The Rat

I spent most of the evening tonight over at Tara's house eating brownies and chatting. I left when Martin called and while he was on the phone I let Baxter out in the yard for awhile. When it was time for bed I hung up and went to let Baxter in and found he'd caught a playmate on the patio... a rat! It was just a baby rat. So I wouldn't have really minded except for the fact that Baxter looked REALLY dirty like he'd really given an effort at eating this thing, and maybe even dug it out of the weeds and possibly rolled in its deadness. I didn't know what to do, so I called Martin. Martin said that Baxter would probably be fine, but I said I didn't want to touch him, and what do I do with the rat? Martin said keep Baxter in his cage for the night and call the vet in the morning, see what they want me to do. He said if they want to see the rat, call Doug to come get it for me. So I hung up, put Baxter in his cage for the night, and called Doug right then.

As it turns out, when Doug was in China for the summer a couple years ago, the dog they had killed a raccoon in their yard! The vet had them bring in the dog and the raccoon but they had to keep the raccoon cold, but not frozen. So Doug came over and put the rat in a ziploc bag and we fixed it up a nice coffin in a garbage bag-lined cardboard box with ice in the bottom, then a rag, then the bagged rat. Now it's on top of the refrigerator until morning. Evidently when this happened to Tara, the vet suggested putting the raccoon in a tupperware container and keeping it in the fridge. I might be an animal lover, but I draw the line at keeping dead baby rats in my refrigerator.

So I guess I'll wake up early tomorrow and call the vet. It's sure a good thing for neighbors! I don't know what I'd do without Doug and Tara. Well, I'd probably be less fat. They do feed me a lot of desserts.

GEEPERS!! It's one in the morning!! I've completely lost track of time! I think it's bedtime for me now. I'll keep you all updated as the situation unfolds.