THIS JUST IN: Rats doing the ‘John and Yoko’

They look so snuggly.

The Rats are more interesting than John and Yoko. Lennon had a weird relationship with Yoko, calling her mother.
I saw an installation by Yoko, at the Bienale in Liverpool last year, a collection of step ladders with lables on them – It were crap.

When I see rats sleeping in a fuzzy pile, I always wish I were a rat for a moment and could jump in and join them.

Pet rats don’t carry the plague, and besides, it was the fleas on the rats.

Being a rat owner, these two are absolutely adorable and there should be more rat pictures up! Rats have neverending cuteness.

I agree: These guys are WAY cuter than John and Yoko. The whiskers are killer!

I’ve heard that rats are great, cuddly pets. Someone at work told me that. I guess I would have to know one to believe it. Not sure my adorababy cat would go for that. Not because he would hurt a rat, he’d be scared of it. We had a hamster for two and one half years which died earlier this summer. My cat was scared of it!!! My cat follows in the family footsteps of being an utter dork.

Queen of Dork: They are very cuddly, though males tend to be more so as they are inclined to be lazier. I have 3 females and they’re a little nuts when out of their cage! But all of them are very sweet.
Rats can be taught tricks and they clean themselves. They’re a good pet for people who want a smart pet but can’t have a cat or dog for some reason. You can even train them to use a litter box. (though usually they choose to pee everywhere and will only poo in the box, but that’s still helpful.)

Kailen: What tricks can you teach them? I’m so happy you love your pets!!
Alison: All of the Beatles were/are odd. But FABUOULOSITY IN MUSIC!!!

Queen: Things like spinning in a circle, giving a kiss… simple things, usually reinforced with food. They’re smarter than people think but they are still rodents, lol. They can learn to do simple little things, mostly.

so cute ….y do we fight? we can all live together

All jokes aside, I really do miss John Lennon. He was one of our coolest. Like Bob Marley, Janice Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

*Where have all the flowers gone?*

(Totally waving lit lighter in my upstretched hand. Totally)

Leetle innocent closed eyes, teekly wheeskers, and peenk! *clunk*

I think comparing ratties to John and Yoko do a disservice to ratties everywhere. I know I wouldn’t want to be compared to Yoko Oh No!!

Patito Gigante: Thank You! Smash Bad Things!!!

P.S. SamKitty says “hi” to Maude.

Gosh. I keep hearing about what great companions rats are. I’ve never had one. I think my cat would claw me to death in my sleep if I got a rat.

LOVE John, LOVE Yoko and LOVE this pic!

Two Virgins.

Patito Giganto: Smash! Smash! Break! Breeaakk! crap.

My girls Honey and Daisy get all snugglely like that… only with Daisy somehow wrapped around Honey’s neck like a scarf. If only their cage was in better shape I’d be going picture crazy when ever they did it.

@Saffron–Brillo!

Rat cuddlies….I swoon, I brusk.

“…There were rats, Dad.”

It’s Duck and Worm, isn’t it? http://www.flickr.com/photos/necilbug/sets/72157614853015297/

All we need is rats … <3

Now please publish my rat also

“In My Life… I Love You More”……..Sweet.

soo cute, I wish that there were more rats. I’m gonna try sending mine in :]

Just so people are aware, as I’ve seen several plague comments, these are norway (or brown) rats. All domestic and most wild rats are norway rats. They did not, and never have, spread plague.
Plague was spread by rattus rattus, the black rat, a completely different species.
The norway rat actually helped END plague by out-competing and driving away the black rat. So any plague comments directed at pet rats are completely irrelevent!
Just some info for anyone who wants to recoil in fear of plague from pet rats, its totally silly!

The rats are cute.

The John and Yoko pic made me barf a little. Nothing uglier than somebody else’s scrawny naykid man humped up on somebody first thing in the morning. Eww.

I write about rats, my first book coming out next year, so this is especially cute to me! Thanks for posting!

xoxo — Hilary

Having shared that, I must relate a store about John and Yoko. I have a co-worker who is from NY. She was walking in Central Park one autumn day and coming towards her were none other than J and Y! She tried so hard to be cool and managed to squeak out a strangled “Hi,” to which John nodded and smiled and Yoko grinned, staring straight ahead. She said they were such a gorgeous couple, much more handsome and cool than any of their pictures show and looked very happy and in love. That’s the mental picture I want to keep!

The American Fancy Rat is, as others have pointed out, a pretty good pet. They’re about as smart as dogs, about as clean as cats, and don’t take up too much space. They’re very affectionate and their tails aren’t as scaly and icky as people seem to think. The only real downside to rats is their short lifespan–two or three years, usually, though some live as long as five. The Spoiled Ratten Rattery (google it if ye doubt) has some wonderful pictures and information about the breed that I often point people to if they want to know more. I’ve also got a four page handout I take with me to pet events and pet stores to spread ratty awareness, filled with history and pet-keeping information, but it’s waaay too long to post here.

This is WAY more Instant Karma than anything else though.

I really liked the photos on Flickr – especially the ones with the teeny teddy bear, and where their two tails form a heart… But I have to say I was a little freaked out by the video clips on flickr that show just how BIG they are!

I love my rats! And these rats. If I had a camera, I’d take qte pictures of them and try to submit to Cute Overload. Lex the hairless hermaphroditic wonder would get in for sure.

I had an albino rat and I named him chris. I loved him with all my heart. he lived for 4 years before I had him euthanized because I could see that he was starting to not be so happy anymore and I’d rather him not be in pain than keep him alive for my pleasure. I used to walk around with him on my shoulder and hold him while I did my homework. he NEVER bit me once. not even a snap. a lot of people think that a rat will just bite you anytime, anywhere, but usually that bite when people pick them up by their tails and they are biting to get a hold on something so they don’t fall. also females bite if they have a litter to protect them, just like all animal mothers. they aren’t dirty either, unless the environment is dirty. it sounds silly, but some people disfavor albino rats because of the red eyes and it really doesn’t mean anything except that this rat has no melanocytes or pigment cells. it happens in humans too.

I’m sorry that was so long but I had to put my two cents in. I love rats.

Well at least someone’s ratties got on here. Since the ones of my babies never got posted. Rats are beautiful and misunderstood creatures. And these two are adorable…I want to stick my face between them and make baby noises. lol.

This is killing me. My rat Blue died two weeks ago and the saddest thing in the world is an empty cage. Looking at these two sweeties, and reading everyone’s comments about their own happy rodents makes me sad. But in about a month I will have time to properly spoil a new rat-rat. I hope he likes tickles as much as his predecessors did. Tikus the Worlds’ Second Greatest Rat once drew blood trying to pull my finger to him for a long-overdue cuddle. The only time any rodent ever drew blood on me and beleive me I’ve had plenty of rodents of all sizes over the decades. I have only been bitten twice by rats, and the first time I was handing Comet a hot dog and I smelled like hot dog and it served me right for being stupid.

As to Yoko Oh-no: When a friend was getting ready for a major life change and wanted to pick a new name to go along with it, I had to talk her out of picking the name Yoko. She was too young to know what she was doing and thought it was a pretty name, so I had to tell her that I really had just seen a bumper sticker that said, “Still mad at Yoko”. Just imagine all the hassle I saved her!

Ben the two of us need look no more
We both found what we were looking for
With a friend to call my own, I’ll never be alone
And you my friend will see, you’ve got a friend in meee.