This blog is supposed to be where I introduce you to interesting things I've discovered while researching my novels. Something to whet your appetite and give you an insight into my latest creations. Not this month.

I did come across this while researching a project, but like many things, that project is now on hold due to the pandemic. The book may be stalled but it article was too good to pass up. As a result, I've decided to write it anyway.

To Westerns, Eastern culture has many strange and exotic delights. They are getting more well known now as a result of increased travel and the internet (once sushi was considered weird, now it's everywhere) but there still things that haven't permeated across the waves yet. One of those is the choice of pets. Asian countries have many a multitude of choices that we just don't get in the West, sometimes for good reasons but that's not the reason for this post.

This post is about the cute little critter called a pangolin. They are an ant eater with a hard shell, similar to an armadillo but much, much cuter. Native to Asia (including India) they live in trees, crunch into a ball when threatened and use their front paws a little like hands.

Here are some cute pictures:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tree_Pangolin.JPG

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trenggiling_Sunda_Sunda_Pangolin_Manis_javanica.jpg

Unfortunately, pangolins are endangered so the ethics of keeping them as pets is debatable but again, not why we are here.

The thing I found out and what drew me to them, is the fact that they carry Covid 19. Yes you read that correctly, these cute little animals are running around (and sleeping in the bed's of children) while affected with Covid.

There are stories of children in Singapore taking their pet to school for Show and Tell during the pandemic. This is while the schools were implementing masks, social distancing and temperature checks. Bringing an animal with Covid to school though was fine.

Before you start to panic, it has been shown that although they host the same virus, transfer to humans is not a credible vector for infection. The Covid they have, they keep to themselves, which is nice I suppose.

I'm not trying to start a conspiracy, the science puts an end to that but what if? I'm not going to write it (I have too many ideas already) but wouldn't it make a great story? Child brings home a cute little pet, takes it to school and a global pandemic breaks out. Even better if it turned the pangolins a little crazy. The idea of such a cute animal being the demise of humankind is exactly the stuff writers crave.

Half World War Z, half Gremlins, if you are old enough to remember that movie. When the book or movie does comes out though, remember, you heard about it hear first.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin

https://www.pangolincrisisfund.org/stories/pangopups-all-about-baby-pangolins/