Is it Legal to Own a Monkey? Pig? Or a Squirrel in Minnesota?

Some people like to keep exotic pets.  I'm talking about lizards, snakes, maybe a spider or two, and sometimes some other animals.

Some people are allergic to cats and dogs, so you need to possibly look at something else if you want to own a pet.  This brought me to the question of 'can you own certain types of exotic animals as pets in Minnesota'?

THE ANSWER IS A LITTLE SUPRISING

Can you own a pig? I'm not talking about a pig farm, obviously you can own those. I'm talking about the type of pig that you would keep in the house as a pet.  A pot-bellied pig.  The answer is... YES!  You can have one pot bellied pig as a pet.  But just one.

Can you own a little squirrel?  This one seems odd, but I have seen things on social media where people have found abandoned animals, like squirrels, and they nurse them while they are babies, and then they become a member of the family.  The answer.. NO!  You cannot own a squirrel and keep it as a pet.

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How about a monkey?  Like a little spider monkey, can you own one of those?  The answer is NO!  Absolutely not.  I'm brought to the episode of Friends when Ross owned a monkey named Marcel.  That didn't go so well, but I thought maybe you could own one.  Apparently not in Minnesota, anyway.

The laws for pets in Minnesota of what you can and cannot have, mostly the cannot have list is really long.  Or at least it seems long compared to other states.  Some of the animals that are on the list are just simply ridiculous.  Like a Moose.  Who would own a moose in Minnesota?  Have you seen how BIG those things are?  They're like a small house. And other animals that are on the list might make you go "hmmm, why not?"

You can check out the list here, and compare to other states.