How do you guys spread good rattie PR?

[Eileen]

Here is how my husband (who LOVVVVES his girls!) does it. He is a teacher, and is now teaching a  college grammar class.
So he has a captive audience of about 25. He always brings them up, and at first got the EEEW thing. But now they always ask about them and are bothering him to bring them in to class one day. (I wish I could do it but I work tons of hours & can't go in, & he doesn't want to have them in a school all day).
He also makes up their tests with good rattie stuff.

ie: Make a compound sentence out of the following:
Rats make good pets.  Rats do not bite.

and stuff like that.
He's changed 25 minds!

[EmilyRugburn]

That's a really good idea!  

I don't really make an effort to spread good rat PR.  They go to school with me every now and then, and when the weather is good, I'll take one to pick up Sam and let the kids hold it.  I've got several rat shirts that I wear so often they are becoming threadbare.  The one that is worn the most says, "Love thy rodent as thyself."  It can be purchased here:  http://www.rmca.org/Merchandise/shirts.htm

I've also got the Rat Pile shirt.  One of my friends calls it the "rat orgy" shirt.  LOL

Once in awhile someone will ask me about the shirts:  My math teacher this semester used to keep them as pets but his wife got rid of them because she claimed to be allergic.  He loved them, though.  My French teacher likes them, too, and used to keep them.  Then, one day she was jabbering about when she used to have rats and some guy in the class mentioned the coolness of them, and my old math tutor's best friend had a hairless that went with him everywhere and "lived" inside the guy's shirt, under his arm.

[Ensie]

I wear my rattie sweatshirts around town and I also teach, so I'll bring up my rats when I can. I don't incorporate them into course material (not really linked) and I don't give tests/quizzes, so I can't go that route either. But I talk about them casually and tell cute stories about them. Captive audience, you know?

[kim]

well, i periodically bring my rats to work --

and between myself and a few other students, our rats come to classes occassionally - and when they are there, we take them out and play with them - last time, uno got passed around the room just this wednesday the PEW baby boys were in class with us during an exam!

[BabyBlue]

I brought my rat a few times to school. Last time I had Midori in a carrier and everyone in my small group meeting wanted me to take her out so they can see her (well except one girl that said "OMG she's gonna take it out, she's gonna take it out" then moved away).

One thing I realized. By telling people how much money I spend on my rats I can either get them to
a) think that I'm very serious about them and that they require just as much care as dogs or cats
b)look at me like I'm a crazy person for spending that much money on (insert grossed out expression here) RATS

Today I got lucky enough to get someone to think (a) about me

[aj]

I carry their cutest photo in my wallet.  When I detect a nonostracizing audience, I mention how they are domesticated, are not the same species as Great Plague stories and less aggressive, learn their name and come when called, are the rodent most responsive to humans, come in curly/tailless/dumbo/Dalmation/etc. and have been bred as pets for a long time, etc.  Then I made a giant fancy rat suit to wear to suitable occasions.  (url on my profile...)  

[lostangelino]

Ditto to you AJ!! I too carry their photos in my wallet.  I can't tell you how many times I've been in a petshop to buy bedding or food. I'll walk past all the tiny critters and families will be oohing and ahhing over gerbils and hamsters. Rats typically get an UGGGH! I calmly stroll over and talk to the rats, turn to the family and produce the photos in my wallet and tell them how much I love my rats.  They are smart, affecionate, come when you call their names, like to play games or just curl up with you and make a very sweet and quiet pet.  Typically I win them over or at least show them a new side to rats!  The photo I show of Harry is of him with a bunch of mini pumpkins that I took last Halloween.  I ended up putting it in the Jones Soda site.  www.jonessoda.com Look under label gallery and look for Harry Vladimir under other animals.  

[angelratgirl]

i have about 5 rat sacks around my house and in my car (so some will be in the wash and others strategically placed) so that when ever i can i will grab a bag and my girls will hop in *by themselves... they know what it means!*  then it's off we go in the car.

the girls have a converted file box in my car to use for a potty break or a safehouse during the trip (or when they are getting too rambunctious, they get locked in) but usually they will ride on my shoulder or lap in the car.

then at the pet store i make a point of showing them off to everyone.   most of the time people will ask about them, and sometimes i meet other rat people, and of course there are the ewws and uggs.

afterwards, i will usually wander into a nearby target or micheals or fabric store (for some reason, most pet stores are either next to a target or a fabric/craft store) and as long as i have my hand in the rat bag, petting my rats, they are content to stay out of site.

and, since joining this forum, i have now become part of the RAATS IN THE CAROLINAS rat group, who have somehow discovered that i like to make things. so now i make rat icons, and stuff for rat t-shirts ( http://www.cafeshops.com/carolinaratsii ) and if they keep telling me how good i am they are going to end up getting me to start making rat bags for them.

whoops, i didn't mean to make this such a long post!

[Suebee]

Just last night, I was teaching crochet to two students at JoAnn's (where I also work part time), and my co-worker came in and we had a short conversation. I was telling her how Maryz and I may be going to the Lilac Festival this weekend, and I said the "R" word. I try not to bring them up in my classes, but they usually DO come up, and inevitably the pictures come out.  

Anyway, after I said the "R" word, one of my students says, "Did you say rats?" The other one says, "Real ones?"   I confirm that I DID, in fact, say rats, and that I keep them as pets, I run this place, blah blah, yadda yadda. So the first student tells me that her uncle used to have a pet rat, and he used to walk around with him on his shoulder all the time. I'm thinking, "YAY! Someone who gets it!" She asked for the url for my web site to show her kids.

If she's reading this... *waves*

[jessiree]

well...I have my RAATS in the Carolinas tote bag that I carry to work to show off...Of course..by the time I ordered that, everyone already know about my rats.  My preceptor (I'm still on orientation so we work as a team for now) Thinks it's gross--but interesting..and informs most of my patients...and I then take a moment to explain their wonderfulness.  

RAATS also had an adoption fair where I think we did a great job with Rat PR.   Of course there were those I had to chase down with a rat on my shoulder...  But there were lots that were genuinly interested and got some good info.  I actualy saw someone looking at hamster cages and went to talk them intoa  rat...mom was all for it..the kid was kinda...dumb..and prefered pets that will remove fingers.

[Bonnie]

Working in a pet store I have more oppourtunites to promote rats.  More times than none people shy away from rat tails and get hamsters instead. (   ) But oh well.

To those even THINKING about a rat, I usually hand out the ratsrule.com website.  Even my coworkers hand it out now, especially when I am not at work and they don't know exactly what to say, they just say "Go to this website"-- that works for me! lol

For work we also do school visits...where we bring various animals sold at the store into the classroom and talk a little bit about each one. Where we can, we bring our own pets, who are used to being held for longer periods of time, so I always bring a rat (or send a rat with my coworkers if I can't attend the visit)...  Before I started doing that, they usually didn't bring a rat, or at least if they did, they didn't hold it and didn't have much to say about it.  More times than none, my rat is the main topic, aside from any talking parrots we may have.  

Then theres the RAATS thing.  I think it's a positive thing when people see that there's a *rescue* organizaion for *rats*- I think that alone opens their eyes a little bit, and they realize there are more than just sewer rats- even if they don't get rats, it creates awareness.

I also have a bumper sticker on my car that reads "Love me, love my RAATS" and the web address on it. People driving behind me prolly think I'm nuts but that's okay with me!

[DebW]

Most of you know that I teach 6th grade science.  I keep 10 of my 14 rats in my classroom.  They have big Martin's cages and a long counter full of toys, tunnels, and boxes.
Most of the 80 6th graders I see adore them.  The rest have gained a respect for them.

I figure I change 70 to 80 minds a year.  I've had them in my classroom for about 4 years, so I guess that's about 280 to 320 future adults who will view rats positively in the future.

[aj]

I wanted to mention that although some people immediately recognized my costume as a Fancy Rat, it hit unexpected bad timing:  I had to fight a ton of parents who said, "Look Jimmy, it's Stuart Little!"  ! !!

(Some people did actually ask if I was a rat or a mouse... or a boy or a girl... I usually replied with a big squeak...)

[angelratgirl]

we need more teachers who care enough (and are informed enough) to introduce rats into the classroom.  that is exactly where i had my first real encounter with rats.  i was "allowed" to help care for the two females and one neutered male rat whose residence was the biology classroom in highschool, along with a rabbit (who always greeted me) a pair of doves and a few other animals.  i even remember that the girls' names were socks and vie (short for viberce(sp?) or the scientific word for wiskers) and that sock had to go through tumor removal surgery.

[sammimom]

On different occasions, I've taken a rat with me to the museum, where I volunteer on Sundays. The director is quite taken with them, even though Sasha peed on him. Sean went with me last time, and he was the perfect ''Rat Ambassador''. He sat on my shoulder, groomed himself, showed interest in the little girl who wanted to pet him. I'm currently working on a program to give at the local Public Library. I'm up to 7 pages.The library pays people to give programs, but this is so important to me, that I would do it for nothing, just to get the word out. We change people's minds, one at a time. One child at a time, one adult at a time. However we can, whenever we can. We take ''EEWW'', ''That's GROSS'', and ''ARE YOU NUTS?'' all in stride, and keep on singing the praises of the Norway Rat. Keep on singing, people!!