What Pet Would You Choose for Space Travel?

[Noisy Rhysling]

Please help me flesh this out:

You share a "long haul" freighter with six-ten other people. Everybody can have one pet that runs lose (cats, ferrets, etc.) or more that are permanently confined to the person's private living space. (Gold fish would be an example of the latter.)

Tribbles are not allowed.

So what would you take aboard and how do you think they'd get into trouble while on the freighter. The ship is on a circular route, traveling around a six-planet course. Some planets don't allow "alien" species off the ship, some require them to be placed in quarantine or "stasis" while in-system.

Earth pets are fine, but if you chose one from another system please give fullest details appropriate regarding the critter.

 

[DaveC426913]

All the good ones have been done. Cat, raccoon. Intelligent, dextrous, used to climbing.

Question: is gravity variable?

Squirrel? Snake?

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

All the good ones have been done. Cat, raccoon. Intelligent, dextrous, used to climbing.

Question: is gravity variable?

Squirrel? Snake?

Gravity can be variable but they're on a long route, most of their time spent in space, so they have artificial gravity or spin. (Haven't settled that one yet.) I have rhesus monkeys, lemurs, and ferrets on the list. I may allow them to have IQs boost up to 150% of "non-modified" relatives.

 

[DaveC426913]

Gravity can be variable but they're on a long route, most of their time spent in space, so they have artificial gravity or spin. (Haven't settled that one yet.) I have rhesus monkeys, lemurs, and ferrets on the list. I may allow them to have IQs boost up to 150% of "non-modified" relatives.

While other animals may get into mischief, ferrets are made of mischief. Ferrets will burrow. Into anything. Once they give up on the hull plating, they will find a nice electrical panel to dig through until they come out the other side.

Frankly, I'd bet that they'd be on the "no fly" list for that reason, Especially having scuttled a few vessels in the past.

 

[BillTre]

My first thought was of modified alligators or of snakes.

I would image that their carnivorous tendencies could present some problems.
Something related to octopi or squids might also have potential.
I tend to like aquatics creatures and swamps. Animals of different environments would however require special considerations in a space ship.

I have occasionally wondered why there are so few pets in SciFi space situations (except in Alien where the cat seemed like a plot device to me). I guess they would be considered a luxury requiring additional resources to support them and their environments. Free ranging the ship would probably not be feasible.
Hosting alien species could provide a reason for the initial set-up of of their facilities.
Particular pets might have a better communication conduit with some alien species for a variety of reasons.
What about the poop?

Animals in colonies could be interesting but would not fit in your single pet rule, unless you considered them as a single meta-organism (bee-hive (with a different kind of language)).
I read about a guy who had a pet parasite once. Some worm thing that would poke its head out of through his skin occasionally.

Some of the aliens might have interesting pets.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

While other animals may get into mischief, ferrets are made of mischief. Ferrets will burrow. Into anything. Once they give up on the hull plating, they will find a nice electrical panel to dig through until they come out the other side.

Frankly, I'd bet that they'd be on the "no fly" list for that reason, Especially having scuttled a few vessels in the past.

The General-class Battlecruiser MacArthur had a time of ferrets on board to keep the rodent population down. Sadly, they went over to the Moties.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

My first thought was of modified alligators or of snakes.

I would image that their carnivorous tendencies could present some problems.
Something related to octopi or squids might also have potential.
I tend to like aquatics creatures and swamps. Animals of different environments would however require special considerations in a space ship.

I have occasionally wondered why there are so few pets in SciFi space situations (except in Alien where the cat seemed like a plot device to me). I guess they would be considered a luxury requiring additional resources to support them and their environments. Free ranging the ship would probably not be feasible.
Hosting alien species could provide a reason for the initial set-up of of their facilities.
Particular pets might have a better communication conduit with some alien species for a variety of reasons.
What about the poop?

Animals in colonies could be interesting but would not fit in your single pet rule, unless you considered them as a single meta-organism (bee-hive (with a different kind of language)).
I read about a guy who had a pet parasite once. Some worm thing that would poke its head out of through his skin occasionally.

Some of the aliens might have interesting pets.

"...or more that are permanently confined to the person's private living space. (Gold fish would be an example of the latter.)"

Parasites would be out if they couldn't live outside the host. I can't see Customs allowing one of those onto their nice clean planet.

As for poop, it might be a salable item on some planets. The sales negotiations would be ... interesting.

 

[DaveC426913]

The General-class Battlecruiser MacArthur had a time of ferrets on board to keep the rodent population down. Sadly, they went over to the Moties.

Been so long I don't remember ferrets.

 

[DaveC426913]

What about the poop?

Why would pet poop be handled any differently than human poop?

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Been so long I don't remember ferrets.

The Brownies wound up raising them for food, until the Cycle turned for that colony.

As for poop, exotic animal poop might find a market on some worlds. Stranger things have happened right here on Earth.

 

[BillTre]

Why would pet poop be handled any differently than human poop?

Most of the pets I've known don't do it in the toilet.

 

[Aufbauwerk 2045]

I would never go into space. So I will answer a related question. If I lived in the woods, I would prefer a good snake dog. Probably a Jack Russell.

P.S. could there be snakes in the space vessel?

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Most of the pets I've known don't do it in the toilet.

It's all in the training. Our cats use the toilet. We started with an insert that was basically a litter box, and they sit on the seat and do their thing. After a time we removed the tray and they went anyway.

@ https://www.physicsforums.com/members/aufbauwerk-2045.608525/
Snake on a space plane? Yeah, snakes would be an option. The pets will be a reflection of the owner. One person hates snakes, so another gets one just to fan the flames. Just one piece in the puzzle.

 

[DaveC426913]

Most of the pets I've known don't do it in the toilet.

I thought you meant 'what will they do with it all'?

Animals can be litter trained. Especially if they have their IQs boosted by 150%.

 

[BillTre]

Animals can be litter trained.

There are limits.

Especially if they have their IQs boosted by 150%.

But Yes!

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

I'm reminded of the dogs in Starship Troopers and the mules in Time Enough for Love.

 

[BL4CKB0X97]

Please help me flesh this out:

You share a "long haul" freighter with six-ten other people. Everybody can have one pet that runs lose (cats, ferrets, etc.) or more that are permanently confined to the person's private living space. (Gold fish would be an example of the latter.)

Tribbles are not allowed.

So what would you take aboard and how do you think they'd get into trouble while on the freighter. The ship is on a circular route, traveling around a six-planet course. Some planets don't allow "alien" species off the ship, some require them to be placed in quarantine or "stasis" while in-system.

Earth pets are fine, but if you chose one from another system please give fullest details appropriate regarding the critter.

I say cat. Anyone read Tuf Voyaging by George rr Martin? You'd know why.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

A raven. Or a team of them. They could unleash mayhem, being the most equipped to navigate a low-G environment and probably the most cunning of the pets. Equip them with some weights to help them control their gliding better and some time so they could adjust their physiology to the environment. They would be the fastest animal on the ship. They could steal food from everyone and be a real annoyance to the slower creatures.

 

[BillTre]

They would be the fastest animal on the ship. They could steal food from everyone and be a real annoyance to the slower creatures.

And they will poop everywhere!

 

[Fervent Freyja]

And they will poop everywhere!

You are on the feces thing! It could rain if they are flying near the ceilings. How much force is being placed on the pellets? Could it knock a smaller animal out? They could also glide around pecking people on the head. They would have to turn on artificial gravity to catch them!

 

[BillTre]

You are on the feces thing!

I was expecting this! I have a response:

"I'm going through a phase!"

 

[BillTre]

A raven. Or a team of them.

I like the raven idea since several people might have them as individual pets and they could form a larger cooperative entity so they could develop emergent group properties with even more wacky results.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Besides the poop business I think shedding would be an issue. Stray hair getting into places it's not wanted could be disastrous.

 

[DaveC426913]

A raven. Or a team of them. They could unleash mayhem, being the most equipped to navigate a low-G environment and probably the most cunning of the pets. Equip them with some weights to help them control their gliding better and some time so they could adjust their physiology to the environment. They would be the fastest animal on the ship. They could steal food from everyone and be a real annoyance to the slower creatures.

I am not sure birds could fly well at all in a low G environment.

Birds don't push themselves through the air, they effectively float to the ground at a very shallow angle. They exchange altitude for speed. In lesser gravity, they would not be able to do that effectively.

They would spend all of their flight flapping as if taking off. Exhausting.

 

[BillTre]

Some early "The Expanse" episodes provide a possible version of low gravity birds.

They show them flapping occasionally and then slowly losing altitude.
Could not find a video of it.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

I just had a flash of a dog sticking his head out of the window on the bridge of a spaceship.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

So far we've had a lot of Earth pets. But what about alien pets from the body of literature? Pip, the minidrag has been a favorite of mine ever since I read The Tar-aiym Krang. (And yes, he's more of a partner than a pet, but most observers didn't know that.)

 

[Fervent Freyja]

I am not sure birds could fly well at all in a low G environment.

Birds don't push themselves through the air, they effectively float to the ground at a very shallow angle. They exchange altitude for speed. In lesser gravity, they would not be able to do that effectively.

They would spend all of their flight flapping as if taking off. Exhausting.

They could glide very well in low-G! Not only that, but they could accelerate and decelerate much more effectively than any other animal on the ship! They may be slower in low-G, but they would still be faster than any of the others! It would take far less energy for them to glide in low-G- they would only have to open their wings after kicking off from surfaces!

What arguments do you have against a bird being able to navigate in low-G better than any other animal? Their bodies are perfectly suited for gliding! They would have to find a surface to use to kick off, but once they kicked off, they would continue traveling in a straight line! Sure, if their wings are folded in, then they won't be stable, but they could keep their wings out most of the time!

 

[DaveC426913]

They could glide very well in low-G!

Gliding is a function of lift and gravity. Less gravity means less attack angle, means less lift.
Yes, they could direct themselves with their large control surfaces.
But accelerating when gliding is done by trade off - trading off height for speed - to pick up speed, you aim more toward the ground. In lower G, "more toward the ground" has less meaning.

Birds would be maneuverable, and they'd never be stranded in mid-air, but they would not be all that fast. They'd have to flap everywhere.

Not only that, but they could accelerate and decelerate much more effectively than any other animal on the ship! They may be slower in low-G, but they would still be faster than any of the others! It would take far less energy for them to glide in low-G- they would only have to open their wings after kicking off from surfaces!

OK, agree, they would do better than other critters. but it is not an ideal environment for them.

Their bodies are perfectly suited for gliding!

You mean wind resistance? Not a factor in an enclosed space.

They would have to find a surface to use to kick off, but once they kicked off, they would continue traveling in a straight line!

Indeed, like any other creature.

but the legs of birds are not very strong compared to land-dwelling creatures. They jump high enough to open their wings, but not much more.
A rabbit or cat can jump much farther and therefore would travel much faster - although they would have no control of their direction like birds will.

A could see a rabbit using its powerful legs to ricochet off wall after wall and beating a bird in a race. The bird would have to flap everywhere.

 

[BillTre]

Perhaps a more appropriate word than gliding (using gravity as a driver) would be coasting (momentum).

Very small flying insects, than are only weakly affected by gravity (such as fruit flies or drain flies), might make a interesting comparison.
These guys are always flapping their wings while flying.

Small insects seem like a likely suspect to sneak aboard a spaceship uninvited.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

So far I'm in favor of an alien flying pet with a propellor on its butt.

 

[DaveC426913]

So far I'm in favor of an alien flying pet with a propellor on its butt.

Alas, wheels and propellors are not something in nature's toolbox. Nature can't do axles.

 

[BillTre]

Well, bacterial flagella can rotate.
Of course they are very small molecular not cellular structures and not wheels, but are kind of like a propeller.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Alas, wheels and propellors are not something in nature's toolbox. Nature can't do axles.

Not on this planet, anyway.

 

[DaveC426913]

Well, bacterial flagella can rotate.
Of course they are very small molecular not cellular structures and not wheels, but are kind of like a propeller.

Yeah, that's one of the few exceptions. Surface area to volume is low enough that the flagella can get nutrients right through the walls.

Another exception would be two symbiotic creatures - one forming the axle.