Am I the only one...

[RDZCRanch]

A long time ago I advertised a few babies in a local newspaper. I had way more calls than I expected asking if I still had the dogs for sale.

I've had that happen numerous times. People get excited to see a "chihuahua" (though I'm an idiot because I spelled it wrong) for $75. Even had one guy call and ask if my monkeys were still for sale.:wacko: After about 20 minutes back and forth I finally figured out the guy was looking for a capuchin.

I know way too much about the fur industry so when people ask me if I'm breeding all my chins to make a coat I go into lengthy detail about pelting. They typically don't ask me again.

There's no point in getting angry or offended that someone calls a chinchilla the wrong thing. When I first got a chinchilla I honestly thought they had to be some weird genetic experiment. We started calling them "super heroes" with the tail of a squirrel, jumping of a kangaroo, body of a rabbit, ears of a mouse, nose of a pig, and the SOFTEST fur in the world!

 

[Annieo]

This thread is sooooo funny!!! I get the coat thing all the time but that's about it.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

One of my sisters started callng them the rodents. I've immortalized my response to her in my signature...and then started referring to HER furry child as the canine!!!

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I got the puppies call too. They could not figure it out - I decided that if I do that again I am just going to include the website - the pictures should do the trick hahaha

 

[Cuddlebug]

I have received the questions about my dogs for sale several times. I just answer them politely and go about my business as usual. When we got our first chinchilla, my husband and a family friend started calling them bugs. They said that they looked like some kinda of strange space bug. We still sometimes refer to them as "the Bugs". My husband has also referred to the as Pikachus. I've also been asked about the fur coat, my usual response is that I don't have enough for the coat but I could make some gloves. You should see the looks on their faces when I say that. My brother is the one who teases me the most. He calls the kits "cat toys".

 

[greychins]

I get the are you making a coat comment all the time...No point in getting mad.I just say "Yes" that stops the problem there. People like to get others riled up for fun

They definitely do. I saw an ad on craigslist last week saying that if they didn't rehome the chinchilla, they were going to make it into a coat. Um.... right. I thought for a second about posting in reply and educating the public about how some random craigslist chinchilla would never end up in a coat... but then.... well, I know that chin wasn't going to really become a coat, so...

When I used to put them in the paper, I always got calls about chihuahuas. There was even one guy who, once I told him, no they're not chihuahuas, he asked me what they were and wanted to know a little about them and wanted to get one. In the end he didn't, but that was sort of weird. Now I just list online, with a link to the website and pictures. No more chihuahua calls.

Most people who are over at my place know what they are cause they've likely heard me talk about them or something before they randomly show up at my place. But here's what strikes me as odd... I've had a prairie dog for a bit of time now. He came in as a rescue with two chinchillas. People who come here are like "oh a prairie dog!" but are like "what are those?" to the chinchillas. Now, I personally would have thought a chinchilla would be more recognizable to the general public than a prairie dog, but I guess not.

 

[3CsMommy]

I have a friend of a friend who hoards animals and isn't quite smart enough to pour pee out of a boot with instructions on the heel. Unfortunately, she's a "friend" on my facebook (so I can try to help get her menagerie into foster homes when the sheets hit the fan one day). Equally unfortunately, she's convinced that she should own chinchillas too because "they're so cute". She got this idea after meeting my ex's chin, Cervantes, so clearly, she's seen one before.

See my avatar pic? When I posted that on Facebook, she asked when I got the cute bunny. I explained that, no, that's just Crash, my chinchilla that I've had for years.

She didn't believe me until I actually sent her pictures of a rabbit's feet, then Crash's. And she wants to own one someday...

The best "mash up" suggestion I've ever heard was "Koala-munk". Gray and fuzzy and nocturnal like a Koala, shaped and and eats and moves like a Chipmunk. (And the guy that thought of it was stone sober at the time.)

 

[ErinsChins]

I never looked too close at your avatar until just now...I always thought it was an alligator Oops!

 

[eroomlorac]

I don't get annoyed when people don't know what my chinchillas are. It's the perfect opportunity the enlighten and inform people about chinchillas. The person who thinks they're rabbits are a "clean slate" so to speak. They have no incorrect knowledge that needs to be unlearned so it's easy to educate them a little about what they are and how they need to be cared for. Just remember, we were all totally clueless at some point. Not just about chinchillas but about anything we are passionate about. Everyone has to start somewhere.

 

[eroomlorac]

no one here has ever called them bunnies. I did have a very drunk buddy of my husband say "whoa little bears once..."

Too funny.

 

[tkc1038]

I was at the mall yesterday and was stopped by one of those kieosk venders couldnt get away she almost bull rushed me, anyway I said I had to go and get treats for my Chinchillas and she says" The wild kind?" I said yes the wild kind they like to "eat my face" I meant whisker kisses . She just stared and I walked away. It made my day.

 

[3CsMommy]

"eat my face" for something so cute and sweet as whisker kisses.... :hilarious: Whatever works. Those 'attack' sellers are annoying.

 

[angels41105]

Someone once called mine "Those rat things".... i saw their life flash before my eyes:banghead:

 

[emily]

my coworker saw winston on my background of my computer and asked when i got my hamster. shes a new addition, so she didnt know about the months of preparation i went through before i got winnie...so she wasnt aware...guess she thinks they look like hammies....ughhh!

 

[PITSTOP64]

Hi,
Its better than,..."Oh..their just hairy rats"!!
I have heard that twice from friends & family members!!
I just bite my tounge,but you know what I would really like to say!!

 

[shaeway]

Lol I get asked where they come from, a rabbit and a squirrel/rat/guinea pig cross breed? I usually laugh and say that yes, all four together at once. And I also get the pelt question. I say yes after I butcher my cats for stew. I get some wierd looks but most people catch on.

 

[kathiva]

Me too! Or when people call my tortoise a turtle! Or my sugar gliders, they cal them squirls!

what's the difference between a tortoise and a turtle, sorry, but in spanish "tortuga" is the same thing for all kinds of turtle, so I wouldn't know the difference

 

[monarch]

turtle - amphibian

tortoise - land animal.

Notice the differences in the legs / fins.

 

[3CsMommy]

Earlier today I went to Home Depot for tile for my FN 142 and got asked, "So is that, like, a hamster thing or what?" Thankfully I had a picture on my iPod and my roommate was able to fill in little details. What sticks out to him? "And, it's weird, but they have hands. Like, actual hands, with little thumbs and everything."

Wonder if I can teach Crash to give a thumbs up if I bribe him with enough oats? *eye roll*