#FurkidFriday: Joshua The #Degu Talks About His Fears

Hi everyone. This is Joshua the degu.

The human caretakers say it's nearly time for that "Halloween" holiday. I don't really know what it's all about - despite remembering it happening before - but the human caretakers seem to focus on scary stuff when it's coming up. They even usually cut a scary face in to a pumpkin (which is an edible orange ball, for non-human readers who may not know).

This year, we thought we'd join in the fun. Well, we usually get involved in the eating of pumpkin seeds, but this year we thought we'd do a little more and tell you about the things we're scared of. So, that's just what I'm going to do today.

At one point, after my brothers went away, I was scared of the human caretakers. You can read about that in my book "How To Trust Your Human" - which I write under the name, "Buddy" - if you haven't already done so. But I'm not scared of them now. I even let them pet me regularly, and sometimes let them pick me up for a short cuddle.

But here's what I am scared of:

Storms. Not the little ones, just the big ones. I don't squeal with fright like my brother Jasper used to. At least, not unless it's a really, really bad one. But I do hide in my nesting box when there's a big storm.Sudden noises or movements. I don't like when things happen suddenly, especially if they happen near me. If that happens, I squeal a bit - I can't help it - and run to hide.Birds. I don't mind hearing them, but I get scared if I see them hanging out too near the windows, especially if the windows are open. If you were my size, a species birds hunted in the wild, and looked up to see something as large as a seagull, you'd be scared too.Shadows looming over me. It makes me think of birds, and scares me.Silence. I don't know why, but I get scared when it gets really quiet. My brothers used to as well, especially Jasper. Even Jacob did a little though, and he was the bravest of all of us. The human caretakers have to keep the TV or radio on for me all the time.The dark... Sometimes. Some nights I can handle the dark, but some nights I can't. My brother, Jenks, used to be real scared of the dark, so I got used to having a light on, and will sometimes get scared if the humans forget to put it on for me.
I know, I'm scared of lots of things. I can't help it. I'm just a little guy.

Squeak soon,
Joshua