I was giving out biscuits to the children, and of course the ratties were lined up along their balcony begging for some. I found a broken piece and began breaking it into small pieces for the boys, but Quicksilver got just a little too eager, and slipped off the edge, leaving him hanging under the balcony. I had to put my hand out to save him, which meant that they all got to the pieces of biscuit. Well, most of the boys grabbed a piece of biscuit and ran, but Gonzo wasn’t satisfied with that. He managed to stuff three pieces into his mouth, then limped off with one piece in his hand too. Surely ratties don’t have cheek pouches? No, just big mouths!
Greedy Gonzo!
Quicksilver is least happy of the ratties about the new babies, Pirate and Zorro, moving in. He is forever challenging them.
On this occasion Pirate stood his ground and boxed back before running off. Quicksilver was not going to take that! He ran up the the next level and began to take it out on poor Zorro, who was in their ferret boat. There was an almighty scuffle and squeak, and Zorro levitated straight out of the ’chimney’, the hole in the top, and hid on the top floor.
Fox loves his home. He won’t stay out to play for long, he takes himself off and heads back for the cage. We usually let them play on the furniture, in a large box, or in their playpen, because our floor isn’t exactly rat friendly. There are all sort of things that he could damage, or that could fall on him, or that could even electrocute him if he nibbled to much, so I worry when he’s down on the floor. Thankfully he usually either climbs up onto the top of the cage, when we have to lift him back down to the balcony, or he goes into a tunnel I’ve put under the cage, so I can just pick him up and put him home.
My youngest daughter was playing with the ratties when Fox decided it was time to go home. He is a very accomplished jumper - he usually leaps half the way home, and hits the ground running. It looked as if he had gone home, but when I went to the cage he was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t under the settee either. I crawled all around the room, calling him, with no result. Eventually I gave up, reminding everyone to be careful where they walked, and got on with the housework.
It was a couple of hours before I saw him again, under the cage. "Foooox", I called. I knelt down, but he was nowhere in sight again. Wait a minute, is that a nose I can see? There he is, in the back of the big speaker!
After much coaxing, I persuaded him to come out of his hidey hole, and he ran up my arm for a cuddle and a treat. Fox has found a cosy spot to hide, but don’t tell daddy!
Thank goodness he didn’t chew any wires. I definitely I need to block up the opening in the speaker.
The boys had some pieces of cauliflower today. Most of them had been out and chosen a piece, but Zorro was busy in the bottom of the cage. Then he took flight, and zipped up the ramp, just a blur past Quicksilver who was eating his cauliflower, and up the cage wall onto the top shelf. Quicksilver stood there looking totally bemused. Where’s my cauliflower gone? And there sat Zorro on the top shelf, eating a piece of cauliflower.
There I was, quietly pouring out the breakfast cereal for the children, with Jasper sitting on the back of my neck. Then he decided to sliiiiiide down my back, inside my pyjamas. Aaaaaargh! Twin rat tracks right down my back.
What did I do then? I apologised to him because my scream had scared him.
Annette
Last modified: Friday, 04-Mar-2005 23:56:44 GMT
