Victorians didn't consider the concept of "pet" to be limited to cats and dogs, or even cats, dogs, birds and pocket pets. Victorian magazines abound with tales of unusual animal companions, from a two-headed turtle to a rescued starling that liked to scare other birds by making cat noises. Sometimes a wild creature would find its way into a Victorian home for a brief period of time, perhaps to be sheltered over a winter and go on its way in the spring. Others stayed for the remainder of their lives. And some Victorians just had a taste for the unusual!

Wild and Tame (Leisure Hour, 1860)

Another Little Friend (The Harvest Mouse), by A.H. Malan (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

On the charm of the harvest mouse, and tips on keeping one as a pet.

Our Pets: Rabbits and Guinea Pigs (Little Folks, 1878)

Our Pets: Rats, Mice and Squirrels (Little Folks, 1878)

Our Aquarium, by Eliza Clarke (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1879)

Who Stole the Bank-Notes? (Little Folks, 1883)

Some thieves hide money in their mattress; others make a mattress out of money...

Tame Snakes: A True Story, by Walter Severn (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

On the wisdom, or lack thereof, of keeping a boa and a python as pets.

Long Tail, Esquire, by Ruth Lamb (Girl's Own Paper, 1885)

A delightful story about the adventures of a mouse - which I found all the more charming because it's not unlike what goes on in my own house...

Cuff, the Orphan Bear-Cub, by George A. Martin (St. Nicholas, 1889)

He Wrote to the Rats, by Julian Ralph (St. Nicholas, 1889)

How does one get rid of the rats overrunning the cellar? Write them a letter -- but do it correctly!

Mary's Little Lamb (Boston Morning Journal, 1889)

The true story behind the famous nursery rhyme, recounted on the death of Mrs. Mary Tyler, the owner of the beloved lamb.

A Queer Pet, by E.H. Barbour (St. Nicholas, 1889)

The short but interesting life of a two-headed turtle.

Sweet Memories [of an Elephant], by John Russell Corvell (St. Nicholas, 1889)

You've heard of the bull in the china shop; this is the tale of an elephant in a sweet shop.

Bits About Animals: A Happy Lion Family (Girl's Own Paper, 1891)

Martha and Willy were two full-grown lions living with a widow in Boston!

My [Tortoise] Friend Douglas, by Frank Finn (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

Douglas lives a leisurely life in the country, yet carries his home on his back... which makes sense, as he is a tortoise!

Lemurs, by Eliza Brightwen (Girl's Own Paper, 1894)

On a pair owned by the author, and the habits of lemurs in the wild.

Mungo [the Mongoose], by Eliza Brightwen(Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

Mungo is, like Kipling's famous character, "eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity"!

Anchor: A Stag-Beetle, by Eliza Brightwen (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

"A beetle is generally characterised as 'horrid,' and anyone liking such a creature is... considered eccentric," writes Eliza Brightwen - and then proceeds to delight us with her story of Anchor, her "pet" stag beetle.

Billy and Hans: A True Story, by W.J. Stillman (Century Magazine, 1897A)

A tale of two squirrels.

The Fierceness of Gloucester: A Study in Taming Squirrels (Girl's Own Paper, 1898)

A story about a rather bullying squirrel.

Roddy the Rat, by Ulyss Rogers (Windsor Magazine, 1898)

A pet rat makes an unwilling visit to an opera house.

Something to Love (Home Magazine, 1898)

A French prisoner's rat companion.

Animal Actualities 15: Misunderstood (The Strand, 1899)

The tragic romance of a Jamaican baboon and a rooster.

Pigs of Celebrities, by Gertrude Bacon (The Strand, 1899A)

Tame Voles, by Eliza Brightwen (Girl's Own Paper, 1899)

Peculiar Pets, by Albert Broadwell (The Strand, 1900A)

Tigers, pigs, kangaroos, odd reptiles and more.

• See also Bird Stories