Ratified

When Ryan and James were little, Carol asked them to take care of her daughters' rats, Bella and Alice, while they were on vacation.

One month later, we had rats of our own. Go figure.

The rats were well loved, but rarely seen outside the family until one fateful day in early 2011. Someone - I think it was James - came into the studio with a rat on his shoulder. Much to my annoyance, the rat ended up on my work table. So I did the only thing I could do under those circumstances: I put a saddle on her.

She didn't mind, so I did it again.

And then again and again and again, over the course of many years with multiple generations of rats.

Our last saddle rat, Pixie, died unexpectedly in 2016. She was young and healthy, and we were all traumatized by her passing. After a lot of discussion, we decided not to replace her. It was the end of an era.

Last month, Ryan moved into a townhouse. He loves animals, so I knew it was only a matter of time before he got a pet. I thought it would be a cat, but instead, he bought a pair of rats.

When he invited me to come meet them, I asked if I could bring a saddle.

"I don't think they're ready for that," he told me. "They're young and fast and not all the way socialized."

That wasn't the answer I was hoping for, but his rats, his rules. I left the saddle at home.

When I arrived, both Yoda and Soda were sleeping in their tube. 

We woke them up, and for the first few minutes, they were calm, quiet and inquisitive.

Basically, they looked like perfect saddle rat candidates.

Then they woke up for real, and it was a circus.

Oh, I had forgotten how fun - and fast - young rats can be! I had so much fun playing with them. I didn't realize how much I missed that.

Thank you for sharing your babies with me, Ryan. With or without saddles, I think they're amazing.