Oh Rats!!!!!

           

            Meet Daisy and Lily.   Daisy is definitely the most outgoing and cuddly.  She likes to run up and down my daughter’s arm and even crawls down the front of her shirt! Lily prefers to sit in the corner of the room and take in all she sees.  She does come out when we get her play tunnel twisted in a knot on the floor and she likes to run through it, popping in and out.
            No, these little varmints aren’t ours.  We’ve been rat-sitting for some of our friends this week.  My daughter's being paid for her work – and that’s just fine – I’ll let it be her job!  Yes, they’re cute and furry and have perky little ears, but that TAIL!  It’s long and pointy and, well, I just can’t get past it.  So I sit on her friend’s bed while she has fun playing with these two animals and watch them crawl all over her! 
            Her first job is to dish a mere teaspoon of baby food in a tiny bowl (these two love their pureed squash) and then, when we reach her friend’s bedroom, she has to hide it in the top drawer so the two won’t see it until it’s time to eat.
           You see, these little creatures need their exercise just like the rest of us, and a little social stimulation, if you will.  So, before she takes them out of their three-level condo, she must roll up a bath towel and cover the crack at the bottom of the door, in case they get any ideas about escaping to the wider world.  She then opens the cage door and they hop down onto a footstool and onto the rug.  Daisy is black-striped.  Lily is brown-striped.  And, as I said, they definitely have their own personalities.  After they get their play time, they start to look up longingly at their food dishes. She then takes the little bowl of squash out of the dresser drawer, and fights to place it in the cage while the two crawl all over her hand!  Then it’s 12 small kibbles and 6 large ones in another bowl, a teaspoon of rice in yet another one, and oh, yeah, for a special treat they each are fed a tiny yogurt chewy which they grab through the little cage with their tiny mouths. 
           Did I mention their luxury accommodations?  It’s like a ClubMed for rats!  Three levels of fun, complete with a giant wheel for nighttime running, a little hammock to swing in, a litter box (yes, they’re trained, though apparently Lily has had a few accidents on the upper level)  and three bowls with their various culinary delights. We close it all up, and then we’re done for the night. 
          What’s in it for me?  I get to watch my daughter take responsibility for these little animals and enjoy them, and, oh, did I mention there’s a pool in the backyard of the house for us to use?

For life is what you make it.  So make it good!