I know I'm not the only one who loves that lil bath-taking rat, right? Well her sweet owners clued me into a new video featuring the rodent superstar and budding architect! Check out this time-lapse video of Tinkerbell craftily creating a cave in her cage — it's super cute!
Forget If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, I'm dreaming of a picture book called If You Give a Rat a Bath! Watch one cute rodent give herself a good washing and imagine Tinkerball's story line here!
In general, I think German lighting designer Ingo Maurer can do no wrong. But in the case of his Seven Rats Table Lamp ($4,680), which depicts seven plastic rats locked inside a steel, gold, brass, and plastic cage structure, I think he's done bad all by himself. If you like caged-rat art, and you like art in lighting form, then this is for you!
With The Hills returning in just a few weeks, I'm admittedly sad that we won't be glimpsing cute Chloe this season (with no Lauren). Now I know this show has more animal lovers and Stephanie Pratt recently told People Pets about her one-year-old rescue named Charlie — what a cutie!
She's no stranger to furry family members, though:
I had every single type of animal growing up. I had a guinea pig, and even got a horse for Christmas once. My whole family truly loves animals.
Now I knew she had a guinea pig (or was it a hamster?) from an episode last season and I'm hoping we see Charlie when the show kicks back up again. Any bets on the likelihood of his small-screen debut?
Seriously, you find the darnedest things walking down the street these days! Just today as he was wandering around the city, OnSugar user Kjell found this interesting sight: the three layer animal cake. Not only is kitty riding the doggie as he walks down the street, but there is a rat hitching a ride on top of this incredible balancing cat!
I've never been lucky enough to catch these three around town, but I'm certainly keeping my eye out from now on to find out how the heck their owner got them to do that! It just goes to show you that dogs, cats, and even rats can get along just fine — don't believe the myths.
At first, this looked like a classic case of he (the cat) is just not that into you (the rat). But, surprise, surprise, kitty comes around and they're best buds. Bonus points: weirdly compelling elevator music soundtrack.
I suppose this story takes the fact that it's the Year of the Rat a smidge too literally. According to experts, Britain now has a larger rat population than they have human beings living in their country.
It appears as though since they halted weekly bin collecting in favor of fortnightly pickups (that’s every two weeks for those of you who don’t speak middle English) trash has been piling up and a call for recycling has never been more dire. The director of the National Pest Technicians Association said: “Fortnightly bin collections now mean it’s vital we recycle. Just putting extra food scraps on compost heaps means fantastic breeding grounds for rats to spread disease.”
To see where it's the worst, read more
Who says you can't teach rodents anything? Apparently rat surfing is one more way people are trying to include their pets in human activities. They're so cute and so badass at the same time.
For four decades, Columbia has been wrought with war between its government and extremist rebels, leaving dangerous land mines sprinkled over the countryside. But instead of using people or bomb sniffing dogs to locate the mines, Columbia is turning to a much smaller soldier for the job: rats.
For the past few years, rats have been trained in mazes to sniff out dangerous C-4 explosives. Their tiny stature and weight won't trigger the mines so there's a better chance of diffusing the bombs safely. Surprisingly, the rats come with an 84 percent success rate, and are also being trained to work alongside Columbia's trusty German Shepherds for even more explosive detecting jobs. I am sure we can agree it gives the term "lab rat" a whole new meaning, but what do you think of the practice?
Sometimes the news is so bad and so removed from your daily experience that the only thing you feel capable of doing is making sure people know. So here it is: after being decimated by Cyclone Nargis this Spring Myanmar is suffering through a protracted natural disaster that the government had 50 years to prevent. 50 years.
Called the maudam, twice a century the region's bamboo flowers produce a fruit that attracts rats. Hoards upon hoards of rats. Beyond the obvious squeamishness associated, the effect is even greater and long lasting. The rats consume all of villagers' food before turning to the seeds for the crops, ensuring that recovery is lengthy verging on impossible. The last three instances of the maudam, in 1862, 1911 and 1958, were all followed by devastating famine.
To see what the experience is like, read more
.xxlarge/i/Paris-Says-Non-Les-Rats.jpg "Paris Says \"Non\"! to Les Rats!")
