It's the Year of the Rat Appreciation
They're actually nice pets, and they give their lives for us.
As we ring in the Chinese Year of the Rat (starting Thursday), perhaps it is time to consider whether the rat has gotten a bad rap.
"They are really good pets for some people," says Karen Rosenthal, a rat expert at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. "They're inquisitive and easy to train. One of my kids fell in love with a pet rat."
Kristina Kalivoda, a Texas A&M University vet and avowed rat-lover, says the critters have surely saved millions of lives by giving up theirs for medical research.
"Many people believe they are nasty, filthy creatures," Kalivoda says. "In fact, rats wash themselves . . . about as often as most cats."
Clarification: The Oscar-nominated Ratatouille notwithstanding, wild rats are nasty, filthy, sewer-dwelling, disease-carrying animals.
Domestic rats, in contrast, have long been bred to be civilized and (some think) cute. Their fur comes in silver, blond, gray, black or patterns, and they can learn to come to the sound of a clicker. For food.
"They're never going to bring you your slippers," Rosenthal says. "But a rat will sit on your shoulder while you're at the computer. They can be very affectionate. They don't bite unless provoked, unlike mice or hamsters."
Some ratrivia from Texas A&M:
Rats can't vomit.
They have a belly button.
They make a chirping sound when "amused."
And they live only a few years, during which females free to mate are almost continually pregnant.
- Marie McCullough