# Anga Goes To The Park



## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

So I finally found a safe site!

Anga and I went a couple of days ago while the weather is still cool enough. Anga had a great time! It was a lot of fun, but at times a little unnerving. She decided that playing under the creek rocks and shrubs was a better idea than listening to me! But she knows I'm a big softy and that she only_ really_ has to listen when I get loud! 

I took videos for my albums and I thought I'd share them.


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## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

Yay! So cute! I love how inquisitive Anga is.


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

She's my baby!


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## cookiebear<3 (Aug 2, 2013)

Seems like she had a blast! Such a pretty girl

How do you make sure there aren't any potential predators in the area?


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

I can't be absolutely certain there are no predators around. I just have to check everything out. I was in the city, so I wasn't overly concerned about flying raptors. Snakes aren't as common in the city. I was most concerrned about fire ants. 

We did okay!


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## Fraido (Oct 1, 2014)

She looks like she loves it!







I see potential! I'm glad to hear how you pronounce her name, lol. I was saying it differently.


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

I always read it as ann-gah


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

I was going to call her Angela. Some how the 'e' and 'l' fell out!


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## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

Fu-Inle said:


> I always read it as ann-gah


You're not the only one.


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## Fraido (Oct 1, 2014)

I always read it as ang-gah, haha.


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## Zanie (Dec 30, 2015)

Lovely


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

That's typical boomerang behavior from what I can tell... it's how rats learn to navigate. They pick a starting point and scent mark it and then strike out in one direction until they boomerang back then do another excursion... They don't necessarily do a 360 degree sweep but usually prefer to follow ground cover. Anga looks like she's pretty comfortable in open spaces, which is good, no sign of panic, so far which is even better. 

Once she gets her bearings try to coax her along at heel. Which is good to teach before she gets too competent at navigating.. Remember the more competent a rat becomes the further they range and less control you actually have. Which is why by that point it's important to trust in Anga to come back and to know how to do it.

And as to obeying commands, Anga will learn to understand your tone of voice, so when something really dangerous comes up, she will know when to take you serious, vs when it's OK to just ignore you.... But still, it's teach and test, she is learning as she goes and you are learning about her as you go... 

Remember, even when you are filming to keep your head on a swivel... look up and look around for danger sneaking up on you... I know you are at your safe site, which by the way looks pretty good aside from the tall trees... Fuzzy Rat loved to hang out in tall trees and would usually not come down for at least an hour, Max could climb like a squirrel and she would actually take her naps up there, which could be annoying, but some rats don't so you may not have to worry about Anga. I usually pick a nice short tree and put the rat in it, and let it explore, then practice recalling it to me... so that if she ever goes up a really tall one, I know what to expect. Teach & test.


If I planned to be at the park for over an hour, I'd send Fuzzy Rat up a tree while I took a break from her and played with my daughter... with Max, I stayed clear of trees unless I knew I had a few hours to kill, in case she wanted to take a nap. Cloud didn't climb in any direction other than down... so to her trees were irrelevant.

Remember, you want everything that can go wrong to go wrong at the safe site... where things won't get out of control. Then once you feel comfortable about handling Anga, you move to more and more dangerous situations... but you are always managing the risk...

When you get really good and your rat gets really competent... it looks so easy and natural no one even thinks to question the rat on your shoulder or walking beside you... When you screw up, you look truly absurd shouting up a tree or into a large piece of construction equipment. And/or you make everyone nervous while you wrestle with a squirmy rat ducking in and out of your clothing... Or in the immortal word of one little girl at the beach.... "Look mommy, the man has a rat in his swim trunks."


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

Rat Daddy said:


> Or in the immortal word of one little girl at the beach.... "Look mommy, the man has a rat in his swim trunks."


ROFLMAO

I'm crying! 

I already had a guy staring at my chest! I don't really care so much about that. They'll get over it and have a good story to tell. 

I'm taking her out again today. We don't have many more 'cool' days left. Probably, anyway. 

Not sure how hot it gets where some of you live, but by the end of May, it'll be up around 90, then in the 100's in early August. Ugh!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Put a spray bottle of clean water in your car now before you forget it... If you have a nice breeze, you can keep Anga cool outdoors by keeping her wet. And surprisingly, rats enjoy getting misted on a hot day. With enough breeze and a bit of shade, you can work outdoors with her up to around 90 degrees, sometimes a little bit more, but watch for signs of drooling, going squishy or flat or strange digging behavior and be ready to head for a creek or AC fast. A cool creek or water fountain will save your rats life in a pinch, if you really screw up. Also take a water bottle along, Anga will learn to drink out of the cap with a little bit of practice. 

Wind speed matters in how effective spray bottles are, and rat color matters a lot in direct sunlight... Mostly white rats do a lot better in direct sunlight than dark rats. Dark rats overheat in the sun much faster than mostly white rats. Direct sunlight will damage pink or possibly even light ruby eyes.

(if you reuse a spray bottle that came with cleaning fluids inside, make sure it is perfectly clean first and properly labeled. You never want to Tilex or Windex your rat accidentally.)

Lastly remember your car has lots of micro-climates inside. Up where your head is, might feel breezy and cool, down under your dark seats, around your feet things, or on the rear seat in direct sunlight it can get really hot and you might not notice.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

And I forgot to mention.... I love moms... there were like 5 moms just sitting there watching me trying to look composed with a rat in my swim trunks... right in front of their kids... and none thought it might be a charitable gesture to distract the kids just for a moment, so I could get the rat out of my swim trunks in a semi-dignified manner.


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

Rat Daddy said:


> \Also take a water bottle along, Anga will learn to drink out of the cap with a little bit of practice.


I keep a bowl in that huge, mammoth sized purse for Anga. That purse is actually hers. I detest huge purses! I don't like carrying a purse at all if I can get away with it. I admitted to myself a long time ago that a purse is really nothing more than a portable trash can and a place to lose things! 

I also never go anywhere at all without a thermos of water. I also keep a gallon of water in my car. In the summer, I don't go anywhere with my mini-cooler filled with ice. I drink close to a gallon of water a day and can't stand to be without it! 

I'll add a water bottle to Angas' purse right now.


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

Rat Daddy said:


> And I forgot to mention.... I love moms... there were like 5 moms just sitting there watching me trying to look composed with a rat in my swim trunks... right in front of their kids... and none thought it might be a charitable gesture to distract the kids just for a moment, so I could get the rat out of my swim trunks in a semi-dignified manner.


I hope they knew it was a rat in your trunks!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Oh yes, moms tend to pay attention when their little girls play with a strange guy's Fuzzy Rat... oddly they usually watch from a distance... 

I'm not entirely sure that's going to read the way I meant it... 

But yes... 5 moms all watching... and not a one gave me a hand with the rat in my trunks....

I'm just making this sound worse... aren't I?

I meant they could have at least distracted their kids... (not anything else you might have been thinking...)

Shoulder ratting isn't always slickly choreographed meet and greets... when a rat decides to embarrass you, it's something you don't forget for a long time....


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

Rat Daddy;2157250
I'm not entirely sure that's going to read the way I meant it...
I'm just making this sound worse... aren't I?
[/QUOTE said:


> There will always be that person with a stick up their you know what and will actually take you seriously! That's their problem


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

So we got back from the park about 30 minutes ago. 

I think Anga knows when we are going out because she bruxes non-stop before we finally get out the door. Of course seeing her purse probably helps, too! She seemed especially excited today to be going out. We stopped by the pet store for cat food on the way to the park. She kept going to the shoulder that was shaded today, or into her purse until we got inside the store. Once in the store, she pretty much stayed on my shoulder.

Things went different at the park today. I don't think it necessarily was bad, but Anga didn't want to run around exploring like she did last week. It almost seems like she just didn't want to be in the sun today. She mostly stayed under my legs while I solved Sudoku puzzles. If I moved and she ended up in direct sunlight, she would move to a shaded area. She does not have ruby or red eyes at all, so I'm not sure what happened. I can only think of 2 things that were different today. It was a lot warmer today. With the heat-island effect, it was 88 degrees at the park, but only 83 out here in the country._ I_ didn't feel hot, but I'm used to Texas heat. I'm used to standing outside all day in 100+ degree heat. This time of year is still cool for me. I've talked to plenty of people from up north that have anxiety attacks when I tell them it's going to hotter and muggier before the summer is out. To my knowledge, Anga's never been in the heat at all. So maybe she'll have a harder time acclimating. 

I moved us to a shadier area with a brick walled area. I sprayed her with the water bottle, glad you mentioned that btw. It seemed to perk her up a little and she explored in the shade under the trees for a few minutes. But then she stayed between my back and the cool brick walls behind me. 

It was also later in the day than it was when we were out last week. The only other thing that was different is that there a lot of kids there today. She's been around kids before and didn't have a problem with them. 

I tried to work with her telling her to come. She will do that at home now, but she wouldn't leave the brick wall at all today. I sensed that today was just not a good day for it. 

We stayed for about an hour and a half-ish. When it was clear to me that she didn't want to play, we packed up and headed out. 

So, either it was too hot for her, or something else was going on that she wasn't comfortable with. She _did _see something outside at night a few weeks ago that had both her and the cats spooked. But I couldn't see a thing. 

Since I was out of coffee, and she didn't seem to have any energy to do anything but loaf around, I stuck her in the purse and went to the grocery store. It was cold in the store and within seconds, Anga was demanding to be let out of the bag. I had to keep pushing her back down in the purse! 

Then when we went out in the heat again, she went back into the shade. 

She never appeared to be frightened today. In the car on the way home, she did seem more tired than usual. I'm thinking the heat was too much for her. I'll have to take her out early in the mornings while I still can. It won't be long before temps hover in the upper 80's in the morning with heavy humidity. 

Do you think it was just too hot for her today??


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## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

There may have been a predator you didn't see that she smelled. But it was also probably really hot.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

82 degrees is about the max temp for a rat that isn't misted and misting only works when it's breezy or windy... I live near the shore, where there's almost always a breeze, so it's a good trick for me. But don't get too wierded out when your rat behaves strangely... sometimes they do that... 

Once Fuzzy Rat was all freaked out and a few minutes something that looked like a fox or coyote wandered across the parking lot just a couple hundred feet away from us and once she freaked out and a few minutes later we heard an owl screech overhead.. some days she would just be off her game... One incident doesn't mean much, it's all about watching for a pattern.. Fuzzy Rat would sometimes get all excited and start preening and then hopping around like a rabbit and then start tracking around in circles... it took a few times, but we finally realized she was running down wild boy rats' scent trails... You are right to be thinking and evaluating Anga's behavior each trip out, but you mostly have to watch for a pattern or patterns... You will never truly see the world through Anga's eyes, but in time you will gain some of her perspective... 

Always remember that at any given time there are most likely not more than 100 true shoulder rats in the world... This is a very elite club. Every shoulder rat is different and no one has actually ever written a training manual on the subject... some days are better than others, some days it's magic and others everything just feels awkward, it will take time for you and Anga to develop the perfect working relationship.

Today, we had Misty along at a club meeting... when we cleaned up we found a rat raisin on the floor that didn't come from Misty... Obviously our rat wasn't the first one in the room... Misty stayed under my jacket or on my arm... maybe she smelled the other rat or rats that perhaps live in the building? Naturally I picked it up and tossed it into the trash, I don't want Misty to be blamed for leaving a mess behind. But maybe I better understand why she was hanging out so close to me better having found evidence of other rats... I've been working with true shoulder rats for a long time, and I'm still learning... which makes it so much fun.


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