[dreadhead]

I was just curious what kind of reactions you get when you take your rat out... ever been asked to leave a store or have people freak out?

I thought about this while plotting to take my rat back into a certain fast food restuarant with me after getting screwed over by the drive thru. After complaining about not having ice in my drink, cold unsalted fries, fried chicken instead of grilled, finding a long black hair while grabbing for the bag fries... I would have loved to pull her out of the bag and said "oh yeah... and one more thing". I thought about it for a second and realized that part probably wouldn't go over so lightly. :roll:

 

[JennieLove]

LMAO! That would have been SoOoOoO Funny!

 

[Vixie]

LOL! I've thought of this for many seasons...

I took one of my males into a hardware store and a few people approached me asking about him but no one told me to leave because of him.

For health reasons, only guidedogs/animals are allowed in any store that sells produce or any kind of food.(at least that's the law here)

A friend of mine is a regular to the hardware store I mentioned, and he has his spot by the door while he's there(it's a small store, I should mention).

 

[Nazarath]

I've taken Naz to school and the store. They didn't ask me to leave maily because i kept him well hidden and when he fell asleep in my arms i was heading out and thats when people saw him and thought he was cute. At school i get a lot of ews and i get asked if he has rabies and all the same stuff. I love taking him out! i'm working on it with my girls but they are still a little to active lol.

 

[JennieLove]

A savemart down the street lets people take there animals in...Hehe. They all know us there since we go everyday.

 

[hydra]

i brought Lucy through a drive thru (i think it was burger king) and they looked at me like I was nuts!
I <3 rats

 

[Rodere]

We took our girls to the mall once and had several people ask about them. One woman cooed and awed at them and was talking about how cute they were. "Ohhh, you're the cutest hamster I've ever seen. Yes, you're so cute." When I explained that they were rats and not hamsters, her whole demeanor changed. She told me how degusting they were and marched away, saying she was going right now to wash her hands! Silly people.

We used to take them into the movie rental place with us, but a customer complained so they told us we couldn't. We still do, but they say well hidden in the hood of a sweatshirt or the pouch on the front.

We had them at the park once or twice, but it is so big that there weren't many people around. We walked around it and got some funny looks, but nothing too major.

I also took them to one of my college classes once when I was giving a speech about rats as pets. I started to step into the elevator and the girl in it squealed really loud and squished herself against the wall. She couldn't even speak or anything as the door closed and I stared at her the whole time it was closing like she was an idiot. lol I took the next elevator.

A group of girls cuddled them and talked to them while I ate my lunch that day. They shared my pretzels and Cheezits with me and munched on what I'd brought for them. I sat on a bench near my next class and let them run around it while I finished eating.

I even sat in another of my classes with their carrier open. I told them to stay in it after I opened it and they never stepped outside. They just sat patiently watching me until I finished the test we had in that class. When I told them they could come out, they stepped out and came to my hand. It helped show people how smart they are.

I did have one person try to smack one of our youngest out of my hands though. I was quick enough that I pulled him away in time. I wasn't too polite about it either. I told her she was rude and inconsiderate. All I'd been doing was walking by her outside and she saw him and tried to do that.

 

[Dimitrius]

We took our girls to the mall once and had several people ask about them. One woman cooed and awed at them and was talking about how cute they were. "Ohhh, you're the cutest hamster I've ever seen. Yes, you're so cute." When I explained that they were rats and not hamsters, her whole demeanor changed. She told me how degusting they were and marched away, saying she was going right now to wash her hands! Silly people.
...
I did have one person try to smack one of our youngest out of my hands though. I was quick enough that I pulled him away in time. I wasn't too polite about it either. I told her she was rude and inconsiderate. All I'd been doing was walking by her outside and she saw him and tried to do that.

Some people are so uneducated and stupid. :/ What can you do.
Thanks for sharing, everyone, this is a cool thread!

 

[radical]

I took Franz out for the first time today since it's the first day that's really been nice out since I got him. I ended up just going to my friend's house, but there was this lady jogging by who like stopped and stared at me haha.

 

[Inesita]

^Hah, me too.

I took Takeo for his first outside trip yesterday. He seemed to like it and was a good boy, sitting on my shoulder the whole trip. It wasn't a long trip thoug, just to the postoffice.

 

[STUgirl55]

Picasso just had her first ever outing. I took her up to campus with me while I did some work for my broadcast class. She chilled out in my bookbag, jumped a bit, ate things I tossed it and let people hold and pet her. Other than a couple people everyone seemed pretty cool with her. One of my friends freaked out and starting going "ew ew ew" and backing away from my bag. I honestly can't understand fear of domestic rodents, but maybe that's just me. Another one of my friends kept passing her lettuce while we were sitting in the caf.

 

[JennieLove]

Awww, sounds like she had fun!

 

[Nazarath]

I took Naz into Les Shwab with my today because i was getting my tires done and we had just left the pet store. He was sitting on my lap and then just fell asleep . I watched something on TV and he just crashed. I was worried about it being a little warm (it was 90 today :|). SO i baught some cold water and let him snuggle with it. He seemed quiet happy . Knowone said anything about him but they did ask "is that a rat?" lol

However braught him into a walmart that had a McD's in it. This one woman got all bent out of shape "We could be sited! get that pest out of the store!!" I can understand she was doing her job but i think she could have been nicer about it.. maybe she doesn't like rats?

 

[Rat_Fink]

Well I went on holiday once and got my cousin to babysit my rats. For a carrier for my rats, I have a mouse cage that I use to transport them.

When I went to pick them up I ended up taking the bus and I got a few people asking about them thinking they were mice or hamsters. When it was time to get off the bus, it was fairly packed so I had to hurry.

I ended up whacking a guy in the head with the cage (he didn't seem too pleased with that) and my cousin went to jump off the bus and the doors closed on her (in the midst of her jump,, ahh hilarious)

I'm sure people we're talking about us long after we got off the bus.

 

[Night]

Besides trips to the vet's office, I rarely take my rats to places. Too much possibility of them catching something or getting stressed. But, a few months ago I did take Dwarfie in to the grocery store on my shoulder. No one noticed him (I have long hair, so that helps). The cashier finally saw him when he crawled from one shoulder to the other in front of my neck. She stammered a bit and then laughed. She knew I had rats since I worked there previously

 

[Nazarath]

Nazy LOVES to go out lol (if you couldn't tell by the pic) I haven't taken my girls out because i want them to know thier names a little better.

 

[Stephanie]

i take my boys just about everywhere with me LoL none of them know their names but they pretty much stick to my oversized purse LoL they are so adorable peeking their heads out of the top i get alot of finger pointing at me but no one ever says anything LoL

 

[Wench]

I take Doris out with me usually if I take a short run up to the convenience store. The staff all know her now so I don't get any weird reactions. Sometimes I let the security guy hold her and pet her, but generally she just sits in the hood of my jacket and checks out what's going on, or climbs down my arms and sits on the stuff in my hands when I'm buying things.

The longest I have ever had her out for was two or three hours when I had to go to the youth centre here and see my youth worker about something. Some chav told me rats were the dirtiest creatures alive, so I told him they couldn't be because he was.

The most extreme reaction I've ever had was at the bank. One of the younger tellers was serving me and she saw Doris and jumped back and went "Oh my god. Oh my god." She was just surprised, she didn't know if I knew she was there or what, haha. She was okay after and called the other staff out to come look at her.

Taking her home on the bus some little girls thought she was the sweetest thing alive and one said she would get a rat instead of a hamster after Doris spent so much time crawling all over her and making a nest in her hair. She also crawled on one woman's jacket and tried to take her tea from her, which was adorable.

I won't often take her further than the store though. Too much chance for disease, stress, falling, whatever.

 

[KayRatz]

Once I was walking this guy's dog and I took Klardae along. :] She hid in my hoodie pocket most of the time, because it was a bit cold.

And you know, I don't get how someone can mistake a rat for a hamster or mouse. ;

 

[Nazarath]

True i don't see how they could, I guess if you just don't know anything about them it can be tuff?? Someone ran up to the rats at my petstore and said "OMG those are HUGE mice!" lol