PECULIAR PETS AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE 'EM

Millions of people have dogs. Millions of people have cats.

And for some, those just aren't enough.

It's difficult to gauge the number of exotic or nontraditional animals in the United States, although a Kansas State University estimate puts it at approaching the same number as cats -- 44 million.

Clarence Shirrell has a few of those. So does Ed Smith.

Shirrell's animals range in size from tiny Java rice finches, birds so smooth and defined they look like they're made of porcelain, to a shaggy llama named Wally.

Some, like Wally, he keeps at his business, Concrete Castings, north of Jackson. Others, such as his female llamas, he keeps at his home, a half-mile farther north.

It's no secret that part of Shirrell's collection is because it's good for business -- he'll tell you that himself -- but the other part is simply the enjoyment of animals after many years of living where he couldn't have any at all.

"Oh, I was so proud of him when I got him home," he said of Wally. "I was in hog heaven." So to speak.

For Smith, having animals goes back to growing up on a farm in northern Missouri.

"The animals make you feel so important, they're all demanding my attention," he said.

But of all the animals there, turkeys and geese were declared unwelcome by his parents. Many years later, when he bought his own farm, he decided to get turkeys and geese.

Then he got three Sicilian donkeys miniature donkeys at a local auction at 5-H Ranch.

"I haven't found anything I enjoy more than the Sicilian donkeys," Smith said. "They're so docile, and they're so affectionate. They come up, and if you don't pay attention to them, they'll lean into you, demanding that you pet them. ... I hug these donkey's necks, and they loved to be hugged. They're just neat little creatures."

Shirrell has a similar feeling about his miniature horses, one of which always comes out to the limit of Shirrell's pasture to be petted when he gets the newspaper in the mornings.

Some dog owners can't stop at just one. The same is true for some owners of nontraditional pets.

Over the years, at various times, Smith has had: Barbados sheep. Zebu cattle (miniature cattle). Llamas. Shetland sheep. Black Welsh mountain sheep. African pygmy goats. A Vietnamese pot-bellied pig (after the craze for that animal died down). Ostriches (after the price fell).

"It turns to be kind of an addiction," he said. "You see something and you think, 'Well, I'll try some of those.' ... One thing just leads to another."

Shirrell had a similar experience. He started out with a pot-bellied pig and kept adding. He pores through a pile of magazines like "Small Farm Today," "Rare Breeds Journal" and "Game Bird and Conservationists' Gazette" to see what he might like. The magazines usually point out what kind of care is involved, what diseases the animals might be susceptible to, and so on.

Shirrell said he'd like to get some red-breasted geese, a ruffled grouse and a crane. The crane would have to be one of the quieter varieties, though, for his neighbors' sake, he said.

"Most of it's pretty pleasant, pretty much fun," Smith said. "I tell my friends I went into teaching because I was tired of hauling baled hay and cow manure. Thirty years later, what am I doing? Hauling baled hay and manure. But llama manure, zebu manure."

EXOTIC EXPECTATIONS

Some pets are easier to care for than others. The Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Kansas State University makes these points about exotic animals:

* Some animals have specific dietary needs which must be met.

* Wild animals are better at hiding illness than domesticated animals.

* Animals that aren't domesticated will not always behave the way domesticated animals do.

* Get information about the animal what it eats, how big it will get -- before you buy it.