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Lucas as a youngster. He ultimately lost his peach fuzz to the point he's the closest to a true hairless as I've ever seen in a mock hairless, but - bless his heart - he never did grow into those goofy ears. | | Japanese Horror Film Outtake! This picture has nothing to do with rats, but I couldn't resist. | | Eve, unclear on the concept of "exercise wheel" |
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| Jamie, sniffing for a dove's egg. I expect NASA and SETI to arrive on my doorstep at any moment. | | Magpie, as the Magnificent Milk Muncher. She transformed from a helpless closed-eyed jelly bean into the smartest animal I've ever met.
| | Kyrrah, the Cat of Many Colors, @ age 17. Remarkably tolerant of rats! |
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| The dear, departed Bailey, guarding Pink from me. Under the circumstances, I can't blame her. | | Wasn't Adam One the world's cutest baby?
| | Magpie and Raven, pretending to be innocent. |
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| Magpie as the Brat Rat. She, sometimes in collusion with Pink, sometimes on her own, is the Houdini of rats! | | Batman, with his characteristic worried expression. | | Jamie does appreciate her "creature comforts." |
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| Playful babies. Note Pink climbing my arm saying "Me first!" | | Sleeping Lucas. | | Pink. |
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| Girl pile! Magpie, Raven, Starling, and Pink. | | Toby, with his best buddy Zero in the background. | | Zero. |
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| Batman. | | Jamie and Eve, on Eve's favorite hidey hole - a light fixture part found at Habitat for Humanity. | | Never did decide whether Pink was keeping Magpie warm, or keeping her in her place! |
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| Jamie and Eve. | | Jamie and Eve. | | Jamie. |
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Adam One - Rat, or Wererat?
It's hard for me to connect these baby pictures to the big, squishy manrat he is now! | | Starling, Magpie, and Raven (not pictured) were "bottle babies" from three different litters I raised by hand-feeding round the clock. I was so sure at first they wouldn't make it, I didn't take pictures until for the first week, until they had "grown."
| | Yes, this too was taken after they "grew up." Hard to believe now. |
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| A contest photo of Buffy. Didn't win anything, but it's nevertheless one of my favorite photos ever. Note the "Mouscar" award at her feet. | | Who's Buffy gonna call? Do I really want to know? | | Buffy's sister Willow. Her agouti color means everyone overlooks her, but she's one of the sweetest lap rats you'll ever meet. |
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| Toby reminds me quite a bit of a childhood friend who had Down's Syndrome. Toby's not going to win any intellectual prizes, but he wins everyone over with his sweet, gentle nature. Since he's going to be a perpetual child, I thought surrounding him with stuffed animals was unusually appropriate. | | Eve, in another contest entry photo. | | Zoe: "I am NOT a mouse!" |
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| You guessed it: another contest entry, and another personal favorite. I couldn't replicate that shot again in a million years. I'd had Zoe about 72 hours when I shot this, and she handled the lights and heat of the tent like a seasoned professional. | | After carefully designing this scene for Pink, the resulting photo shoot was a nightmare. Magpie stepped up and I almost immediately got this picture. Thanks, Magpie! | | White Fang, aka "The Evil Ex-Lab Rat." What more do you need to know? Actually, after she learned to trust us, she turned into quite the demure little sweetie, but the name stuck. |
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