LASSIE CAME HOME

LASSIE CAME HOME!!

I want to share a very heartwarming story. Last September, just prior to the RatsPacNW Rat Show on Oct 2 her in WA, a litter of 14 rats was born in our rattery. There were 6 girls and 8 boys. One night, when the babies were almost 3 weeks old and just starting to eat solid food, my younger daughter put all the little girls in a blanket to hold them. They were very jumpy and active and 3 jumped out of the blanket. We caught one right away, but 2 scurried under a built in seat where there is a hole and disappeared where we could not reach them. We put out food and water. The names of the two missing girls were Calico Jackie and Lassie.

Two days later, we found Calico Jackie climbing up one of the cages. We continued to put food out for Lassie, but it stopped disappearing, so I stopped putting it out and we felt really sad, assuming that she died.

A few days ago, an amazing thing happened. Krisanna was studying and suddenly heard some loud squeaks coming from one of the cages of male rats. She said, "I think the missing baby rat is in there." That particular cage has wider bars than the others, so a young rat could climb in with little difficulty. She was right. The baby girl was in there, hiding in the hammock. We picked her up and it was Lassie!! She was thin, but not emaciated and was very thirsty. She must have found enough to eat around the cages, but not found as much water as she needed. I thought she might be scared of us, but she wasn't. In fact, she has just wanted to be held and to snuggle ever since.

What a miracle!! Lassie came home!