Priscilla and Abagail will always hold a dear spot in my heart, for they were my first pet rats and introduced me to how cool these critters as pets are.

How they came to live with me is a little unusual.

My husband jokes that there must be a sign up on door that only animals can see, “Stray Pets Welcome.” Once an escaped cockatiel found his way to the telephone line in front of our house and flew down to me when I started talking to him. I was able to return him to his owner who lived a few miles away. Another time I found an albino ring necked dove on the way home.

So I guess it isn’t that surprising that one day when I came home from work, my husband reported that there was a white rat in our garage. I knew enough from doing many trap/releases of wild rats living under our deck to know that a white rat isn’t wild.

I went to the garage and started talking to the clutter. Priscilla came out immediately. She didn’t come up to me, but she was calm enough to explore unafraid.

I caught her almost immediately in a hav-a-heart trap. She came over to my side of the cage and let me pet her through the bars. The next day I spotted another white rat hiding under our deck and coming out to eat bird seed that had fallen from the feeder. I was also able to catch her.

When Priscilla was reunited with Abagail, the scene would have warmed any heart. She was so excited and started kissing her all over her head. It was clear she was saying, “My best friend!!! I thought I would never see you again!” (Actually, we think they were mother and daughter).

My husband agreed that we could keep them, although he confessed that rats had always ‘creeped him out.’

A few weeks later, it dawned on me that Priscilla might be pregnant. The day after I told my husband that this was a possibility, she gave birth to ten babies (the father was a wild rat). But that’s another post.