Last fall, our big agouti Berkshire boy, Ben, and his two adopted agouti Berkshire sons, Gurgle and Gregle, went with us to a rat party in Manhattan. It was a great gathering. It's so refreshing to be in a room full of people who won't look at you like you're nuts when you start going on and on about your rats. People brought yummy food, rattie photo albums, and there were a bunch of rats and mice for us to admire and play with. It was wonderful!
Gregle hated the party - he was never one for attention and spent pretty much the whole time hiding out in his carrier. Gurgle, who is just the opposite, spent his time schmoozing with everyone, especially the female humans. He is apparently a big ladies' rat, and he practically had to be pried away from his adoring fans when we left. But Ben was the one who had the best time of all, I think.
Ben was a huge guy - just under 20 inches from nose to tail tip--a big, impressive-looking rat. He could have been mistaken for a sewer rat, and had been on occasion! He sat on my lap and ate eyeball-shaped marshmallow crisped rice treats (it was near Hallowe'en) and got interviewed by a reporter from New York Magazine. Although the interview was never printed, I think it was Ben's proudest moment. For the longest time after that party, he kept jumping up every time I went near his cage, begging to be taken somewhere fun. He was a real party animal!
Anyway, the reporter asked us about rats, and we filled him in on their charms, while Ben sat in my lap and eyed him carefully. Finally the reporter asked me about the funniest things my rats had ever done. Now, I don't really think rats are that funny. Of course they do funny things, but they usually don't brag about it afterward. Since our guys generally like to be taken seriously, I passed the question on to my daughter. Right away she said, "Bruxing!" So we had to explain to the reporter all about teeth-chattering, eye-popping bruxing. He asked if Ben ever bruxed. I said, "Of course, but he's probably not relaxed enough here to brux, are you Ben?"
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