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COMM: With their protruding snouts and long
sticky tongues, the anteater might not be everyone's first choice as a pet.
COMM: But here in Oregon USA, Angela Goodwin
believes they make the perfect companions.
ANGELA: Why I got an anteater for a pet is
one of the more difficult questions for me, I was intrigued by them, I thought they were
cute. The more I learned about them, the more I loved them. Even when I learned about their
difficulties I just became more devoted to them. I spent years learning about how to
care for them before I ever brought Pua home.
COMM: Pua and Aurora have free reign of Angela's
house. Climbing over furniture and worktops, and sometimes even finding their way into
the washing machine.
ANGELA: I would say one of the best things
about having anteaters is that they're entertaining. Pua is very loving and playful, she loves
to spend some time with me, she'll sniff my breath, she'll spend time with me. We'll spend
time running up and down the hallways wrestling.
COMM: Angela feeds her pets a specially formulated
diet, and the doting owner even lets the cuddly duo into her bed. However she admits that
living with anteaters can be challenging.
ANGELA: There are a lot of drawbacks to having
anteaters in your home, they can be destructive, I'd had them claw holes through the drywall.
they're very messy, they use their claws for eating so their food gets spread around from
sticking to their claws. Sometimes the dogs will follow them around hoping for food to
fall off their claws so that makes a lot of cleaning.
COMM: But despite the downsides, Angela is
devoted to her exotic animals.
ANGELA: Even when they're getting into trouble
and being bad like raiding the refrigerator, you can't really be mad at them, they're not
bad, it's just in their nature.