It was my daughter Serena's 7th birthday this week, and last night
she came home from spending time with The Ex, clutching her new toy,
her birthday present. It's called a "Scoozie".
Serena claims it's a dog, and I don't know, maybe it's the brown color,
or maybe it's the little front paws that hang down over its belly, but
somehow this thing must have some Rodent in its ancestry, as to me it
resembles nothing more than a groundhog. Great. A pet groundhog. Thanks, Dad!
Inadvertantly
at first Googling "scuzzy" (okay. I'm biased. whatever), I
found that this toy is "the original interactive softbody
animal." It's implanted with various sensors all over that allow
it to chirp, mumble, and move its ears, eyes, and tail depending on its
"mood" and how it is being handled.
Apparently there is a
learning curve here, and as long as you feed it regularly (it comes
with its own favorite "food", also implanted with a sensor) and pet it
a lot and play with it, it makes happy little gurgles and even utters
something that sounds a lot like "I love you". If you
ignore it or fail to feed it or if it is in a bad mood or just doesn't
like you, it might growl. Fortunately, it also sleeps. But
it snores occasionally.
The Scoozie comes in black, white, gray, or groundhog-brown, and there's even a ferret version and a mini ferret version (I told you there was some rodent involved here). The Original Scoozie like Serena's costs between $29.99 and $49.95, depending on where you get it. Although I'm still totally creeped out by this thing, it is
kind of cute. And it would make a great pet for a child who wants one but
whose parents are dubious or don't want to be stuck walking the puppy
or scooping the cat box.
