It's interesting that a major part of the rat problem in NYC stems from poor waste management. Even more interesting, a major reason it's so bad is because in the 50s instead of keeping the old metal trash cans, they opted to instead put plastic bags on the streets.<p>These sorts of regressions in the name of progress fascinate me. For example, cities that tore up their light rail systems for roads and private vehicles.
My pet rats are here next to me as I type this.<p>I used to live in a basement apartment, next to the trash room. Rats were often blocking my door, and I could hear them walking in the ceiling right above me as I slept. I hated them so much that I happily killed as many as I could, with no remorse.<p>Last year, my boy (age 12) asked for a pet rat. I thought he was kidding, but he showed me YouTube videos of pet rats being adorable. So I said OK.<p>We adopted two twin brothers, which he named Cricket and Clover. They look almost identical but I can tell them apart by their personality. Full of energy and wants to climb to my shoulder? That’s Cricket. Mellow and wants to cuddle in my armpit? That’s Clover.<p>Rats, like cats, use a litter box. They’re very trainable, so they can come when called. They’re attached and affectionate. They have personality, which then makes us more attached and affectionate, too. Go search for videos of pet rats, and you'll see.<p>Many times a day, I go cuddle them and kiss their bellies, and they lick my nose. They’re wonderful.<p>As much as I love these rats, my deepest joy is that I'm loving what I used to hate. Cuddling what I used to kill.
Rodents are a closely related group to primates. They are grouped in the same superorder: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euarchontoglires" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euarchontoglires</a><p>So between a random rat and your cat or dog, the former is likely a closer relative.
Rats are good critters. They're clean like cats and smart like dogs. They can learn complex tricks if you care to teach them and will engage in mutual grooming with their favorite human.<p>They are very good pets if you know what to expect
I can't think of an animal that has had a worse press than the rat. Except perhaps the flea.<p>In my view the reality is that they are really no different from something like a squirrel.
Could someone list some downsides about keeping a rat as a pet? There must be <i>something</i>. But thus far the comments have made it sound like the ideal pet other than them dying in a few years.<p>I’m thinking forward to when our daughter Kess is a little bit older (she’s almost two). It’d be nice to start her on something that she can actually take care of herself with supervision, without it being a family animal like a dog. I was thinking of some kind of lizard before this thread came along.
Clever comment by the illustrator in the headline image:<p><a href="https://genius.com/Gil-scott-heron-whitey-on-the-moon-annotated" rel="nofollow">https://genius.com/Gil-scott-heron-whitey-on-the-moon-annota...</a>
> Can we learn to live with them?<p>"We" don't have to. It's a uniquely Anglo problem to remove street cats and dogs. One that we could immediately stop. You would have a hard time finding a rat in Istanbul.
if you like rats and coding, then <a href="https://docs.raku.org/type/Rat" rel="nofollow">https://docs.raku.org/type/Rat</a> may be for you
In the 90s, I stumbled upon a rat in my living room when I came home from work.<p>I figured I had a choice: put out traps and poison to try to kill it or give it a name and declare it a pet.<p>I named him Raskolnikov.