An increasing number of people around the world today are opening their homes up to diverse groups of animals.  At East, not so much. 

In a random survey of twenty students, only 4 students had pets that were NOT a cat or dog. The rest of the students had common pets.  According to Cbc.ca,”6 Strangest Pets That People Have,” weird pets are more common than you think. Interestingly, animals as small as cockroaches, stick insects, and sugar gliders are being kept and being taken care of by people in their homes. Originally, some animals might be born in a certain state, and then moved to a different state, so people to have them as household pets. For example, Pygmy Goats come from the Cameroon Valley of West Africa but are slowly becoming a more popular pet in America. 

“Being from Oklahoma I have seen some doozies. The strangest I have seen someone else own would be a raccoon named Bandit that this guy kept in a dog crate and fed Corn Nuts. Other pets I have seen were tarantulas, pot-bellied pigs, goats, chinchillas, and bearded dragons,” said English teacher Mr.Jeremy Robinson.   

Prior to this, snakes and tarantulas have been becoming more common to be found in homes. 

“I used to own a snake and feed it rats. He was a very calm reptile and did not once bite me or my siblings,” said senior Giovanni. 

Over time, people have been becoming more friendly towards different animals, simply because of their own entertainment. It may be fascinating and even frightening walking into someone’s house and seeing a snake or a huge hairy spider in a glass cage. 

“As a young boy in rural Oklahoma, I brought home lots of weird crap to scare my mom. Scary animals such as snakes, frogs, turtles, lizards, and stuff like that,” said Mr. Robinson.