Rodents, do you love them or run from them?

Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

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...........

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Congrats on your 18,000 posts. There are less reasons to be afraid of spiders and here in Texas quite a few people like keeping tarantulas. Not me, but Persi loves to play with them when he finds one. Little ones. Tarantualas I would be running...we do have them in the back yard but our cats never go out. I hear they cannot hurt you but tell me that while I am running...

Originally Posted by katiemae1277

I'm not scared of them per se... but if they're loose in a house they're disease and flea carrying pests that need to be exterminated!

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same here, I love my little hammie but generally if I am surprised by a 'wild' one (not pet) I am likely to squeal and I am just not a fan of rats at all, caged or otherwise

I don't mind them at all

We used to have hamsters and gerbils, so I'm okay with them, even though my old hamster would try and take chunks out of my fingers.

I like mice and rats. I used to work in a lab and always got attached to the mice and rats there. Very intelligent animals. The urban mice and rats I don't mind either since I keep most of my food sealed pretty tight or in the fridge and they're usually transient because of the lack of food. I used to see rats frolicking in the grass near City Hall in NYC occasionally, usually baby rats with the momma rat near by in the flowers and most people sort of look at them and smile rather than in disgust.

I am an animal lover, BUT, something a lot of people seem to not realize in this thread, house mice (rats as well)are extremely invasive, carry disease, and defecate any and everywhere! I go along with as long as they are in a cage as far as a house! I live in NYC and this is the first apartment I have literally experienced mice within a home, this is with a cat, at least 1 every 2 months after ridding of the nests and sealing off any possible entry ways...... I have caught 5 in the past 7 months, after sealing and ridding of nests! No traps! By hand! One of the actually borrowed a hole into a packet of Swiss Miss coa coa mix! I threw it into a closed container and dropped it outside!

Lets put it this way, if I saw a sewer rat (i.e. one that is bigger than the cats!) around the streets, I'd prolly scream and run in the opposite direction.

But I love pet rats, have owned them for years and they are just so lovely and really love you back!

Don't appreciate any in my house that aren't invited though

Originally Posted by Persi

Congrats on your 18,000 posts.

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Oh my, I didn't even notice!!

Holy Cow! Susie! You talk way to much

Originally Posted by jane_vernon

Holy Cow! Susie! You talk way to much

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And that's a bad thing?

I like them, and i cry when i see people feed mice to snakes.

Does Susie have finger prints any more! Enjoy your company! Thats a lot of posts!!!!!!!

I think they're cute and nothing to be afraid of. I fed a rat that lived under our house last winter, it was a very well behaved little guy.

I remember when I was a kid and we lived in an old country house. One day I was reading on the living room couch, when I suddenly realised there was a mouse on the floor. We were checking each other out for about half an hour and came along quite nicely. Then my mom came home and I innocently told her about our hairy house guest. She freaked out and jumped on the couch. When she manged to pull herself together, she set a trap. The mouse was caught within an hour. Poor little fellow, I cried for hours and was so mad at my mom I woudn't speak to her for days.

I wouldn't be able to live in this house if I minded rodents. Our yard, or actually the whole neighborhood, is full of mice, shrews, and rats, and occasionally one will get inside.
I used to have rodents, including rats, as pets, so even an old sewer rat running across my foot, or placed live on my lap (Jamie managed that feat a few years ago) doesn't freak me out. But I don't mind all the pigeons in the city, either, and a lot of people shudder when they see them.

Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

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...........

Click to expand...

I like the pet ones Susie no matter how big they are, but those itty bitty field mice scare the crap out of me

I like rodents myself. But then, I am a big mush-ball when it comes to animals. Rodents, snakes, lizards, bugs ... I think they're all great!

I like rodents in cages...NOT running freely in my house

I'm not afraid of them, but don't like them running around loose (unless they're tame and contained in a small space). My daughter has 2 chinchillas and the kids always had hamsters, etc growing up, and the science animals used to spend Christmas with us!

I've never really experienced the "vermin" sort of mice or rats, so I don't know. They don't really freak me out that much. My grandparents lived in farm land and had little country mice in their basement that they trapped, but I never really was scared of them. Giant NYC-sewer rats would probably skeeze me out. But not really scary... what are they going to do? Slowly chew through your shoes?

Sides, I have Zissou here to protect me

It depends on what type of rodents you're talking about. I love rabbits, some pet mice are cute, and I used to adore hamsters...I had a regular golden hamster named Harriet, and several Campbell's Russian Dwarf hamsters (which are completely darling, as far as rodents go) in a variety of colors...I even had 2 or 3 litters, and kept some in my classroom for a while as class pets, the others went to children I knew for pets. Now rats...well, not so much. I know they are intelligent, and I've seen a few that could be called "cute," but overall, they're not for me.