Before bed last night, I was reading a book with my daughter about how to care for small animals as pets. Like most kids, she wants one of each - rabbit, hamster, guinea pig. In the middle of reading she stopped and said "Dad, they have the cutest chinchilla at PETCO!" I asked what a chinchilla was and she responded "I don't know but it's so furry and cute and since you don't know what it is, you should blog about it tomorrow." I thought that was pretty darn cute.Chinchillas are rodents and are slightly bigger than a squirrel. They are native to the Andes Mountains of South America and were named after the Chincha Indians. Chinchilla means "little Chincha." Their fur is extremely soft and, as a result of its use in fur trade, they were hunted to near extinction in the 1800s. Today the little critters are bred for use as pets and for their continued use in the fur industry for clothing and other accessories. Wild chinchillas are listed as an endangered species. As pets they have been described as intelligent, charming, and highly inquisitive bundles of mischief. They are supposedly a delight to watch and even more fun to touch and stroke their soft fur.
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