The rat whisperer

26 November 2003 ~ 22:41

She arrived on Saturday and we took her straight up to Grantham, in Lincolnshire, to stay the night with my mother. The next day we all visited Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire. Barbara (Mark's mom) was especially interested in seeing the cathedral because Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife, is buried there. The organist was practicing whilst we were in the cathedral�and what a treat to listen to!

On Monday hubby had to work, so she and I just went shopping at the local mall, and today we visited the London Aquarium. It was cool �cos we got to stroke a string-ray. I love rays.

Anyway, I�ll write more about that later, but here I wanted to talk about the amazing gift that I think hubby has with animals.

Sky, our little minx of a rat, has always been so busy and inquisitive, never stopping still for a moment. Granted she is slowing down a little now that she is one year old�which is about late thirties in human terms�but she still has her nose into everything. She was very interested to meet Grammy, her American grandmother!

Tonight I witnessed the astonishing sight of Mark holding Sky for a whole seven or eight minutes on his chest, and while he stroked and scritched her, she stayed stock still and almost in a trance, even bruxing�cats purr; rats grind their teeth and bulge out their eyes when content.

It�s not the first time I�ve seen him have that power over a rat, and it occurred to me that he may indeed have a special gift of empathy with them, just like some people have with horses or dogs. They seem almost mesmorized by him. It really is fascinating to watch. I�m actually quite jealous!

And so, you�ve heard of dog or horse whisperers. Hubby is a rat whisperer!


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