Don't Blink

Last night the rats and I inadvertently had a scary experience. I needed to clean their cage, so I did the usual routine: kicked the dogs and cats out of the bedroom and put the rats on the bed. Normally they run around and play while I deal with their cage.

However, instead of playing last night, or even running to the trunk at the foot of the bed, where there is always piled up laundry in which to burrow, they ran to the head of the bed, where they promptly climbed behind the pillows. Every once in a while I'd glance over and just see their tiny faces sticking out, eyes wide and staring.

I assumed they were just not in the mood to play and kept cleaning their cage.

Several minutes later, I heard a noise and turned around, expecting to see the rats climbing on the bed frame or doing something else that was noisy. Instead I was shocked to see our dog Annie (first introduced in bentorats.blogspot.com/2011/03/rest-of-crew-pt-1.html) sitting in the corner of the room on her bed. Her bed which is framed on one side by the bed itself and on another side by the trunk at the foot of the bed. The trunk where the rats play.

Annie is a huge dog. I am 5'6" and if she sits next to me on the couch, she is taller than me. She also possesses a magnificent tongue, which is probably bigger than either Sushi or Saké.

Annie the Weeping Angel.

For the Doctor Who fans, we call Annie our weeping angel, due to her uncanny ability to show up places without our realization. She's huge and lumbering, yet she can move silently and surprise you when you least expect it. Thus it isn't too surprising that I managed to kick our other two dogs plus one of our cats out of the bedroom without even noticing that giant Annie was also in the room.

I may not have noticed her, but Sushi and Saké certainly did.

Once I realized Annie was there, I immediately took her out of the room. She wasn't paying any attention to the rats and probably wouldn't have bothered them anyway, but obviously that wasn't an option I was going to entertain.

Within moments of Annie's exit, Saké was back to normal, exploring and playing on the bed as usual. Sushi was not quite as comfortable. She hunkered down under a pillow, turned to the wall, and began grooming furiously. Dave sat on the bed with her for about ten minutes and she didn't relax a bit. We put her back in her cage, deciding she'd calm down once she was back in her own safe environment. She climbed immediately in the nest and after a while finally came out and was her usual self.

So, the lesson here: perhaps instead of the Bento Box we should have built the girls a Tardis. They would be no match for the weeping angels.

The Rest of the Crew, Pt. 1

Since Saké and Sushi do not live in a vacuum, I thought I'd spend the next couple of Fridays introducing you to the rest of the pets. There is a surprising amount of interaction in our house between dogs, cats, and rats and it's been fun to see everyone make adjustments to having Saké and Sushi in the house.

Today we'll start with our canine companions. First we have Annie, a 7 year old gigantic black lab with severe hip dysplasia. She will put up with just about anything.

Annie wears the Sorting Hat. I'm pretty sure she belongs in Ravenclaw.

Annie checks out the rats on a regular basis and is tall enough to go nose to nose with them (when they are in their cage) when she wants to.

Pac-Man is an 8 year old golden retriever who has shown virtually no interest in the rats since they arrived. I'm sure he appreciates them though, since they occupy a large part of Parker's time that would otherwise be spent licking Pac-Man's ears.

Pac-Man should model for a high-end camping supplies catalog.

Finally, we have Parker. Parker is an 8 year old lab/German shepherd/beagle mix with hip dysplasia and pancreatitis. He is on a strict low-fat diet, which has been complicated now that we've learned the rats are feeding him the items they don't like from their food. Parker is also rat obsessed and checks on them frequently, spending hours sitting a few feet away from their cage staring intently. We often find him standing on his hind legs, nose to nose with Saké. The rats show no concern for him and often come to the front of the cage when they see him.

Parker - part beagle, part lab, all pain.

We didn't intend to have three dogs but they complement each other pretty well. Annie is the brains, Pac-Man has the looks, and Parker, well, he's Parker.

Size comparisons

Next Friday we'll meet the cats who observe and get harassed by the rats on a regular basis.