Friday, July 29, 2011

Um... Athena?

Dear Athena:

Thank you for cheering me up. I know I've been a wreck with worry over Persephone (who may or may not be getting better, too early to tell). I love you very much and I'm glad you've been getting more acclimated to Algernon as a buddy, it seems she's getting more comfortable with you too. You've been so super-sweet, even though you've been on a hypermink mischief run today. You've been so cute and so overwhelmed and just going nuts! There is one little thing I'd like to address though.... you're classified as Rattus Norvegicus and not Macaca Mulatta now.. I think I can see how you're ratty brain may be confused. Or how you may genuinely think you're a Macaque and not a rat. But your cage climbing skills are pretty epic, even Algernon agrees.

Sincerely,
Momma and Daddy

Yeah, that's right, Athena is going monkey on us. She's climbing upside down on the ceiling of the cage. Why, you ask? Because she can. That's all I can figure. After the emotionally charged blog about Persephone earlier, she's been so cute and has been making me laugh so hard I even had to go pee to make sure I didn't wet myself and the chair in the process.

What happened on that occasion wasn't necessarily her fault.. but it was still funny. I was refilling the food bowl for she and Algernon and it was sitting on the front top cage door. Both the surface of the door and the bottom of the bowl are smooth. Well, Athena felt like investigating the bowl.. so she hops in it and then proceeds to comically slide off the door and to the bottom of the cage where she looks confused. Then just gets back up and grooms herself. I mean.. this is ridiculous and I wish I had a video camera.

It didn't end there (as if it ever would). Just a few minutes later she's on the second shelf of the cage, maybe nine or ten inches from the roof. Well, she and Algernon climb the cage all the time, it's how they get from the floor to the first level because I replaced the original shelf with denim and then removed the ramp. Before she started rooming with Algernon, she would sneak in on occasion and climb for a bit. Well, she has since figured that she's living there and has celebrated appropriately.

And when I say this I mean she climbs up the wall from the second shelf and then hangs precariously upside down by two paws until she gets the rest of her feet in line. Then she walks around in a circle while Algernon looks baffled and Ben and I laugh until we can't breathe. It's funny to watch. I haven't seen a rat do it since Demeter was with us. So it's refreshing and having a laugh like that when there's so much worry and sadness is just wonderful.

G'mornin' g'night or g'day

Afterthought: Why do all of the recent posts seem to be about Athena? Do I sense an attention-seeker? Hmm..