Rats, Mice Steal Spotlight as Fair Hits High Gear

Rats--the latest, hippest designer pet? For most everyone ogling the specimens as they lolled about their cages at the Orange County Fair on Saturday, the thought didn’t come easy.

But if you believe the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Assn., rats are easy to keep, don’t require too much room and--here we’ll quote--”provide all the pleasure of a warm, cuddly, intelligent and friendly pet companion.”

Not many people said they were convinced, but the rat and mouse exhibit was one of the more popular attractions as the 97th edition of the fair swung into the weekend in high gear.

With balloons bobbing, flags waving and amusement rides spinning in the background, there were crowds at just about every booth and exhibit on what fair officials called a picture-perfect fair day.

Early indications are that attendance is up this year, while arrests are down, fair officials said. By 3 p.m. Saturday, nearly 25,000 people had passed through the turnstiles, up from 19,800 at the same time last year.

Record Day Friday

On Friday, 52,625 people attended the fair, a record for the first Friday.

Also on Friday, there were 18 arrests, all alcohol-related, down from 24 arrests the previous year, fair spokeswoman Diane Sorensen said.

“Everything has been running extremely smoothly and we haven’t had any major problems at all,” she added.

In the rabbit and poultry tent, 6-year-old Betsy Baker eyed a litter of 10 newborn mice and admitted the pink little critters were kind of cute.

Her reaction to an equally pink, large hairless mouse that appeared to be asleep in a cage echoed that of others, however.

“Oh, how disgusting,” she said.

Karen Hauser, founder of the Fancy Rat and Mouse Assn., has heard that and worse about the creatures she calls lovable companions.

Hauser, 29, of Riverside, formed the rat group about six years ago because “people were interested knowing how to raise them.”

“There are shows and clubs for other animals so why not rats and mice?” she said.

The group now has about 180 members around the country and overseas who raise rats and mice for show.

Aware of the less-than-favorable light in which her pets of choice are held, she is also out to erase some misconceptions and outright lies.

First, there is a vast difference between wild rats (“some of the worst pests of mankind”) and the domesticated rats and mice used for breeding and show. One is not advised to go slopping around some sewer to find a rat for a pet, Hauser said.

Secondly, rats and mice are far from the dirty, disease-ridden creatures that most people envision. In fact, they are quite healthy and usually live from two to three years.

“Most people think that rats were plague-carriers, but it is not rats but the fleas that carry disease, and they could be on people and other animals as well as rats,” she said.

Thirdly, rats and mice are extremely intelligent, much more so than your average pig or chicken.

Know Their Names

Rats and mice respond to their names (Hauser’s are called Bandit, Bandido, Pundit and Pepper) and can be taught to come when you call them and other neat tricks, Hauser swears.

Fourth, rats and mice are not the boring, bland cut-from-the-same cookie-cutter little creatures that one would think.

There are two varieties--short, smooth glossy hair or curly hair and whiskers--and 21 distinct colors recognized among rat aficionados.

They include beige and black of course, but also champagne, amber, mink, cinnamon, pearl, fawn and lilac.

So, if one must have a burrowing animal for a pet, what’s wrong with a hamster? Get serious, Hauser said.

Hamsters don’t like to interact with people and won’t come out and play with you and they are not good mothers and are notorious biters, Hauser said. Besides, they are much less sturdy than rats and mice if you want to hug or cuddle them.

Kelle Steward of Huntington Beach, also a member of the rat group, says she can attest to all of the above.

She said she owns “four or five or six” rats or mice or whatever and they make wonderful pets.

“I have had just about every other kind of animal you can imagine,” she said as she fielded questions from curious onlookers. “And these are about the only ones that don’t bark or bite.”