A New Member of the Family

Oops!

One of the main reasons I wanted to do this job was so that I could spend more time with some of my favourite animals. Animals of all kinds make me laugh, they fascinate me. From gerbils going about their daily business, always busy with something, to laid back cats that sleepily drape themselves around your neck. I adore them.

I became impatient: my desire to look after small furries got the better of me, and we are now proud owners of a rather fat rat called Picnic. I was initially looking for 2 or 3 rats as I know that they generally prefer being in groups, however, when I saw this little fella (not so little) looking for a home, I fell in love. He’s not your typical rat. He loves humans and he LOVES food, but he doesn’t like other animals, not even his own species. He’s only been with us a day, but this has already been established. We were told that he used to beat up his brothers, which is why he was up for rehoming, and he has been a bit hostile to a rabbit, so we were forewarned. This morning, he gave our dog, Molly, what for. Now, Molly is the most gentle, friendly, empathetic dog you’ll ever meet. She does like barking at the postman and will give unknown visitors a piece of her mind, but she is the most gentle of souls with children especially, and other animals. I remember once, when walking off lead, we both spotted three rabbits bounding around on the grass just metres away from us. She is a lurcher cross so is technically a sighthound, so she should have been on them in an instant. Instead, she just stood there and watched, her tail gently swaying from side to side. So she has always made friends with our small furries, but not Picnic. Nope. He was having none of it. Hair bristled, spitting, jumping to and fro- Molly drew back in fear and snuggled into me, terrified of this humungous, ferocious rat. I am hoping in time that he will come to and see that animals can be friends too, but for now, he is having his own special place in our home away from any guests, and at just past spitting distance of the dog.