Throwback Thursday: Oh, Rats.
I could never understand how someone could actually love a rodent like a pet. I have always loved big dogs. We’ve had 3 golden retrievers: Nugget, MacGyver, and Indy (short for Indiana Jones), and Jaclyn’s dog Radar. They were and continue to be an integral part of our lives. Their loyalty and sweet personalities make them different from other kinds of pets.
Back in 1995, Pat Repperd, Jaclyn’s 1st grade teacher, introduced behavior modification by bringing in 2 rats for a class lesson. The students took the rats home at night and on weekends, and they all became quite fond of these 4-legged creatures.
Well, one thing lead to another, and the kids all received a lesson in procreation. Voila! 10 baby rats were born right in the classroom. Yuck! Then Nicole begged me to take one of the rats as her own pet! I don’t know how she talked me into it because I was terrified of the rodent. I never touched it or interacted with it ever. Nope! Not me.
Nicole was wonderful with Aphrodite, her little rat. She kept the cage clean and was responsible for everything from feeding her and filling her water bottle. Nicole allowed her rat to crawl over her as she did her homework. That was the only place the rat was allowed to roam outside of her cage.
One afternoon, I went in to talk to Nicole while she was doing her homework in her bedroom. I didn’t notice that Aphrodite was crawling around Nicole’s neck because Nicole had long, thick hair. All of a sudden, I felt something jump on to the back of my neck. I was completely startled and let out a blood curdling scream. Nicole quickly grabbed Aphrodite off of my back and put her in the cage. I had to leave Nicole’s room just to compose myself.
A few minutes later, Nicole walked into my room and said, “I think there’s something wrong with Aphrodite, Mom.” I told Nicole that she was fine but when she told me that Aphrodite wasn’t moving, I thought I should take a look at her. When I walked into Nicole’s bedroom, I found a dead Aphrodite lying in her cage. OMG! I killed her! I actually scared her to death! I felt awful and knew I had to do something. So Nicole and I buried Aphrodite and built a little fence around her gravesite. The ceremony was therapeutic for Nicole, and for me.
Who knew you could actually scare something to death? Lesson learned.