h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am truly sorry that that cute little animal went extinct. What a neat pet it wold make (I mean that with love and respect).

The ice Ages must have been hard times for animals who had trouble staying alive. Freezing to death can't be a very pleasant way to go. Getting eaten by a larger animal so it can avoid starving would not be any better.

Hello and thanks for the comment!

Well … it would depend whether they were willing to live with us. Cats and dogs are pretty much perfect as pets … many people want to keep 'exotic' pets which really shouldn't be kept in such conditions, and don't really become tame. I would have liked a time machine and a Miocene rehab centre where wild thingies of the time could be kept for a short time as they healed or as they were rehabilitated … then I could get close to them, perhaps pet them, but without 'possessing' them.

But maybe these would indeed have enjoyed human company! Some of the marsupials of Australia appear to be quite easy to tame.

About the ice ages … well, today there are still animals that die of cold in the winter in places where it gets cold … or even not that cold. Cold is one thing I don't like much.

I think I will just imagine it all. An imaginary pet doesn't bump up against inconvenient realities.