Merrill the rat, appears to tell my son Noah a secret...
My son Noah started the second grade and on of the first lessons that he learned was that pet rats have lots of babies. The class pet rat had nine babies. Of course the teacher Mrs. Jarrett offered up the little bundles of joy to her willing students. Noah came home and posed the question "Can I have a baby rat?" Well needless to say, it was OK with me, but it was an E.F. Hutton moment with my wife Mary, I don't think she said anything for a few minutes. After an hour or so of begging, she gave in, telling him he had to take care of it, and she would have nothing to do with it.
I remember an other moment like this when I proposed getting a dog nine or so years ago. A little background; my wife Mary NEVER had a pet in her life, her parents would not allow any type of pets in the house. As a kid, I had almost every pet known to man, cats, dogs turtles, hamsters, gerbils, and mice. So a rat would not be anything out of the ordinary in our household.
So we got a dog, a chocolate lab, Bonnie, after our house was broken into while living in Columbus. And I bought a tortoise, Zippy after moving to Fremont, why not let the boy have a rat?
Well, after a shopping trip, we now have a three story rat condo, with an exercise wheel and a hut. and Our new pet, Merrill is home safe and sound. She is very gentle and very friendly, and seems willing to be held, except by my wife Mary...
