{"id":84,"date":"2008-02-19T12:56:52","date_gmt":"2008-02-19T16:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mainelyratrescue.org\/rattieblog2\/?p=84"},"modified":"2008-02-19T12:56:52","modified_gmt":"2008-02-19T16:56:52","slug":"previous-featured-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainelyratrescue.org\/rattieblog2\/previous-featured-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Furever Afters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlie (formerly Fred of LaGrange) with his boy Caleb!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/font>
\n**”I am so happy with these rats, they are so much fun to play with. They love to sneak into my hoodie and groom themselves in there forever! They lick my hands when I pet them, and love to run around on the couch, hiding in the blankets and then popping out! Even my dad thinks they are kinda cute! I named them Mac and Charlie, I like them both, but Mac is really funny! I really love these guys!”**<\/p>\n

That is from my step son, Caleb. He was a bit unsure of having a pet rat at first, as he was used to the idea of hamsters and gerbils as pets, which are very sweet, but just don’t have that same level of interaction you get from a rat! When I brought these boys home, Caleb was beside himself with excitement. I wanted to let them settle in for the first day without a lot of handling just in case they were stressed from the car ride home, but that was like torture for Caleb! He wanted to pet them and play with them so bad! The next day, he took them out and let them crawl all over him, just amazed at how friendly they were. And now, I can barely keep him away from the rats! When he is home, he has two rats with him. He even invited his best friend and neighbor over to see the rats, and now that boy would love a couple of rats as well!
\nCharlie and Mac are just the sweetest boys. I owned rats in the past, but it has been over 5 years. These boys are some of the sweetest rats I have ever owned. They charge to the cage door as soon as you walk by their cage, begging to come out. When you are trying to put new food in their cage, they attack your hand with kisses and try to crawl up your arm to let themselves out! They are such little loves, even when I give them free range time in the bathroom, they would rather crawl over me then explore…although, curiosity usually does get the better of them and soon they are hopping all over the bathroom checking everything out…but they always pop back over for a cuddle before they are off again! Mac is the wild man and bouncy character, always looking to get into something! Charlie loves to cuddle and just be pet, bruxing in complete bliss. They both stop for a good scratch behind the ears, though! Mac is a piggy, and loves to steal Charlie’s treats, so I always make sure to give Charlie a second one, because Mac usually is off with the first piece! They love their hammocks and have the best spot in the house where they can see everyone. These rats are so wonderful, we couldn’t have asked for sweeter pets! Thanks so much for bringing these boys into our lives!”
\n<\/p>\n

Galileo with his girl Rylee\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 June 2009
\n<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Galileo, A.K.A. Funny, is having a fun time at our house. He\u2019s very happy and loves all the attention that he\u2019s receiving. He\u2019s not a picky eater, and is always glad to try new foods. He excitedly runs back and forth and up and down his stairs when he knows he\u2019s about to be picked up.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

We have two cats, and at first we worried we\u2019d have to keep a close eye on them. Turns out the cats are a little scared of Galileo, but he\u2019s made friends with one of them.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Galileo is a very cute and cuddly rat that we are glad to have as part of our family.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rylee W.
\nage 11<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

****************************************<\/p>\n

February 27, 2009
\nBy Zimra of Orono, ME<\/p>\n

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.<\/p>\n

My Mom HATED rats! Hated them with a vengeance! She said that they were
\ndisgusting little beasts that belonged in sewers and trash
\ncans. Nobody, nothing, could change her mind. She didn’t even want to
\nbe shown pictures of them. They gave her the heebie-jeebies.
\nOne of my friends, or I should say my big sister’s friend, had
\nthree Rats. She, Danni (Danielle), told me about Mainely Rat Rescue.She had adopted
\nthe 3rd from MRR. She is the reason I finally was able to
\nfoster. Because, I tried without success to get my mom to let me
\nfoster. I told her the whole process and how she wouldn’t even have to
\nsee them if she didn’t want to. She again gave me a big NO…in her
\nwords “Only boys like rats.” I proved her wrong telling her that
\nDanni had Rats. I talked to her, Danni talked to her. She finally
\nconsented,throwing her arms up in defeat.
\nSo I E-mailed MRR telling them I could foster rats for them if they’d let me.
\nThey responded immediately telling me that I could. They got me all set up
\nwith a cage, food…everything I needed. So Me and my dad went and
\npicked up two rats. A siamese white one and a black hooded one.
\nI took care of them for a week before my mom even touched them.
\nOne day, I brought them on the couch to play and then my mom walked up the
\nstairs. She saw them sniffing around and looking just as cute as they
\ncome.<\/p>\n

( Number one cutest thing a rat can do is clean his face.. Number
\ntwo, .. Sniff like there’s no tomorrow. )<\/p>\n

My Mom sat down and watched them for a minute.. and then, miracle of
\nmiracles. She petted one.
\nThe one she petted was Pepper, the black hooded one.
\nHe ran and hid underneath the couch cushion.
\nShe frowned and tried petting the other one.
\nSalt, the white siamese one.
\nHe flopped down against my moms leg and just went to sleep.
\nThey say male rats are more lethargic than girls. Salt is just a sleepy head.
\nAfter she saw how charming he could be, she gently picked him up with
\none hand and set him on her lap. After a quick sniff around,confirming that there was no immediate danger, Salt went back to sleep. My mom just fell in love with him.
\nshe called him her little man and held him every night.
\nBUT, she still hadn’t adopted him.
\nOne morning, we got an E-mail from MRR. Robin, the foster care counselor,
\ntold us that someone in Michigan wanted to adopt Salt and Pepper. My
\nmom just fluffed up like a mother hen and said, ” OH NO, no-ones taking
\nmy Saltie, he’s mine!”
\nI read the rest of the E-Mail. Robin told us that there was no way to
\ntransport them that far. After that scare, my mom didn’t want to take
\nanymore chances.
\nWe immediately called Robin and told her we were DEFINITELY adopting them.
\nWhen we hung up my mom threw on her coat and raced out the door with
\nme. We Bought a Rat Manor Habitat, toys, treats, rat bedding,.. in
\nshort, everything we needed to keep Salt and Pepper happy.
\nMy mom has now managed to bond a little better with Pepper but he is
\nno competition for Salt. Salt’s just a natural charmer.
\nJust this morning we were all eating oatmeal and I look up and see
\nSalt and Pepper happily managing to get oatmeal ALL OVER their
\nfaces. My mom had served them before anyone else.
\nShe really pampers them.<\/p>\n

So there it is. My mom is a true example that no matter how much you
\nthink that you hate rats…..you’d be surprised.
\nTake my word for it.
\n-Zimra-<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

January 2, 2009
\nBy Susie Duff of Framingham, MA<\/p>\n

I’ve never been a rat owner or really even thought about it. I had the
\ntypical pets as a child growing up in an apartment–hamsters, gerbils,
\nguinea pigs, and mice for a brief time until my mom thought they smelled too
\nmuch.<\/p>\n

But I’ve always loved all kinds of animals and as a soon as I lived in a
\nhouse, I loaded it up with dogs. Well, ok, three.<\/p>\n

My husband jokes that there must be a sign up on door that only animals can
\nsee, “Stray Pets Welcome.” Once an escaped cockatiel found his way to the
\ntelephone line in front of our house and flew down to me when I started
\ntalking to him. I was able to return him to his owner who lived a few miles
\naway. Another time I found an albino ring necked dove on the way home.<\/p>\n

So I guess it isn’t that surprising that one day when I came home from work,
\nmy husband reported that there was a white rat in our garage. I knew enough
\nfrom doing many trap\/releases of wild rats living under our deck to know
\nthat a white rat isn’t wild.<\/p>\n

So I went to the garage and started talking to the clutter. Priscilla came
\nout immediately. She didn’t come up to me, but she was calm enough to
\nexplore unafraid.<\/p>\n

I caught her almost immediately in a hav-a-heart trap. She came over to my
\nside of the cage and let me pet her through the bars. The next day I spotted
\nanother white rat hiding under our deck and coming out to eat bird seed that
\nhad fallen from the feeder. I was also able to catch her.<\/p>\n

When Priscilla was reunited with Abagail, the scene would have warmed any
\nheart. She was so excited and started kissing her all over her head. It was
\nclear she was saying, “My best friend!!! I thought I would never see you
\nagain!” (Actually, we think they were mother and daughter).<\/p>\n

My husband agreed that we could keep them, although he confessed that rats
\nhad always ‘creeped him out.’<\/p>\n

A few weeks later, it dawned on me that Priscilla might be pregnant. The day
\nafter I told my husband that this was a possibility, she gave birth to ten
\nbabies (the father was a wild rat).<\/p>\n

It was then that I found the wonderful rat rescue groups on the internet.<\/p>\n

I promised my husband I would surrender the babies. But only two survived
\n(long story, but the moral is that vets do NOT always know best).
\nFortunately they both turned out to be females.<\/p>\n

I was still planning on giving them up until my husband suggested we keep
\nall four. (And no, I didn’t push for it; it was all his idea). As a sign of
\ngratitude, I let him name the babies (Hoot and Annie. Can you tell he used
\nto be a musician?).<\/p>\n

I’ve since had the pleasure of discovering what wonderful animals rats are.
\nThey’re so intelligent and so personable. I can’t think of any other pet
\nwhere biting is extremely unusual.<\/p>\n

They love to explore the room, help me work on the computer, climb the
\ncurtain for a treat, and go digging in my dog’s fur. His favorite ratty game
\nis hide-and-seek with Priscilla, but he’s also very interested in ‘bobbing
\nfor dog kibble.’<\/p>\n

I built them a grotto out of a bookcase and I love watching them go from
\nshelf to shelf, swing in the hammock, and try to hide food from each other.<\/p>\n

One of the funniest incidents I’ve ever seen was the time that one of them
\nwas ‘hiding’ treats by furiously moving them from shelf A to shelf B, while
\nat the same time the other was moving them just as fast back to their
\noriginal spot.<\/p>\n

This went on for about 10 minutes, neither one realizing that their pile of
\ntreats was not getting any smaller. Then when one was waiting for the other
\nto move out of the way so she could pass, you could just see comprehension
\nsuddenly dawn on her. She paused for a few seconds, (“Wait a minute…..”)
\nand then changed her route so that she deposited them on a different shelf.<\/p>\n

I know now that I’ll be a rat owner for many years to come. They’ve got to
\nbe one of the greatest pets.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Decemeber 2008<\/strong>
\nBy Melissa Bouchard of Palermo, Maine<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n