A lot of people don’t know this, but rats can be wonderful pets. They’re intelligent and affectionate–a good combination. Playful, too. And not hard to care for. What’s not to like?
When I had to bring one of our rats to the vet, she would ride on my shoulder and never jump off. People in the waiting room shied away at first, some with horrified expressions on their faces; but those sessions usually culminated in those very same people petting the rat and saying “kitchy-koo!” and other witticisms.
Be careful! They’ll win you over if you give them half a chance.
Today was the 77th annual Inchworm Rodeo at Pongo City, Kentucky–but I couldn’t possibly write it up until I get a bigger audience. Suffice it to say that the Living Legend of Inchworm Rodeo fully lived up to expectations, and the unimaginable calamity that befell last year’s Inchworm Rodeo was not repeated.
Oh, well. Maybe tomorrow. If the numbers are good. Inchworm Rodeo only comes once a year, and I wouldn’t want to waste it.
All right, it’s not as exciting as Ben-Hur’s chariot race–but gee, baby donkeys are awful cute, aren’t they? Especially the one in the hammock. And I can never see videos of donkeys without thinking of this:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass (Zechariah 9:9)
The only reason this video is here is because my brain is wrung out after typing up a 2,000-word book review for Chalcedon, and it needs a nice massage.
You’d think there’d by more than enough nuts to go around, here, but the chipmunks and the squirrels would not agree. It looks ferocious, but I don’t see any of them getting hurt.
Here is an American anole (aka “chameleon”) reacting to his reflection in a mirror. The pink dewlap and the push-up motions are a common threat display.
My anole went far beyond what this one does. He turned several shades of brown and black and, with jaws gaping, lunged at his reflection. I had to take the mirror away, and I never showed it to him again.
Interesting, isn’t it, that the only animal mentioned as a pet in the Bible was a little ewe lamb. But these do look like animals you could really get attached to.
True fact: Eve Arden (“Our Miss Brooks”) used to keep a pet sheep in her house until her housekeeper finally said, “Either she goes or I go,” so the sheep had to live outside. I can only think it must have been an awfully good housekeeper.
And you thought these were just for dogs and cats? Hah! Turns out everybody likes to chase those little lasers lights–in fact, this is probably the only way you can actually play and have fun with a spider. If you’re interested in something bigger, with fewer legs, we’ve got ducklings and penguins and a horse.
I can easily imagine my mother’s horrified outburst at walking into the dining room and finding the rabbit and the dog on the table.
It’s extraordinary, though, that dogs and bunnies can play together without the bunny getting eaten. It’s because animals are smart enough to learn ways of life that owe nothing to their supposed “instincts”–if there even is such a thing, which I’m beginning to doubt. The only thing typical about animals is the ease with which they break out of typical.
Why do I think a hamster would pay (if he had any money) to be inside a washing machine when it was in spin cycle?
Hey–who let those mice in on this hamster video? Oh: mice acting like hamsters. My mice always took turns on the wheel, one mouse at a time. None of this crazy hamster stuff with everybody on the wheel at once.
