Today, on my lunch break, I was browsing my local pet superstore in search of a pair of Easter Bunny ears for Koa (no dice, by the way. I’m open to suggestions for where I might find some at this late hour.)
Anyway, I ducked into the loo, and as I shut the stall door I heard a “scritch scritch” noise not unlike someone sweeping the floor. Scritch, scritch. Scritch, scritch.
I look under the door. I do not see any feet.
Scritch, scritch.
Then a rat ran across my feet.
I, of course, did what every fearless, upstanding veterinarian would do in the same situation. I screamed “AIEEEEEE!!!” and got up on the toilet seat like a character from an old Tom and Jerry cartoon. But only for a moment.
Then I collected myself, walked out the door, and quietly informed a manager that I was the victim of a rodent scritch and run in the ladies’ restroom.
The manager, grateful for my discretion, attempted to get a physical description of the assailant to determine if he was escaped stock (this store sells rodents for pets) or the more nefarious wild type Rattus rattus.
As I was finishing my shopping, I noted a small cluster of store employees constructing an elaborate cardboard trap around the vending machine in the back. Apparently his brush with a screaming humanoid left him thirsty, so the rat made his way into the soda machine in search of some liquid refreshment.
Fortunately for all involved, the escapee was quickly retrieved and returned to the mortal coils of his plastic enclosure, and I can sleep free of plague nightmares.
I used to have a pet rat and that would have scared the crap out of me. Like the time I found a rat in our grill (before I turned it on, thankfully). ***shudder***
Too stinkin’ funny. I saw a ton of bunny ears on headbands over at the Walmart on Saturday. If the human kind will fit Koa, you might try there.
(Jessica, the moral of the story is always preheat your grill. The varmints will run right out. Happens to me all the time.)
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL thats all I have to say about that LOLOLOLOLOL ROTFLMAO
I’m on the floor with Pikachu! LOL indeed!
Yipes stripes!!!! You know I’m going to think about that every time I go to my local pet superstore. Just one more thing to be on the lookout for! And can I say that I’m super excited that you are looking for bunny ears for Koa?!?! I know that means PICTURES! 🙂
aww only a domestic rat?? I would’ve picked him up and brought him to the management. And diagnosed him with mixed lower airway disease. They almost always have some of that 😉
I didn’t know it was a domestic rat until AFTER it terrorized my toes.
Dr. V: the Dollar Tree near us had cute rabbit ears for $1. Of course, no pet outfit should be worn for long periods of time and without supervision. But for $1 to get a few photos and some smiles for a few minutes, you can’t go wrong.
All I need is about 30 seconds and I’m good. That’s all Brody will give me anyway. 😀
Oh my gosh. I would’ve cried. Rats just gross me out, but thankfully it wasn’t a wild rat. Btw, I saw Amazon has some cute Easter-themed pet costumes!
No No No No No! I truly do care for all the little creatures on earth – but NOT RATS. Shudder…. yuck, yuck, yuck! We once had a tiny mouse in our apartment, (you know, cause three dogs in the house is actually NOT a deterrent) I threatened to move to a hotel until the thing was caught.
Adorable ratty thought he was getting an extended vacation! It still would have made me jump a foot in the air though. I had a similar situation happen to me in a Petsmart, but it was a finch hopping across my foot instead of a rat scritching.
Oh i LOVE rats, and squirrels and mice and hammy…. but I love rats the best. I have had three pet rats and they have all been so very very special. I love rats. Like little dogs.
He actually was pretty cute. After the fact.
I’m glad the escapee was safely returned to his ‘home.’ He’ll be much safer there 🙂
agree wholeheartedly with tabitha – they have amazingly large personalities in small packages. they get a bad rap – make
much better rodent pets for kids than hamsters or rabbits.
I thought about one for the kids after the guinea pig thing- no hamsters, ever.
LOL! But I probably wouldn’t have jumped. I run into mice and rats at the barn all the time. I have to admit my first instinct is to try and catch it. They are fun, but my favorite small squeeky pet will always be the guinea pig or cavy. Very tolerant, personable, and love to be snuggled. Now if it had been a tarantula, that would have been a whole different scenario..
Yep, Walmart for the bunny ears, and kiddie ones fit dogs very well (at least they fit mine)
I love cavies.
That story is too funny, I do not think I could have responded that calmly! I would suggest Target for bunny ears, they are in the “dollar stop” and although not designed for dogs I am sure they would work!
I have owned rodents my entire life, but was still scared out of my wits the morning I awoke to my sister’s hamster crawling all over my face.
Oh uggggghhhh! lol
bunny ears: Target, Walmart, JoAnn’s Fabrics, Michaels Crafts, Hobby Lobby?? Just a thought.
I love rats, but when you’re not expecting them it’s a startle!
When I lived in a fourplex , the landlord’s son, who had the top floor, had a pet snake. The “pet food” used to escape to my apt. fairly regularly. I think the furries spoke to eachother cuz the first one scared the crap out of me at first discovered in my stove, and I made my then-husband free it in the field behind our place. It got to be a regular thing. We would find about one to two a month. THey were kinda cute. I’m not quite there to have them as pets, but they aren’t in the same category as snakes and spiders, either.
You were like the underground railroad for rats. I love that.
Lol! I would have jumped too! Only because he ran across my foot though- I’m used to mice and such because they’ll all over the barn. Love how this stuff happens to you- the rat must have known that you’re a blogger. 😉
I know! It’s the story of my life.
Target has bunny ears for dogs in the Dollar Section!!!
LOLOL!! Thank you so much for sharing this! Seriously! 😀 Laughing too hard at the moment to say much else just now… (trying to compose myself LOL!) just a sec…. or so………….
Sounds familiar only you’re braver than me because i would’ve probably still been standing on that seat! I’ve been lucky in so many ways, lucky to have loved many different critters, lol, little mice, guineas, etc But.. it’s that ‘surprise’ factor or something, right? When those little ones, mice, whichever, appear from wherever and it scares me silly & usually i runnnnnn! or freeze where i am and squeal. I’ve provided the family with quite alot of laughs, somehow, this way..seriously..contagious laughter with everyone from my own grandma, mom & now even my g’daugher joining in, with me, also laughing at myself. Now, i know, i’m not the only one (but i sure admire your being able to compose yourself so well) And i agree with Alexa – “the rat must have known you’re a blogger” 😉
Love this! it’s gonna be a great holiday weekend with the family.
Thanks, once again, Benita (aka ibfine2 from twitter)
This might be a bit late, but we do have bunny ears for dogs or cats at Petsmart!
You know, that’s the first place I looked- and our local Petsmart had ZERO Easter stuff, which is weird since they usually have plenty of holiday things.