew, the most important part of his dress lay snugly under his feathers, a sharpened cuttle bone seldom seen, but when it was, sure to be felt by somebody. It's still on him.

Whoever did this was somebody he let close to him, somebody he knew, somebody he trusted. The last thing he saw was betrayal. He was a cheap seed hustler, but he deserved better than that."

"At first I thought a human did it. They're always playing tricks on their pets. They think it's funny. But...naaaaah...murder requires brains, and humans just aren't smart enough."

"I should know. I'm always looking into their eyes to see if somebody's home, but there never is."

"Then there's the dopey hamster that lives on the other side of the room. We can eliminate him as a suspect."

"His cage door's been left open for two weeks now and he still hasn't found his way out. He's lost in the tunnels of his own stupid house."

"The fish isn't very bright either."

"But who can blame him? He's been swimming in the humans' beer for months. No, he didn't do it."

"That leaves only one viable suspect, and (Sniff! Sniff!) if I'm not mistaken she's just landed on the bar behind me! Nobody but Vivian Parakeet uses that kind of heavy, sensuous perfume.

Don't get fooled by the lovely face. Her complexion is as false as her jewelry. Maybe you can't see the ravages of dissipation that lay beneath the paint and powder, the hard, cruel lines about the worldly eyes, the ruthless greed in the painted, obscenely small beak. Even so, you can't help wondering what's under those feathers."

"As you can see, the poor victim didn't stand a chance. All Vivian had to do was stand there with her lithe, slender figure, overdressed in vivid blue feathers, that were both too short and too tight. Birds with more experience would have recognized her for the false and dangerous beacon of allure that she was, but to the kid she was marvelous, something to worship and possess. It's an old story that too often ends in...

But I have more investigating to do, and I'll need privacy to do it. Er...put that cover over the cage, will you? I'll see you tomorrow!"