for clarification purposes I just want to add that of the above two named individuals that one is a genius and the other is insane.

Government jet!

Me waiting in Birmingham for a flight to Dublin..not knowing what’s the delay was, hope its not a bad omen

Love it Iain

lol, it sure sounds odd alright

Well dodgey lol lol

Word is there were some high ranking ceo hamsters who had their coffees spilled on that executive jet. They will decide to sue from a boardroom level. Expect to see suited hamsters talking to their lawyers at a pet shop near you. Bin Air will be contacted by a hamster ceo lawyer, oh yes. They will litigate, Binair..all the way to the JAA (or even FCC if necessary) Strasbourg is being considered. The hamsters are outraged. They bought business class tickets………

It is just for the burgers as we are running out of horse

Class Joaquin lol :-)

I salute your genius!

Bin Air done that !

You can buy rats an mice,?? I won’t take the bins out for a month an then ill set up my own business.

Have bickerstaffes got shares in the journal.ie? Always on the articles in here…..

Actually pet rats are very interesting creatures, there is a sizeable trade in them.

Government Jet maybe, also full of rat’s

In the UK rats are actually quite common, they even have rat “shows”. There’s several forums, even a National Fancy Rat Association. They have breeding names and varieties, specific shops, there’s even a diet called the Shunamite diet that is generally recommended for optimal nutrition.

Over here they’re popular amongst vet students and lab scientists, because they get to meet them and realise what great little creatures they are. If you ever got to know a domestic rat you would see the appeal pretty quick.
I’ve had about 50 of them over the years (they have a very short life span), and every one of them had an individual personality and funny habits. I’ve had hamsters and gerbils, but rats are in a class all of their own, they’re far more sociable and interactive.

wee have plenty rats and mice here at the moment they better get another flight as soon as possible or they will be taxed or they die with the hunger i was sure they were in govornment

Ever met a rat?
If you let a rat work out a maze that has arrows painted on the walls showing the route, then rearrange the route but use the arrows to show the route again, the rat will remember the arrows showed them the way the last time and follow them again. Rats are capable of meta cognitive thought, their intelligence is really quite striking.

They tend to outsmart pest control because they’re very cautious about what they eat, and if they smell something strong on a dying rats breath they will tend to avoid it for a while.

A rat groom themselves (cleaning) more frequently than cats, and they socialise with grooming sessions, they designate certain areas of their living quarters as toilets, and are easily litter trained.

They show empathy, a rat will set his friend free and share his treats with him rather than let his friend remain trapped, and they mourn each others passing..

As pets they’re actually pretty awesome. It’s a pity so many people hold such a prejudice against them.

Laboratories

I don’t think labs buy pet mice from pet shops Laura, their requirements are a bit more specific than that.

People with hungry snakes?

They were lab rats, packed in sterile containers.

The rodents are intended for sale in pet shops in Ireland

Do you know something the journal doesn’t know Phuq?

Yes.

Well then man, don’t tell us, tell Hugh….

They’ve already got to Hugh by the looks of it, our previous comments have mysteriously vanished…

People buy rats as pets because they are intelligent, affectionate and clean creatures. They make fantastic pets, they can be litter trained (in fact they usually designate one corner of their living quarters as the loo by themselves, they do this in the wild too), they are extremely sociable, with strong personalities and funny habits. They can also be kept in a cage for people that are unable to keep cats and dogs.

Most people have the vermin tag firmly in mind when they speak of rats, but if they were to get to know rats they would become as fond of them as they are of cats and dogs. In a lot of ways they’re like all the best aspects of both in a far smaller package.

Exactly

Like I said above, I’ve had the pleasure of knowing many rats, whole families of rats in fact (we had an accidental population explosion!).

Every day when I got in from work, my rats were up at the door of the cage aching for my attention, they wanted to come and play with their human, and as they got older, to cuddle up. They love being scratched and some of their reactions to this are hilarious, contorting themselves into the most awkward position just to give kisses as gratitude.
I’ve known some who pushed their poops out of the cage rather than have them in their living space, one who was more interested in giving kisses than getting treats, several who seemed to have OCD about where certain things went in their cage. Many play hunt just like cats, they play dead to try and freak you out too!
And there’s a video on YouTube of some scientists using whatever it is they use to hear bats to prove that rats laugh when you tickle them :)

The only bad thing about them is that the average life span is so short.. It’s hard losing them so frequently..

Actually, my partner just reminded me, one of our lads could count.. If he had say 3 nuts piled up, and you took one and have it to his brother, he would look at the pile – then look at you, then go looking around the cage for it.. He knew exactly how many should have been in his pile..

brilliant Shanti, I would nearly get one for the craic..

If you do consider it, a word to the wise, never get just one.
Rats are incredibly social creatures, they live in colonies and really 3 or 4 of the same sex is a far better number. Rats kept on their own tend to get pretty depressed, they need other rats to hang around with and groom.. It’s really sad when you get down to the last survivor, but by that stage they have become less active and are happy to sit on you (and would want to most of the time). As kittens they need cage mates. It’s quite cruel to keep a rat alone.

wow, took 5 comments to get to the standard political yada yada comment. must be a record

Ffs give it a break

Not you Conor

Terence – I thought you could manage to get in a Government jet joke.

Nah, rats would be better than this lot.. Rats give a crap about their brethren and don’t watch them go hungry while enjoying the spoils..
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=jailbreak-rat

No Katie, they’re sheep!

Suspect they are to feed the pets.

There’s probably a lot more Irish people keeping rats as pets than you realise. Anyone I know who keeps snakes etc buy their dinner already dead.

Exactly Shanti, my bro had a snake and he only ever bought these horrible white dead mice.. rats can be cool pets, just like lizards or spiders