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new boy
13 years ago
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....p;l=7376f3bf25
This is my newest boy, totally unexpected.
I got a phone call Tuesday morning (it woke me up!) from a branch of the YMCA who needed my help.
A rat had been found outside on the street, peering in through their glass doors!
They managed to catch him up, said they knew he was domestic because he was white. He apparently promptly took a chunk out of two of the workers.
I got dressed, and literally left that minute.
When I got there, I found a very dirty, thin, scared boy in a cardboard box.
I went to gather him up, and he showed me the body language that suggested he wasn't above biting me. Im confident with rats, but Im not stupid. Im not getting bitten if I can help it, and he would have done, quite readily.
In the end, I tipped him into the carry cage. The second he got in, he grabbed the food that was in there and began to eat. Most nervous rats won't eat, but he was so hungry he just ate......and ate....for two solid hours. He didn't stop.
And when he was offered water, he drank for 5 whole minutes, before leaving, then heading back for another epic drink.
None of this is normal. This boy was starving, and hadn't had a drink in at least 24 hours, probably longer.
He was eating so fast that he choked himself on 3 occasions.
He is dirty, his claws are worn to stumps, and he has a wound on his tail.
I've named him Cowboy. Since he's been here, his eating and drinking has returned to normal, and I have managed to pick him up.
But he is still keen to bite if you get too close too fast. Its pure fear, no actual 'aggression'. This kind of biting only occurs in rats that have a reason to be on the defensive.
If he's been living wild for a while, and it has been more than a few days as rats don't get this thin and dirty and dehydrated in 24 hours, then its likely he's had to learn to bite first and ask questions later.
Just another plea to people, anyone, PLEASE don't release a domestic rat into the wild, ever.
They don't survive.
This boy was just lucky he had the sense to go to the homeless shelter and peer in. And lucky they had the good heart to box him up for me. And lucky he was born white, because the man said had he been brown, he would have 'disposed of him'.
It is absolutely freezing tonight, this boy wouldn't have lasted had we not got him in time. This was a big city, and the building he was found outside is right on a busy road.
These rats are domesticated, they have lost a lot of their survival skills. I've had a handful of these 'found wild' rats come in over the years, and none have fared well. This boy has been the worst so far, but all have been thin and very dehydrated.
Just.....look at him. And PLEASE....if you don't want your rat, take it to a rescue, don't just release it. It will die.
Cowboy is extremely lucky.
This is my newest boy, totally unexpected.
I got a phone call Tuesday morning (it woke me up!) from a branch of the YMCA who needed my help.
A rat had been found outside on the street, peering in through their glass doors!
They managed to catch him up, said they knew he was domestic because he was white. He apparently promptly took a chunk out of two of the workers.
I got dressed, and literally left that minute.
When I got there, I found a very dirty, thin, scared boy in a cardboard box.
I went to gather him up, and he showed me the body language that suggested he wasn't above biting me. Im confident with rats, but Im not stupid. Im not getting bitten if I can help it, and he would have done, quite readily.
In the end, I tipped him into the carry cage. The second he got in, he grabbed the food that was in there and began to eat. Most nervous rats won't eat, but he was so hungry he just ate......and ate....for two solid hours. He didn't stop.
And when he was offered water, he drank for 5 whole minutes, before leaving, then heading back for another epic drink.
None of this is normal. This boy was starving, and hadn't had a drink in at least 24 hours, probably longer.
He was eating so fast that he choked himself on 3 occasions.
He is dirty, his claws are worn to stumps, and he has a wound on his tail.
I've named him Cowboy. Since he's been here, his eating and drinking has returned to normal, and I have managed to pick him up.
But he is still keen to bite if you get too close too fast. Its pure fear, no actual 'aggression'. This kind of biting only occurs in rats that have a reason to be on the defensive.
If he's been living wild for a while, and it has been more than a few days as rats don't get this thin and dirty and dehydrated in 24 hours, then its likely he's had to learn to bite first and ask questions later.
Just another plea to people, anyone, PLEASE don't release a domestic rat into the wild, ever.
They don't survive.
This boy was just lucky he had the sense to go to the homeless shelter and peer in. And lucky they had the good heart to box him up for me. And lucky he was born white, because the man said had he been brown, he would have 'disposed of him'.
It is absolutely freezing tonight, this boy wouldn't have lasted had we not got him in time. This was a big city, and the building he was found outside is right on a busy road.
These rats are domesticated, they have lost a lot of their survival skills. I've had a handful of these 'found wild' rats come in over the years, and none have fared well. This boy has been the worst so far, but all have been thin and very dehydrated.
Just.....look at him. And PLEASE....if you don't want your rat, take it to a rescue, don't just release it. It will die.
Cowboy is extremely lucky.
So glad you got to him.