Rats Act Like Lambs for Student Animal Trainers at Annual Revue

Coaxed by kisses and cat food, a baker’s dozen of rodents proved Friday that even rats can be nice guys once in a while.

The 13 rats cooperated with their student handlers at Moorpark College by popping out of cakes, lifting weights or bowling on command--although a few reluctant ones seemed determined to live down to their name.

The annual demonstration, known as the Rat Revue, is designed to give novices in the college’s Exotic Animal Training and Management Program a chance to showcase their fledgling training skills. Many of the students will eventually become animal handlers and trainers for movies, television shows, zoos and circuses, said Gary Wilson, who teaches in the program.

Wilson chose the 13 best students from a beginning animal behavior class of about 40 to put on the show.

What exactly does it take to teach a rat to obey you and pop out of a cake like a stripper, as Karen Strauch’s rat Lennie did.

“You’ve got to take your rat everywhere for about a month to get him used to you,” Wilson told about 50 people who watched the revue. “A few students got thrown out of restaurants because of that.”

To better display their prodigies’ talents, the students built elaborate sets of plywood and cardboard that incorporated tiny tunnels, ladders and swimming pools in a variety of settings--such as the prison island of Alcatraz, a gymnasium, a bowling alley and a beach.

Shawn Cordes, 21, of Huntington Beach waved her hands frantically as Surfer Steve, her female rat, lingered too long in the model surf shop that she had built as part of her beach set. “What can I say?” Cordes said. “My rat likes to shop, just like I do.”

But afterward, when Surfer Steve had redeemed herself by scampering up a ladder in exchange for cat food, Cordes rejoiced.

She said she took the class a second time because the first time she took it, her rat “did absolutely nothing, so I gave him away. This one I’ll keep.”