To shorten this abridged tale further, I'll suffice it to say that all animals were properly rescued by proper authorities under properly used laws that were in effect. However, being three rats, the proper authorities had no manner of keeping or caring for them properly. I came home from work that very day to find three rats on my dining room table.
I had no issue with rats, but also had no clue about how to tend to them properly - and being abused (mostly from ignorance or neglect) for most of their short lives (recall here that male rats live an average of 3 1/2 years), they were none to welcoming of a human hand. For the next long while, I did my best to tend to them and keep them healthy, read books on the matter and made my best attempt.
In the end, they lived the fullest extent of their lives, but cared not for human interaction and would bite any hand in their domain save for mine (after many months of persistence..), yet they would not tolerate me for any length of time.
This always bothered me - as I knew that since I had learned to love the little rascals, I could have done better had I only gotten them younger.
This, as I said was many years back (roughly a decade). But, we have a tale of the current to bring to you, now that you may have an understanding of my deep appreciation for the most intelligent rodents.
Roughly a fortnight back, Rayne and I decided it was a good time to try raising and training rats - what with the length of time I had been mentioning it to her in private, and with her growing to the idea. So, We had contacted a breeder that I happened across who came with glowing recommendations. Her website is here:
http://www.freewebs.com/lifedreamsrattery/
Armed with information and self preparations, we set to the task of building a home for our immanent rat friends, complete in the security of the fact that they had not yet been born, and that we had weeks ahead of us to prepare a rat mansion fit for a py-rat king (or kings, as it were... as it is best to have at minimum a pair of the same sex).
Well, the universe abhors a vacuum, and does not look lightly on well planned and organized schemes. And this is where the tale begins to go array.
On the first day of this ill-timed adventure, I received a message from my best friend, who happens to be a science teacher at a local Catholic highschool. It contained a photo a young white rat in a fish bowl and the phrase "wanna pet?"
Well, knowing the teasing nature of my friend (as best friends are apt to do to one another, even into adulthood), I assumed this was done in jest, and that the poor creature was part of the class - although, to be sure, if it was a malicious lesson he wouldn't have rubbed my nose in it.
The shortened version here is that it was indeed no jest, and the young rat had been rescued by none other than himself in the school. They do not use rats in the school for any purpose, and it's presence had caused an alarm (as I'm sure you can imagine).
Being that this was a docile rat, and stark white in color, and so young it was apparent that this was not an errant wild rat in search of a meal or nest of wires to chew itself to death on. No, this was more tragic than that.
This poor rat was but the mere part of a spring-break prank that was ill contrived and poorly executed. It had been purchased, along with a dozen small goldfish by a girl (yes, this was constructed by a teenage girl) for the sole purpose wreaking havoc in the school. The poor fish were released into a commode in the girls lavatory, whilst the rat was roaming the hall.
Some of the fish were saved and now live comfortably in a pre-existing aquarium in the school. But that's where the simple ends and the odd chances and irony begin.
Of all of the areas of the school, and all of the teachers that could have been nearest the rat to capture/rescue it, it just happened to be my friend who was the one do the task. The one man in the school who happened to know people who had a clue about rats, and were in deed at that very time preparing a rat home and able to take and care for it is the one person that the universe had sent the rat to.
He had taken the rat into his classroom, found a fish bowl to temporarily house him whilst he prepped a larger aquarium and sent me a photo.
As my oldest son is keen to point out the irony of the day as the rat's housing changed through necessity - from the hallway to a fish bowl to an aquarium, to a coffee can for the trip home, then (and this is the truly ironic part) into a cat carrier to await his new care-takers.
Now - to be sure, just because a man owns a horse does not make him an equestrian genius. So the same is us with our new friend. But, we are attempting to make him as happy and comfortable as is possible, and in truth, he seems to be very contented with his new surroundings and the people he can interact with.
So, with no further ado, nor need to wordsmith a grander introduction than is necessary, but still one worthy of a py-rat king, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Edward Teach
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