Unpopular animals that you like

Thanks Alan

I once saw a group of 40 pied wagtails on a field at Hampton, but until last Wednesday I hadn't seen a pied wagtail for some months.
 
Even though they are badly managed & overabundant in my area, I think eastern grey kangaroos are terrific animals. Hopefully one day we will see them managed as a sustainable wildlife resource, instead of the pest management approach we use now.

Khakibob
 
I like skunks and raccoons even though they're often considered vermin. As far as zoo animals I love a wide variety of antelope in zoos.
 
This thread has not been posted on for a while, but I personally find sea spider fascinating. People might just think of them as water bugs, but I think they are a fascinating and diverse type of animal.
 
Many actually..but I have a particular soft spot for those that are not only unpopular but small and endangered.

I suppose one that comes to mind right now given how much most people dislike rats and hearing fellow visitor's reactions to them when I was at ZSL is the Malagasy giant jumping rat.

I find these animals to be absolutely fascinating for so many reasons.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Many actually..but I have a particular soft spot for those that are not only unpopular but small and endangered.

I suppose one that comes to mind right now given how much most people dislike rats and hearing fellow visitor's reactions to them when I was at ZSL is the Malagasy giant jumping rat.

I find these animals to be absolutely fascinating for so many reasons.
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They are so cute! What are your reasons?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Many actually..but I have a particular soft spot for those that are not only unpopular but small and endangered.

I suppose one that comes to mind right now given how much most people dislike rats and hearing fellow visitor's reactions to them when I was at ZSL is the Malagasy giant jumping rat.

I find these animals to be absolutely fascinating for so many reasons.
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Same here. I think I'm going to reach rock-bottom of small and underappreciated here, but Canthocamptus longipes Is actually a deep-sea vulnerable microscopic Copepod. Yeah, I know. A microscopic copepod. But I like all animals, and copepods I enjoy just as much as I would enjoy cockatoos.
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
They are so cute! What are your reasons?
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Well, I just think they are really quite engaging animals.

I don't think they look like the brown rat at all and in fact there is something a bit "rabbity" or "bilby-like" about them. The ones I saw at ZSL certainly seemed to be very inquisitive and active animals. They were constantly exploring their enclosure and coming quite close to the glass windows which made them easy to see up close.

I've done a bit of general reading about them and there are a lot of aspects about this species which are fascinating. For example, them being the only extant members of their genus (which originally included much larger species), their particularly unusual breeding strategy of monogamy which is rare for a mammal and extremely rare for a rodent (and just quite endearing too) and the situation they are facing in terms of their conservation (invasive species, disease transmission, deforestation etc).

I think another reason that I like them so much could be because I read about them in Gerald Durrell's "The Aye-aye and I" quite a few years ago (sadly I have long since lost that book). For some reason the chapter where he talked about collecting the species in the wild for the captive breeding programe sticks in my mind as being laugh out loud funny. It was particularly funny and interesting when he described some of the strange folkloric beliefs that the Malagasy have towards this animal.
 
Tetzoo Quizzer said:
I wonder how many other people would share my honest delight at sharing a bedroom with wild whip scorpions, as happened to me in Panama!
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I would, saw them in the Philippines, but had to go out in the forest after dark to do so. However, we did share accommodation with Tokay and House Geckos. A Cobra got no further than the veranda!
 
Common urban wildlife like squirrels, crows, sparrows, seagulls, pigeons, etc. They're quite entertaining and fun to watch.
They're also the only big wildlife I typically see around my house (besides the occasional robin and jay, and not counting outdoor cats because they aren't wildlife)
 
I find squirrels fascinating and fun to watch. Exotic squirrels definitely might peek someone else's interest, but I think gray squirrels despite overpopulating where I live, are pretty fun to watch and I would always say, hey look! A squirrel while playing my Violin.
 
Ostracods. I think they are curious little creatures, and I find their lifestyle pretty fascinating!
 
I find pigeons fascinating. I think they're smart, really adorable, and just overall fun to watch. They don't deserve all the hate they get. It's not thier fault that they're dirty and poop everywhere. Same thing goes for other "pest" birds like crows, gulls, starlings, House Sparrows, etc.

Although you have to admit, seagulls can be jerks sometimes :p
 
EternalPigeon said:
I find pigeons fascinating. I think they're smart, really adorable, and just overall fun to watch. They don't deserve all the hate they get. It's not thier fault that they're dirty and poop everywhere. Same thing goes for other "pest" birds like crows, gulls, starlings, House Sparrows, etc.

Although you have to admit, seagulls can be jerks sometimes :p
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I love pigeons too, they are beautiful and comical birds which do not deserve anything like the amount of hate they get. Even feral pigeons have beautiful iridescence on the neck feathers and some other members of the family are amongst the most beautiful birds in my opinion. I also find their calls very soothing to listen to, especially the European turtle dive which purrs like a cat! The other 'pest birds' you mention are also very cool, I'm especially fond of starlings, they have tons of character and I love watching them on their winter roosts. But then again they're not the problem here they are in the USA... Gulls are usually only aggressive if they're defending young or if they learn to associate people with food.
Although not maligned in the same way an unpopular group of birds (at least among the general population) I really like are the laughingthrushes. They are beautiful, smart and highly sociable birds with interesting vocalisations and cooperative breeding behaviour in some.
 
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