It's hard to predict exactly how young children will get along with animals. Some are scared of them, others will handle them in a way that's both enthusiastic and rough, and still others will find a way to form actual friendships with them.
While a picture exists of a peacock frightening me when I was four years old, my cousin has been known to befriend and rescue stray cats since she was only a few years older. I also admit to being pretty impressed when a girl on my block – who I'd estimate at around six or seven years old – had a snake in her arms and told me she had tamed it herself.
But while these animal friendships can have incredibly wholesome results, one case from Washington state illustrates that they can sometimes come with drawbacks.
