New additions to the family

Don't ask me why, but less than one month away from having enough $$ saved to buy that IPod Mini she's been wanting, Emily decided she wanted pet rats. So this morning I was off to Petco for a book, which she read cover-to-cover. Then back to Petco, where she purchased a nice large 3-level cage, food, bedding, toys, and of course, the rats. She chose 2 females: one is all white and the other is black and white. They are named Brooke and Summer, respectively (I wanted to name them Paris and Nicky). Campbell is understandably intrigued. He is remarkably well-behaved with them while they are in their exercise balls. But I wouldn't trust him near them otherwise. After all, he was bred to ferret out rodents such as these. Remember the mouse incidents of this past winter? They are cute little things. It will be neat if she is able to teach them some tricks. The small animal person at Petco told us about one of her rats who likes to go for rides in the car and will ride on her shoulder. It has figured out that the blinking light on the dashboard means the wheel is going to turn and will run down her arm and wrap its tail around the steering wheel so it can have a ride around the wheel. I think that's hysterical! (Don't count on hearing any stories like that about Emily's little girls, though.)