I was born a city girl and moved out to the country about 30 years ago. I expected things when I moved to the country, I’ll tell you. Some of those expectations were met, others have been sorely lacking.
Just off the top of my head, one of those things is farmers. I’ve met, and know, a lot of farmers. And most of them have been very good people. However. I have yet to meet one with a dog named Bingo. Before I moved out here, I thought every farmer had a dog, and Bingo was his name. Oh.
Of course, now I’ll get a hundred emails from people saying they have dogs named Bingo. Or they did growing up. My only question. Why keep it a secret until now?
Anyway, there are other things I had hoped for.
I wanted the sweet red barn, with stalls you could see from the outside. The kind where you could stand right at the wooden gate of the stall, look in, and see the pig, the little spider with a web overhead, spinning words like “amazing pig” and “wonderful.” And over in the corner would be the supportive rat. I’ve never seen a rat out here in our little piece of country.
This all came to mind when I noticed that today is National Rat-Catcher’s Day. The holiday celebrates rat-catchers all around the world. But it also commemorates the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
According to the good old folktale, there was the wholesome town of Hamelin, and apparently, they had a problem with rats. So the residents hired a guy. Funny guy, I might add. He dressed in all red with a cute little hat, as I recall, and played the flute. The residents begged him to remove the rats. So, he played a catchy tune and danced the rats right out of Hamelin.
Once ever rat was gone, he went to collect the rat-catching fee, and the Hamelinites would not pay. Shirkers. So he picked up his flute and started playing again. This time, a slightly different tune. All the children lined up and followed him right out of town, never to be seen again.
Oh, the poor, sad, rat-less, children-less people of Hamelin.
But this is the day to celebrate that Rat-Catcher and all who have followed in his rat-catching since then.
Rat Catchers have been needed at times. We’ve had periods in history when the Black Plague, or the Bubonic Plague, have taken over. The cities and towns employed the rat-catchers then.
But rats, in general, are pretty amazing animals. I’ve said it before. They aren’t really dirty. In fact, they clean and groom themselves more often than cats. They only spread disease when there is squalor for them to muck through, and carry on to other places.
We need to figure out a system of rat shoes, and rat doormats.
Rats are smart. We use them, study them in mazes, because of their cognitive abilities.
Rats are great swimmers. They can paddle more than a mile. More than I can say for myself right now.
Rats’ teeth grow. Fast, and a lot. That’s why then need to chew on things.
Rats don’t sweat. They don’t pant like dogs either. They keep themselves cool with their tales, expanding/contracting the blood vessels there.
Rats have their own personalities, outgoing, social, or shy and quiet. They are also lovable. They have a “purr” of their own, called “bruxing.” It means they are happy.
It is Rat-Catchers Day, and I’m considering getting a pet rat, after all of this. If I can catch one.
I think I’ll name him Bingo.
========
The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
— Benjamin Franklin
========
You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don’t want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something.
— Mitch Hedberg
=========
The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath.
— W. C. Fields
==========
