The Easter Rat Surprise

We got another pet rat for Easter this year. She was a surprise for all of us, because we were not expecting to add another addition to our rat family so soon. She came into our lives almost entirely by chance. Let me tell you her story...

It was the Saturday before Easter. Children were busily rushing back and forth in our front yard, gathering eggs from secret hiding spots while the rest of the adults watched and took pictures. I was one of the adults with a camera in hand, enthusiastically taking photos of Scott and Emma and their 10 cousins. During all of the chaotic hustling and bustling, Grandma North spotted a neighbor out in her yard and went to talk to her.

After the excitement from the Easter egg hunt, all of us went inside the house to chat and visit with one another. I was sitting on the couch near my mother-in-law and some of the rest of the family. While we were talking Emma came up to me and asked if she and two of her cousins could play in the backyard on the slide. I thought about it for a moment and then told them it was okay. A few minutes later, Margaret, my mother-in-law, told us what her neighbor Delyse told her. She explained that Delyse was a little worried that her house would be invaded by a domesticated rat roaming the neighborhood. Apparently, the neighbor living behind Delyse no longer wanted their pet rat so they decided to turn it loose "into the wild" to fend for itself. Delyse had been watching the rat run back and forth in her backyard all morning, and was worried that the rat would somehow find a way into her home.

Angry and saddened by the tale of the homeless rat, I knew that the rat was doomed to die from either exposure to the cold, starvation, or violence. I thought about looking for the rat myself, but quickly became pessimistic. Just then, Emma came rushing into the house saying, "Becky! Becky! There's a rat in our backyard!" My mother-in-law quickly asked what color it was and Emma answered in a rushed voice, "White!" I immediately jumped up and went into the backyard. The other two girls were on the grass looking through the fence. The rat had escaped.

After realizing that the rat was so close by, I went back into the house and asked Scott for assistance. Scott went out into the front yard and began searching for the rat while I decided to walk around our next-door neighbor's yard. By the time I came back Scott was holding the rat in his hands. Apparently, the rat was hiding under the giant fir-tree in our backyard.

We brought the rat into the house and immediately announced the news to the family. Scott was very pleased that the rat was a girl rather than a boy, because that would mean we could probably keep her. We already have three female rats in a giant cage in Scott's room, and one more shouldn't hurt anything. Our family loves pet rats.

We decided to keep her. Scott created a rat-name ballot and we all voted for which name we liked best. The winner was "Cookie," to match with our other "C" rat names we currently have: Cinnamon, Cocoa, and Checkers. Cookie is a red-eyed standard-ear Siamese rat. We are going to quarantine her for the next two weeks and then introduce her to the other rats at the end of that time. From what we can tell so far, Cookie is a very pretty, mellow, sociable rat, and we know she will make a delightful addition to our rat family. She was a great Easter surprise.

Cinnamon

Cocoa

Checkers

Cookie