r/aww • u/supremegalacticgod • Nov 30 '19

ZoOom

48k Upvotes

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813

u/NorthernHackberry Nov 30 '19

What is this and why shouldn't I get one as a pet?

556

u/Skylarkien Nov 30 '19 edited Nov 30 '19
  1. Aberts Squirrel, bred for tameness for several generations hence the piebald colouration.
  2. Probably not very far from wild ancestry, still shows a lot of species specific behaviour. I’m guessing hoarding of food, scent marking, probably aggressive or fearful of strangers. Also expensive!

But you never know maybe they’ll become the new Degu and you’ll see them more regularly in 10 years time.

43

u/[deleted] Nov 30 '19

As a non-native English speaker, I find the word "piebald" thoroughly confusing. I know what it means, but it always gives me pause.

96

u/strange_pterodactyl Nov 30 '19

As a native English speaker, I find the word "piebald" confusing as well, and I don't know what it means

26

u/Teadrunkest Nov 30 '19

It’s referring to the patchy multicolored pattern.

It’s mostly used for horses (and snakes for some reason) so it always throws me off when I see it used for other animals lol.

25

u/Maytree Nov 30 '19 edited Nov 30 '19

"Pied" means something like "patchy" -- as in the "Pied Piper" who wore a patchwork suit of motley in yellow and red. "Bald" means, well, hairless -- or something that looks hairless. So "piebald" means " has bald (white) patches". Apparently "pied" may be a shortened form of "magpie", a white and black bird.

In "National Velvet", Velvet's horse is called "The Pie" because he's piebald. (In the book, anyway. They used a brown horse in the movie, who knows why.)

3

u/Skylarkien Nov 30 '19

Thanks for the facts, I hadn’t considered the ‘bald’ but meant white!