Gratuitous rat post

[oyceter]

I buy my rats all these fancy rat toys (ok, usually ferret or parrot toys), and what do they like the best?

Paper bags and orange peels.

Go figure.

I don't know what it is, but something about paper bags makes Fool-rat go nuts. "Paper bag! Must kill! Must tear into as many little pieces as soon as possible! Yay! Shredding!" Rat subsequently bounces around the cage and mangles the dreaded paper bag.

I take them out to play on the couch every day, after spreading a big blanket over the couch to prevent them from chewing on it, or getting it dirty, etc. Fitz-rat's favorite game ever is "let's crawl under the blanket and drive people crazy!" I think he really does think it's a game... he waits until I'm not looking, then pulls the covers up. If I catch him and yell "Bad rat!" he gives me this sort of innocent look. Truly it does not deceive me. Then he lies low and waits until I'm distracted by the TV or something again.

Someday I will get it through his thick head that "bad rat" does not, in fact, mean "Awww, such a clever little rattie, let's see you try that again."

---

I've eaten five oranges today. Someone brought a whole box of satsumas to work, and I gorged. They're so small, though -- I'm never satisfied with just one. They weren't as cold as I usually like them, but oh, so good. I never quite realize how much I miss the smell of them or the bite of them during the summer. I can't quite get over the fact that they're very much winter fruit, even though they're associated with summer and beaches in commercials. In my head, they're associated with Chinese New Year.

Comments

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's so like my cats -- we get the fancy cat toys with the bells and whistles and beads and fringe and feathers, and what do they really, really like? Stuff like plastic bags and thread and crumpled-up aluminum foil. They're not allowed to play with the plastic bags, which probably explains the fascination right there....

With Max, the piratical black cat, "Bad cat! No!" clearly translates to "Stupid human, you cannot see the grandness of my plan! Pfui!"

[oyceter]

I swear, the best rat entertainment ever would probably be to just dump the two guys in my kitchen trash can. But then they'd be all smelly.

It's funny, the rats are a lot more like dogs -- very eager to please, very bouncy.

rats!

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

Heh. You could make sure it was v clean garbage, or just have a can full of nothing but orange peels and yummy chewable paper....

Sometimes we think Max is like a little dog dressed up as a cat, cause altho' he has the cat moodiness and poise he's also super high-energy and loves to play and is much much more active than any other cat we've ever had. That is, when we don't think he's a goat, because he eats ANYTHING....paper, plastic, film, rubberbands, carpet fibers, styrofoam, you name it.

I had a pet rat as a kid and it used to ride around on my shoulder. They're great pets.

Re: rats!

[oyceter]

I really should try that someday. But then I just know they would be ornery and get distracted by whatever I was eating ;).

The rats don't have much poise at all, hee hee. They're just sort of goofy and bouncy and excitable. Although Fool-rat is a little more shy. I looove rats ^_^. I used to have mice as a kid, but the rats are ten times more interactive and fun.

Re: rats!

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

I had mice and hamsters as a kid, but only one rat. I think my parents were a little freaked out by it. After that I started getting into cats, and well, it seemed a little cruel to both mice and cats to keep both of them around, although maybe that was just me. Of course I loved rats ever since reading the Mrs. Frisbie books....

Re: rats!

[oyceter]

My parents would never let me get pets as a kid (my mom isn't too comfortable around animals), but I finally got some mice because some friends won them at a fair but didn't want them. Loved them lots, but I think I'm probably the only person in my family who thinks rodents are cute. Everyone else just sort of looks at me funny.

But yeah, I loved Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH! One of my favorite YA books. Must have fostered an early tendency toward keeping rodents ;).

But the boy (and me) really want cats as well, so... we'll have to see how that works. Still time, at least, given that the current apartment is too small for cats (another benefit of rats!).

Re: rats!

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

I think I'm probably the only person in my family who thinks rodents are cute. Everyone else just sort of looks at me funny.

I'm the same way in my family wrt rodents and snakes. I think garter snakes are adorable and wanted some forever, but my dad is horrifically phobic of them (he can't watch them on TV even). -- And the movie of Mrs. Frisby is great too, with all that voice talent!

A big benefit re cats and a smaller apartment (ours is 2BR, but a bit cramped) is they sleep a lot. Well, Max sleeps a fair amount in between bouts of running around like a lunatic. My childhood hamster had the proverbial squeaky wheel, and always chose to go running at about three in the morning....

Re: rats!

[oyceter]

My mom is scared of everything. Sigh. And she's scared to death of snakes like your dad. We make fun of her mercilessly. But then, I'm scared to death of spiders and bugs while she is the cockroach exterminator of the household ;).

Re: rats!

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

Spiders AIIIIIIIIIIGH....Tim wraps up the little darlings in kleenex and takes them tenderly outside if he finds one, but my attitude is: Spider, if you're in my house, you're going to get squashed. But good. Yes, some of us had to leave the theatre during the Shelob scenes of ROTK....

Re: rats!

[oyceter]

Nyaaah! Hate them. Know they are beneficial, but arrrgh, all those jointed legs...

Ewwww, I've grossed myself out now.

Re: rats!

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

((whimpers))....and those little beady eyes....((whimpers)