Order: Rodentia

• I don't know if you know this, but I have a rat. I actually had two rats, but one died almost immediately after I got her. Now I'm stuck with Maggie, who enjoys sunflower seeds, vacant cardboard boxes, and climbing. Also she might be blind and she has a strong distaste for humans. As in, any hand that comes near her will be mercilessly attacked. This is kind of unfortunate, because I've had rats in the past, and they were friendly. They would sit on your lap to watch scary movies and they would explore the couch or coffee table calmly and well-behaved until you scooped them up to return to their home. If you approached Olivia or Uli or Lola with a friendly finger (may they all rest in peace), they'd sniff and/or lick it cutely and either wander off or climb aboard your hand. Maggie just bites or poops repeatedly until you leave her alone.
  
  
  So let me know if you want a pet rat; I can hook you up (leather handling gloves not included).
• There was something living in my wall or pipes recently. On Friday there were distinctly rodent noises coming from my bathtub. I actually recorded them and had a small video clip ready to accompany this paragraph, but it was a really uneventful clip that included way too much of my droning voice. It's gone now, but it was loud and a welcome distraction for approx. one afternoon of GRE studying.
• Baby squirrels are also distracting. This one lives somewhere near my patio and is not afraid of people. Is it bad that I care more about it than I do about Maggie? Because I do. I put her food out for it.