Rodent Spotlight: Fancy Rat

Not every rat in the world is known for crawling around in filthy gutters, eating garbage out of trashcans, and spreading diseases. Some rats rather detest the lifestyle! We call these rodents fancy rats and for good reason. These rats live far above the greasy proletarian caste of rat society.

I first heard of these remarkable specimens while perusing the DVD special features of the movie "Ratatouille." At first, I thought it was a joke, but then I started hearing the term "fancy rat" in other places. The designation basically refers to a particular species of brown rat that is commonly kept as pets. Oh, yes! No garbage for these little princes. Only the best table scraps will do!

It wasn't always the easy life for the fancy rat. They had to fight their way up to current luxuries. In the 18th and 19th century, fancy rats were bred to be used in some very gruesome blood sport. They were forced into great arenas and made to fight other rats as well as bigger creatures like dogs and cats. It was all very cruel, but some rats actually survived to continue the bloodline even to this day. Now, the fancy rat is treated with far more respect.

Fancy rats are evenly tempered and get along fairly well with others of their high society ilk; however, they will sometimes get into tussles with each other. I'm sure this is going back to their fighting roots, but they usually don't rough it up too badly. It's all about who gets the first of the food now-a-days rather than who gets to live.

We do not see many fancy rats in fiction, but the door is wide open for the possibility. In my unpublished novel "Rat," I had some fancy rats portrayed. In stark contrast to the main characters, these rats had grown very dependent on the humans for just about everything. There was some jealousy when the newcomers were added to the cage, but I can understand that! The affections from the great human overlords will be split between them! How dreadful--but not as dreadful as living in garbage cans! Bleck!

For better or worse, being a fancy rat is a remarkable status that all rats would likely wish for. Sadly, most of them must be content with the paw they were dealt. And besides, with as much garbage we throw out on a daily basis, they will likely never starve to death out on the streets.

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