Rodents, do you love them or run from them?

kittylover4ever

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What do you guys think? There is a mouse here at work, and sorry to say, I am one of those women who HATE rodents...........for some reason, they scare me..........
I know alot of you have them as pets, so don't mean to offend anyone...........
 

catloverin_ks

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I dont mind them acually. I cant say I am scared of them, no.....I have a friend that IS deathly afraid of them though, and its fun to tease her,hehe.
 

whuckleberry

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Mice don't scare me. Rats on the other hand. My old neighborhood had rats, and they were creepy (and of course I'm talking dirty city rats, not the clean ones they sell at the pet shop, LOL).
 

gemlady

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Don't mind them. I live in an old house so mice can be found every now and then. Luckily, Aristotle is an excellent mouser. He unfortunately likes to shove the dead ones under the fridge so they will mummify and that extends play value!


Sis hates mice. Niece's cat discovered this and would purposely catch mice and drop them at her feet just to watch sis jump and scream.

Mom isn't fond of them. I will never let her forget the day her precious Gulliver (who could do no wrong
) dropped a baby mouse on her lap when she was ill. I swear she was backing up the headboard and moments before she could hardly move (due to arthritis). Dad was beside her snickering under the covers.
 

gingersmom

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I'm NOT a scaredy cat.


I have had mice and a guinea pig and hampsters as pets, and I used to feed baby rats to a ball python I had. I know a couple of folks with pet rats that are cool rats - way better than hampsters, in my opinion.


I'm laughing at the thought of you standing on your desk shrieking like a little girl, Susie.
 

calico2222

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I can deal with a mouse in the house, I think they're cute. But, when we got a rat that chewed thru the siding...you would think godzilla was waiting for me in the kitchen! I walked in the kitchen one morning, and here was this beady eyed white beast sitting his butt on the toaster and finishing off a ripped open loaf of bread *shudders*. I SWEAR that thing laughed at me before he ran off. I was taking care of my mom at that time (no cats around, darn it!) and I was forced to go into the kitchen to make dinner, etc. It was like something out of CSI...I opened a cupboard..jumped back...checked..ok, its clear..next door?
I didn't feel completely safe until I could smell his decomposing body (he got to fat and got stuck in the walls...guess it was all that bread he ate!). Anyway, I got my boyfriend (now hubby) to...ummm...dispose of the body. I HATE rats for some reason! While, rats that aren't in a cage at least.
 

lunasmom

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They'll surpise me, yes, but I"m not really scared of them. Just only if I get bitten - theh I'll worry.

Otherwise I was that kid with hamsters most of my childhood. When one died I got another. So small furry things are just pets in the wild.


Rats are ugly though and just give me the willies.
 

katiemae1277

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I'm not scared of them per se, I've had pet mice and have a rat right now, but if they're loose in a house they're disease and flea carrying pests that need to be exterminated!
 

binkyhoo

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Rats actually make good pets. They get very tame and and respond to human attention, as oppposed to my gerbils which only seemed to tolerate me.

I once rented a cheep rundown house that had chipmunks that got into the bedroom, but the worst is a Bat in the house flapping around your head. Duck and cover.
 

clairebear

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I'm not afraid of rodents at all. I use to have pet rats. There's really nothing to fear. I think it's kind of funny when people are afraid of silly things like that.
 

februa

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Prior to this semester when I started working with mice, I DID NOT like them. "As if Im gonna pick that up" I thought to myself. Now, Im not scared of them anymore. They really dont bite, and if you make them mad and they do, they cant bite through 2 pairs of chloroprene gloves
In any case I have a cohort of mice I need to weigh daily, which have now become completely tame and very friendly....We'll see how they feel about it when i start monitoring their estrous cycles....
 

larussa

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I love all animals but the wild mice and rats do hold diseases. They are just not the same as ones you adopt from Petco etc. I have had Guinea Pigs in the past and loved them very much and shed many tears when each one died. No I can't blame you for being afraid of them, it is better to stay away from them.
 

larussa

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Originally Posted by calico2222

I can deal with a mouse in the house, I think they're cute. But, when we got a rat that chewed thru the siding...you would think godzilla was waiting for me in the kitchen! I walked in the kitchen one morning, and here was this beady eyed white beast sitting his butt on the toaster and finishing off a ripped open loaf of bread *shudders*. I SWEAR that thing laughed at me before he ran off. I was taking care of my mom at that time (no cats around, darn it!) and I was forced to go into the kitchen to make dinner, etc. It was like something out of CSI...I opened a cupboard..jumped back...checked..ok, its clear..next door?
I didn't feel completely safe until I could smell his decomposing body (he got to fat and got stuck in the walls...guess it was all that bread he ate!). Anyway, I got my boyfriend (now hubby) to...ummm...dispose of the body. I HATE rats for some reason! While, rats that aren't in a cage at least.
I got a chuckle out of this, I would've been just as scared as you were.
 

twstychik

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I'm not a big fan of rodents in general. Some are cute and I've even had some as pets. I'm not afraid of them and I don't really dis-like them I'm just not a fan. Actually, upon seeing a rat ot mouse I usually think of snake food because most of my contact w/ them meant it was feeding time and at one point I lived w/ 8 snakes and several carnivrous lizards (like monitors).
 

joanne511

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I had a pet rat too and agree they're great pets. I like them caged. However, if one surprises me, well, I'm not a fan.
 

momofmany

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About 5 years ago when we still lived in the farmhouse, a mouse had the nerve to run thru the gauntlet of the outdoor ferals and make it inside my house (with about 13 cats at the time). I was sitting in the kitchen and noticed one of the cats take on the "prey" posture. I stood to investigate and the mouse ran across the kitchen floor directly at me.

Here's the part my husband will never let me live down: I actually squealed "EEK" and jumped up on the chair. He started rolling on the floor laughing at me and all I could hear between his laughter was "she actually said EEK". He simply picked the mouse up by the tail and returned it to the great outdoors.

I guess I don't take kindly to mice.
 

epona

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Love them as pets, but not feral/wild ones when they are in my kitchen cupboards urinating and defacating in my pots and pans!

Always wanted a rat as a pet when I was a kid, but my dad is seriously phobic so it never happened.

We first got a cat (Radar) due to horrendous mouse infestation, that's not as bad as it might sound because we love all animals and we would be dedicated towards giving any pet a really good life and loads of attention, but the mouse situation was what did it. I used to rent a flat with a bad mouse problem and letting the neighbours cat into my flat (with their permission of course, and oh he was a lovely lovely cat to spend time with too!) sorted the problem out.

They don't worry me as long as they aren't nesting in my saucepans or wardrobe or eating through the sofa (my friend has mice nesting in his sofa at the mo), but when we were infested Nate used to scream when he saw one
(hope he doesn't see this thread!)

So yeah in brief, as pets good, as household pests not so good!
 
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