newsworthy rats

As you may know, I have a pet rat. No, no, stop with the jokes right there. The weirded-out look is fine, ‘cause I get that in person a lot. There are only two real reactions: the ‘oh my gosh, this person seemed normal but just turned really crazy’ one, or the ‘oh yeah! we had a rat when I was a kid. aren’t they great?’ option. I leave you to figure out the majority side.

But in all seriousness, Melli is curious and cute, and I love her. This despite aspersions cast by friends about her cleanliness and ability to spread The Plague. With a cross-country move looming, I started thinking about how to bring her with me. My mother at first told me I should give her up (I fervently disagreed), and then later acquiesced while saying, “Well, she may not live through the journey.” It’s true. WE may not live through the journey, either. But so far the plan is to make Melli a traveling rat. Maybe I should write my road experiences from her perspective…hmm…

These same friends who look askance at my pet often forward articles on rat experiments (weird peace offerings?). The latest of these comes from Wired.com, and tells how blue dye can heal spine injuries. Check out the hilarious photo!

T/F: I should attempt to dye Melli blue.

And to round out the rat news, I’ve just heard that they’re making a new film version of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. The first version, animated classic The Secret of NIMH, scared the heck out of me. Here’s hoping the new one isn’t a horror flick…

bookrat

What is curious and cute and gray all over? Mellicent. My furry companion never tires of going over the same territory and finding a new way to climb over, through or under. To accompany the photo, a few things that we have in common:

- Ability to happily live on a diet of blueberries, cheerios and dark chocolate.

- Nesting and hibernating are acceptable activities.

- Book love (although to be honest, Melli only uses the bookshelves as a jungle gym).

- Appreciation of the air conditioner. I just like not dying of heat. She loves the breeze and always looks rapturous when nearby.

- We make mistakes and fall down a lot. Me in life and grad school and crashing my scooter, she in falling off the coffee table (it’s a little like falling off the edge of the world…the floor is a dangerous place).

rats can train humans to do simple tricks

While my brother was visiting he met Mellicent. He wasn’t quite sure about her to begin with, but he admitted that he was going to miss her by the time he left. I pointed out to him that it was funny that he of all people should have reservations about a pet rat, seeing as he owned one when we were younger, but then he responded by saying that Melli was definitely more curious and adventurous than pet rat Whiskers of our childhood. I put that down to fond remembrances and didn’t think anything of it until I ran into a fact sheet on a website the other day. Turns out that female rats ARE more prone to scramble around and investigate, while male rats are often content to have their ears scratched and enjoy your company.

Part of Melli’s charm is that she climbs up the side of the cage and stares pointedly at you whenever you so much as move. She anticipates you. She waits with bright, dewy eyes for you to come over and play and let her out of the cage. And she will scrabble along the side of the cage like a little monkey if you walk by, keeping pace with your movements and gnawing the cage bars. Once she’s free though, she’s not about to snuggle up. She wants to investigate! Adventure! Explore! It’s cute, frantic, and a little dizzying for the observer. So to end with, a couple of facts culled from the online FAQ:

Rats can eat chocolate. They can also eat smaller pets. They are omnivores and have been known to eat birds, fish and even smaller rodents.

While it’s great to have both male and female rats, they should not be allowed to play together. Rats can complete the courting ritual and the whole romantic relationship in about 2 seconds.

Rats usually bathe themselves six times a day or more.

Rats have bellybuttons, but no tonsils or gallbladders.

Rats can be trained to do simple tricks.

Rats can train humans to do simple tricks.

smelly melli

A little vignette about Melli that I put together last night...

I cleaned Mellicent's cage today.  It smelled a bit, and although I hadn't planned washing everything up for another couple of days, I thought she must have soiled the lining.  Then later as I sat on my bed reading, it started REEKING again!  And so I went over to the cage, did a sniff test, checked everything to make sure she didn't have diarrhea (or something), and it smelled completely normal: like aspen shavings.  I was mystified.  Then later, I smelled something pungent AGAIN.  And I finally figured it out.  Melli (and all rats) can fart!  And apparently dried corn makes them toot.  Guess what's in her food mix?  Lots of dried corn.  Thank goodness for the internet, or I'd think I have the dirtiest rat on the planet.  She was so cute when I took her out to examine her, too...just woken up, barely opened eyes, yawning and with the softest fur ever...

Apparently rats can't vomit/regurgitate, so the way that they get rid of indigestion is out the other end.  Now I just have to eliminate any and all foods that might have something to do with the phenomena, and I'm set.

presenting mellicent

This is the part where I introduce my pet. Pet in grad student speak equals attempt to stave of insanity by adopting something alive/warm (and preferably furry) that will love you unconditionally, no matter how many deadlines you miss or how stressed you get. So it makes sense that lots of grad students have pets. Especially those of us without roommates. After Christmas, a friend of mine got a cat from a local shelter, and I was thinking of my own situation, imagining how nice it would be…

But I live in a postage stamp-sized apartment, and I travel quite a bit, and a cat or dog is a big commitment. I mean, they live for like 15 years! That’s obligation, dedication, a lot of time I wasn’t quite ready to pledge when I don’t even have a five year plan…

So I thought to myself, what’s still a warm, fuzzy pet, and semi-intelligent but isn’t going to live forever, is portable, and awesome? The answer is: a RAT. Now, before you start questioning my sanity (though I do, quite often), I need to explain about my pet history. My dad, when he was young, had just about any pet you can think of. You name them, his family had them. My mom’s side is a little more traditional…I think there was a golden retriever and maybe a cat. BUT! The important bit is that in my immediate family, we adopted more of my dad’s pet-keeping strategy. While I was growing up, we had cats (3, but only one at a time), a dog, a rabbit, two gerbils, two parakeets, a degu (cross between a chinchilla and a squirrel) and a rat. Guess which small animal was the universal family favorite? Whiskers, the tan-colored rat. He was seriously awesome. Would crawl good-naturedly all over you, and explore anything and everything. PLUS, all the neighborhood kids thought it was edgy and cool that we had a rat (well, he was my brother Lincoln’s, but Whiskers didn’t discriminate in his affection). We all cried at Whiskers’ funeral, and buried him with pomp and paper flowers in the backyard. Yes, I’m serious. With that kind of good experience, I thought, “Why not again?”

I got a friend to take me rat shopping (much to her chagrin, and trust me, she was trying to convince me to get a cat the whole time), and we looked at a couple of stores (I went the big-box store route). One I shall not name had rats basically just as snake bait, which was terrible, and we left in a hurry. The other had quite the selection: several different colors and sub-genres, including white, blue (really a slate gray), beige, Dumbo (ears on the side of the head), etc. I scoped them all out, and bought a smallish blue with the least-gross tail. I know that may not be the best selection method, but really, think about it. What is it that turns people a little green when you talk about rats? It’s the idea of the tail. Well, my little choice has a fairly decent one.

So I brought her home, named her Mellicent (means ’honey’ in French), or Melli for short, and we get along fine. She looks like Remy from Ratatouille, likes to sit on my shoulder or explore said small apartment, and I have a tiny companion to make me laugh and keep me sane.Everyone thinks I’m weird, of course. I am, I’ll admit that. But a pet rat is probably one of my less-weird decisions. And anyway, she grows on you. Several friends have admitted that their anti-rat prejudice was actually based on reputation, and they think Melli is either cute or at least tolerable. See for yourself!

More tales and adventures to follow, of course.