I walk in the air, between the rain, through myself and back again. Where? I don't know.

Mila

CAVEAT: This post is about my pet rat, Mila. If you don't like rats, don't read this post. If you are tempted to make nasty comments about rats, DON'T. I'll delete the comment and say something very nasty to you, I'm sure. Just play nicely. Don't flame either me or Mila. Thank you.

First off, you may remember that recently I bought a baby Syrian hamster named Puka. Well, sadly, she proved impossible (for me) to tame, and when I asked the lovely Petco people about it, they said that sometimes that just happens. "Bring her back and we'll put her in the breeding program."

I thought about that for a moment.

"So then you'll have a LOT of ill-tempered hamsters running around."

But so it was. I took her back and they whisked her off to hamster sex heaven. I hope. I, on the other hand, was quite happily choosing a baby rat. Those of you who've known me for a while will know that when I was a kid, ages 8-10 maybe, I had a rat named Lovey. She just so happened to be pregnant... And soon I was breeding rats. Heh. I sold some, gave some away, kept some, and so on. When I was nine or ten, I can't remember, there was a heat wave while I was at school and Lovey and her two sons died. I was devastated, and I haven't had a rat since.

Until now.

I picked up this black and white baby rat and she scampered up my arm and nestled in my hair... PERFECT. That's the best response. I was immediately in love, and she didn't seem unhappy, either.

I named her Mila, and we're getting along quite nicely. She's an absolute cuddle-bug. She wakes up when I do in the morning, has breakfast, bathes herself, and then is ready to come out and play. She travels quite nicely, either in her comfy carrier or tucked in my or Ben's jacket. (But if we leave the house without her, she gets a little woebegone.) Then it's time for me to go to work (and I don't quite think they'd appreciate me bringing her with me) so back home she goes. When we come home from work, she wakes up and stands up on her back legs, obviously wanting out. Then it's her favorite: playtime. She made up a few games last night, including peekaboo and tag (originals, those), and I'm sure tonight will be even more entertaining. Her one weakness doesn't seem to be food, interestingly enough; it's shiny objects. She tries to take my earrings, my engagement ring, my claddagh, and most recently, my watch. I took her to my grandparents' house this morning (which she really enjoyed--so cute) and Grandma gave her an old costume jewelry earring. We handed it to her, and she looked it over, sort of unimpressed. It had a pearlescent surface surrounded by "gold," but it didn't seem to be shiny enough to really grab her attention... until she turned it over and discovered that the back was completely covered in "gold." She began to chitter excitedly and tucked the treasure in the back of her carrier. She sat playing with it for a few minutes until Grandma brought another present: a huge cardboard wrapping-paper tube. Woo hoo! Even better! Ah, I love my grandparents.

Well... that's what I'm doing lately... bonding with Mila. I think Ben's getting jealous. *laughs* Then Mila runs over and nuzzles his chin and he forgets all about me, so I think we're even.

If you've ever considered getting a small companion animal, one that will travel with you, sit with you, play with you... Basically a familiar, if you think about it... Anyway, if you've ever wanted one, do yourself a favor and go buy a rat. I wish I'd done it again years ago.

Ciao!

posted by Emma @ Thursday, December 08, 2005