For whatever reason, my girlfriend accepted some pet rats (3) a while back. Earlier this week, one went missing. The cats probably are the culprits. Actually, I blame Baby Bear--because he's a troublemaker, always being a spoiled butt, and so I blame stuff on him, including stuff he can't possible be the cause of. "Why is the car parked in the driveway like that? The oranges aren't in the right section of the fridge! This Bear is out of control!" But seriously, he probably is the reason the cage setup was askew.
Anyway, we knew it was still around. The cats and dogs had been constantly sniffing under and around furniture & such. After a couple days of her being unable to capture it, I said, "we're finding that stupid rat tonight. I'm not having it going to the bathroom all around the house." So, yea...I'm lifting up all the furniture and stuff while she's trying to get it. Our pointer mutt is very interested in what we're doing. I'm keeping him under voice command to resist going after it. The Chihuahua mix puppy has no idea what she's doing...just sniffing around & following the commotion. We eventually have it scurry over under a set of glass shelves, of sorts. PERFECT! I'll lift up the glass and she'll grab it. Simple!
Her: "WAIT! This is the shy one. I don't handle her a whole lot. I don't know how she's going to react. I don't want her to bite the heck out of me."
Me: "...one moment....okay, here are some winter gloves. They're really thick & soft. She shouldn't be able to bite you through those. Ready?"
Her: "Ready!"
I lift up the glass.
She reaches in.
Grabs it!
Me: "ARE YOU #!&@ING SERIOUS?"
Her: "I...I...she wiggled a lot."
Me: "Why wouldn't you hold her tight enough to keep her from escaping your hands?!"
Her: "Well, I didn't want to squeeze and hurt her!"
Me: Your hands have a full inch of fluffy cotton all around them! She would've been fine if you held her with SOME effort!"
Mega facepalm.
It then ran behind a large thing I have that I intend to try converting into a cool doggy resting thing (which the cats will probably steal anyway--Baby Bear already uses the 42" dog crate as his cave). Behind/nestled in there are a bunch of folded up cardboard boxes. The rat is hiding between the folded up boxes and staying out of reach.
Me: "alright...I'm going to just let the dog go for it. This has gone on long enough. The rat clearly doesn't even like you."
Her: "he's probably going to kill it..."
Me: "He might just spoke it towards you."
Her: "Fine."
I let him go in towards it. He goes. The rat approaches him?! This couldn't be easier! I don't have any real command for him to catch prey, as I don't hunt. Excitedly pointing to it did nothing. I even said "bring it!" which he normally is to grab what I point to, or the closest object if I'm not pointing to anything. But he wouldn't do it with the rat...
The rat and him touch noses and they just chill back there.
"SERIOUSLY?! What are you doing?!"
He just looks up at me, "Dad, look! I made a new friend!" Puts his head back down to nose touch the rat again. We're flabbergasted. The dog that catches birds out of the air. That snatched up some mole or shrew. That goes after rabbits & squirrels. That darted after a HUGE snapping turtle by the lake (thank goodness it was only 2 feet from the water...he closed the distance in a flash before we even noticed the turtle). That has an insane prey drive towards larger birds, such as geese, to the point we still don't trust him fully around them (moreso, I don't want to deal with potential 'clean up'). But the rat? Friends.
Me: "Why did I send the dog? This is a cat's job. Give me a cat!" Without thinking, I grabbed the nearest cat--our younger female--and put her back there. She's getting herself lost between the folded boxes. *sigh* I should've went and gotten my 13 year old female cat. The rat would've been taken care of in no time. That cat has brought home birds, mice, and even large rabbits--pretty darn good for an indoor kitty who likes to dart out through the door when you aren't extra careful of where she is. She's still at it and not letting age disrupt her hunting.
The younger female? Picking her or Baby Bear...terrible choice. They have twice gotten a hamster before, when cleaning out the tanks & keeping them in temporary holders. Just snuck in and snatched the hamster away. And that hamster was NEVER hurt. They literally stole it, carried it around in their mouths and never put the smallest cut or puncture on it. They would put it down and just bat at it without their claws. Growl at one another as they stole it from each other. I saw it 'exchange mouths' at least half a dozen times while trying to get it back. Terribly horrifying experience for the hamster, but it thankfully remained being friendly. So yea...why did I think to send in either of those two?
Eventually, it ran out from behind there and into the room where the rats' stuff is. We shut the door and scurried her back into her cage.
Anyway, we knew it was still around. The cats and dogs had been constantly sniffing under and around furniture & such. After a couple days of her being unable to capture it, I said, "we're finding that stupid rat tonight. I'm not having it going to the bathroom all around the house." So, yea...I'm lifting up all the furniture and stuff while she's trying to get it. Our pointer mutt is very interested in what we're doing. I'm keeping him under voice command to resist going after it. The Chihuahua mix puppy has no idea what she's doing...just sniffing around & following the commotion. We eventually have it scurry over under a set of glass shelves, of sorts. PERFECT! I'll lift up the glass and she'll grab it. Simple!
Her: "WAIT! This is the shy one. I don't handle her a whole lot. I don't know how she's going to react. I don't want her to bite the heck out of me."
Me: "...one moment....okay, here are some winter gloves. They're really thick & soft. She shouldn't be able to bite you through those. Ready?"
Her: "Ready!"
I lift up the glass.
She reaches in.
Grabs it!
Me: "ARE YOU #!&@ING SERIOUS?"
Her: "I...I...she wiggled a lot."
Me: "Why wouldn't you hold her tight enough to keep her from escaping your hands?!"
Her: "Well, I didn't want to squeeze and hurt her!"
Me: Your hands have a full inch of fluffy cotton all around them! She would've been fine if you held her with SOME effort!"
Mega facepalm.
It then ran behind a large thing I have that I intend to try converting into a cool doggy resting thing (which the cats will probably steal anyway--Baby Bear already uses the 42" dog crate as his cave). Behind/nestled in there are a bunch of folded up cardboard boxes. The rat is hiding between the folded up boxes and staying out of reach.
Me: "alright...I'm going to just let the dog go for it. This has gone on long enough. The rat clearly doesn't even like you."
Her: "he's probably going to kill it..."
Me: "He might just spoke it towards you."
Her: "Fine."
I let him go in towards it. He goes. The rat approaches him?! This couldn't be easier! I don't have any real command for him to catch prey, as I don't hunt. Excitedly pointing to it did nothing. I even said "bring it!" which he normally is to grab what I point to, or the closest object if I'm not pointing to anything. But he wouldn't do it with the rat...
The rat and him touch noses and they just chill back there.
"SERIOUSLY?! What are you doing?!"
He just looks up at me, "Dad, look! I made a new friend!" Puts his head back down to nose touch the rat again. We're flabbergasted. The dog that catches birds out of the air. That snatched up some mole or shrew. That goes after rabbits & squirrels. That darted after a HUGE snapping turtle by the lake (thank goodness it was only 2 feet from the water...he closed the distance in a flash before we even noticed the turtle). That has an insane prey drive towards larger birds, such as geese, to the point we still don't trust him fully around them (moreso, I don't want to deal with potential 'clean up'). But the rat? Friends.
Me: "Why did I send the dog? This is a cat's job. Give me a cat!" Without thinking, I grabbed the nearest cat--our younger female--and put her back there. She's getting herself lost between the folded boxes. *sigh* I should've went and gotten my 13 year old female cat. The rat would've been taken care of in no time. That cat has brought home birds, mice, and even large rabbits--pretty darn good for an indoor kitty who likes to dart out through the door when you aren't extra careful of where she is. She's still at it and not letting age disrupt her hunting.
The younger female? Picking her or Baby Bear...terrible choice. They have twice gotten a hamster before, when cleaning out the tanks & keeping them in temporary holders. Just snuck in and snatched the hamster away. And that hamster was NEVER hurt. They literally stole it, carried it around in their mouths and never put the smallest cut or puncture on it. They would put it down and just bat at it without their claws. Growl at one another as they stole it from each other. I saw it 'exchange mouths' at least half a dozen times while trying to get it back. Terribly horrifying experience for the hamster, but it thankfully remained being friendly. So yea...why did I think to send in either of those two?
Eventually, it ran out from behind there and into the room where the rats' stuff is. We shut the door and scurried her back into her cage.