Should people be allowed to have exotic pets?

[link>http://forum.dog.com/asp/showProfile.asp?memid=24501]Aery[/link]:  Your posts have been SO informative!  I just wish I could do what you do (maybe when DH finishes school).  Keep up the good work!
 
[link>http://forum.dog.com/asp/showProfile.asp?memid=1896]bluelighting[/link]:  Are there very many vets in your area?  Is there a vet in your area that specializes in small animals or do they just "do" dogs & cats? 
 
[link>http://forum.dog.com/asp/showProfile.asp?memid=21489]corvus[/link]:  Coming from a VERY rural area, I always heard about the NY zoos having cows in their exhibits.  To me that would just be the FUNNIEST sight!  But as you stated, some people have never seen them before.  I can't remember if the Omaha zoo has raccoons and a few other native animals or not (I haven't been there in years).  But that would be a neat idea (except for the whole "cow" exhibit, that would still just be FUNNY [sm=rotfl.gif] .

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and Brookfield Zoo right outside of  Chicago both have exhibits featuring native species. Even Shedd Aquarium has exhibits featuring native fish.
 
Where I live we have a few possums, racoons ant lots of rabbits. The rabbits around here have no fear. They come and eat in my yard with the dogs out there. My uncle, who lives a few blocks away, actually saw and photographed a fox! I wish I could've seen that.  We also have Coopers Hawks that love to catch and eat birds on my pool deck ....

when I was in America is the total lack of interest the average American seemed to have for their own native species bar the very charismatic carnivores. I was so bummed that I didn't get to see a raccoon or an opossum because they're apparently not interesting to the public.

 
Actually there are zoos and other places like natural science centers ..to see these animals. Audubon Society is a good membership which promotes the saving of rare birds and maintains some nice properties for wildlife. 
 
 When I was  a child, we never saw coyotes in the woods, and we were always playing in the woods!  Today coyotes are all over the neighborhoods, eating up pet cats and small dogs.  On occasion they are rabid and will go after humans!  Raccoons used to open up the garbage bins and chow down on a regular basis.  We had a zillion brown rabbits, all sizes and they would cover our lawn at night!   Today, the animals are getting cornered into our people living areas.  The animals that you would never see you will see, and they are trying to live around us.  The rabbits are not numerous any more. It snowed the other night and I saw wee little bunny prints around the house!  Must be sweet little thing, robably will see him in the spring. We see fox once in a while, opposums, raccoons, squirrels get hit on the road .  I can't remember the last time I saw a simple chipmunk, which used to be numerous as well.  We have many birds of all kinds.  Seems like being a creature of the air is a little more safe in our developed area. And if you have evergreen trees they will nest in them.  lus the societies go to great extent to save things like the Piping Plover! Osprey nests are built all over the place to help those numbers.  Box turtles are becoming extinct and that has put a halt to some developments.  Americans do have a lot of interest in saving these animals.  Unfortunately, the $ is most likely the cause of a lot of losses.  The battles are being fought, but we have lossed a lot of ground, literally.