Rats and Witches?

Photo from the article. I am thinking these little ones are mice. Nice try, though.

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Animal Tales: Rats Make Fine Pets, And That's Even if You Are a Real Witch

Here's a kind of cute story about a mom and her child's first rat, even though it clearly illustrates some of the mistakes first time rat owners make without actually calling those mistakes out as mistakes.

Of course, we should not get our pet rats from a pet store. Even if you close a blind eye to the mill issues, as this story illustrates, pet store employees often do not know how to sex them and it is certainly not unheard of to purchase a pregnant rat from a pet store. The narrator also didn't do enough research before agreeing to let her son get a pet rat, or she would not have purchased a single rat instead of a pair. It seems she was relying on the pet store to provide her with all of the research she needs and unfortunately, that just doesn't happen. Finally, the idea of bringing the babies back to the pet store instead of placing them herself or finding a rescue to take them in is a little sad.

So, yes, this story illustrates many of the mistakes first-time rat owners make and fails to call attention to them. Still, it is such a light-hearted take on keeping rats as pets and portrayed them in such a positive light, that I thought it was worth sharing. The little Halloween spin doesn't hurt either.