NATIONAL DAY

Fancy Rat & Mouse Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate these beautiful creatures. Not to be confused with wild (black) rats, the Fancy Rat is the domesticated brown rat; while the Fancy Mouse is the domesticated form of the house mouse. Both can be very smart and affectionate and make ideal pets, particularly for children (especially since there is much less looking after than with a dog, cat or rabbit!). But dont let that make you think the members of the Fancy Rat And Mouse Association take their Fancy Rats and Mice less seriously than they would take any other pets! Fancy Rat and Mouse breeders and enthusiasts head to California several times a year, where professionally bred varieties are judged on a range of categories. It is, in reality, a serious business. Karen Robbins, AFRMAs spokeswoman, makes a convincing argument for the pets, saying, “Rats are very intelligent and can be trained like dogs. They are clean like cats—always washing themselves—and are very personable. They know their owners and want to be out with them.â€_x009d_