Domestic

Ferrets are domestic animals, usually kept as pets. They are related to the polecat and weasel. Ferrets eat small pest animals like rats and rabbits.

Frogs can be found around fresh water, including in deserts when it only rains every few years. They can breathe through their skin when they are in water. Frogs lay eggs, which hatch into tadpoles. Frogs come in a great variety of colours and can range in size from as small as a fingernail up to about 30cm long. Frogs that are very warty are often called toads.

Goats are closely related to sheep. People use goats for their milk and their meat, and some kinds of goat have wool that can be used to make clothes from. Goats milk can be made into cheese. Male goats are called bucks or billies, female goats are called does or nannies, and baby goats are called kids.

A goose is a kind of large bird, related to the duck and swan. Geese are larger than ducks and smaller than swans. Geese live around water. A male goose is called a gander and a baby goose is called a gosling. The plural of goose is geese.

Greyhounds are a type of dog that are bred for chasing game and racing. They have very short hair and a slim, muscular build with a deep chest. They are intelligent dogs and are becoming popular as family pets.

Hamsters are a small rodent that is often kept as a pet. Hamsters are originally from Syria. They have a large fur-lined pouch on either side of their face that goes all the way to their shoulders that they can fill with food. In the wild, they usually eat seeds and nuts.

Horses have been used by people for thousands of years. People ride them and use them to pull carts and ploughs. Horses were the most common way of travelling before cars were invented.
Horses come in a variety of sizes, from ponies that children ride up to big cart horses that are used to pull very heavy loads. A male horse is called a stallion, a female horse is called a mare and a baby horse is called a foal.

Huskies are a kind of dog that has been bred to pull sleds over snow. They are from Siberia, and have a very thick coat to keep out the cold.

Irish wolfhounds are the tallest breed of dog, although some Great Danes may stand a little taller. They have a short life expectancy of around 6 and a half years. The breed is thousands of years old and was originally developed to hunt wolves. Despite their size they are not an overly energetic dog, but still need regular exercise.

The Australian kelpie is a medium sized dog that was bred to herd animals like sheep, cows and goats. Kelpies come in a range of colours but the most familiar one is a reddish-brown coat. Kelpies are very energetic and are only suitable to be kept as pets by people who have a lot of time and space to exercise them. Bored kelpies can be noisy and destructive.