The Mouse Police Never Sleeps

This was a busy weekend. Friday I was supposed to have off work, but I ended up working a half-day anyway because of one of those deadlines agreed to by other people that you don’t find out about until 6:20 pm the night before, when you’re working late and looking forward VERY much to being off the next day. Grrrr….

We drove to Scotland to pick up the rats yesterday. It was a long, long trip. I don’t remember the name of the village, but it was about 40 miles south of Aberdeen. Out in the middle of nowhere, in Children of the Corn/Wicker Man country, where the directions include things like “turn left at the field where you see the cow with the twisted horn, and continue two minutes to such-and-such street, where you’ll turn at the Slaughtered Lamb pub.” Ten miles later we would find the street – goddamn woman must drive like Michael Schumacher. It would have been helpful if she just gave us the name of the village so that we could find it ourselves, or if she gave us a really recognisable landmark, such as “drive until you find yourself at the very arse-end of the country, and there we are.” *sigh* Then, on the way home, we got lost in Edinburgh and spend forty minutes looking for a way off the ring road. Got home at 11:00 pm, 700 miles and thirteen hours later. :(

The rats are gorgeous. I love them! They aren’t Gambians, they’re a similar type of animal…not very ratlike except for the tail, more marsupial looking, like a small-eyed bushbaby. Picture an armadillo with fur, and that’s what their faces look like. I’ll post pictures after they wake up tonight; they are strictly nocturnal and don’t appreciate being woken up. Oh, and one thing more that I am dying to hear…they sing. I’ve heard someone call it “churbling,” and it’s described as sounding like Gizmo in Gremlins. We spent a long time just sitting on the floor watching them last night, laughing so hard…they are such charming, absurd looking animals. Gorgeous little comedy critters with tons of personality. I love them. :)

I missed all of the excitement at the stable yesterday. Evidently, some of the DEFRA-approved hoof-and-mouth disinfectant that we’d been using to wash down the stalls with after the strangles episode was stored where the rain could get at it, resulting in two people inhaling chlorine fumes and before everyone knew it, three fire trucks, two ambulances, four police cars were at the stable. (It was obviously a slow day for emergency crews!) The vet was there just by happenstance, and he ended up staying there all day, just because it was so entertaining. They announced on the news that there had been an explosion and toxic chemical spill at the farm…good grief! When I got there this morning, everything was still blocked off with tape to keep people out.

And that was my weekend. I’m going downstairs to keep Phil from trying to wake the rats up again. :)