Telegraph: Reptiles now more popular pets than dogs
Calculations by the British Federation of Herpetologists (BFH) indicate that there are now as many as eight million reptiles and amphibians being kept as pets in the UK. This compares to an estimated dog population of 6.5 million.
The growth in reptile numbers is so rapid that within years they will overtake the country's nine million cats to become Britain's most popular pets.
Great piece of spin from the BFH, but I feel I should point out that they are confusing the words popular and populous (or, more correctly, as reptiles and amphibians are not people, numerous). If a small handful of nutters suddenly decided to start keeping large ant colonies in their back gardens, the ants might soon outnumber cats and dogs combined, but that would not make them more popular, as only a small handful of nutters would care two farts about the ants.
All of which reminds me of one of my favourite cryptic crossword clues: Woman's favourite science? [11]. Answer: HER-PET-OLOGY (geddit?).
My favourite crossword prank: If someone starts pestering you to help with your crossword, tell 'em that one of the clues is "Postman's Bag". When they make suggestions like 'Satchel', etc., say "no, that doesn't fit". When they ask, "How many letters?", you say..."Hundreds and hundreds!".