greenstorm | Last Rat Hoarding Update for the Night

Simone is amazing.

This is from my friend who lives near Santa Fe and who drove down to Las Cruces today to get a bunch of rats out and into forever homes near her area:

I am about to collapse into a small puddle, but things are looking up. I am sure we can arrange things on this end...some way.

Spent the day driving from here to Cruces & back. Things are grim at the shelter. Current numbers are 225, more expected. 27 of those have been "adopted," but adopted includes snake food etc. I can say that eleven have found good homes for sure.

The shelter is not equipped in any way. No space, no anything. I can email you more details -- it is not for the squeamish. The important thing is that there are many potentially saveable rats there, if we can persuade them to give us more time.

To give you an idea: they aren't handling the rats except with tongs and/or welding gloves. I demonstrated that I could stick my bare hands into the rat piles (2-5 rats deep) and emerge unscathed...not persuasive, I guess. In contrast, the rats take care to be as gentle as possible.

Two are upstairs now, awaiting a final trip to their forever home later this weekend. They are awfully sweet and have been experimenting with grooming my fingers and bossing me around. One likes to sit in my hands & eat treats, which I think is exceptional for any individual who hasn't experienced a friendly human before.

Maya thinks they smell amazing, but isn't allowed in the room. Consequently, she sniffs me so thoroughly that she's walking into walls. Poor dog.

I am beyond exhausted. Time to wander off and hope to make more sense tomorrow!

And here's the email so the pilot is not a hoax but a miracle!!! Seriously, can you believe it???

Hi Simone! I am completely exhausted (13 hours spent driving + related activities), and thus not very coherent. But I wanted you to know that we've found a pilot. My partner, Brian, works at the Los Alamos National Lab, and he forwarded the distress call to everyone there. A co-worker turns out to be a dedicated rat enthusiast, with a wife in vet school and a plane.

Not only that, but he's planning a Vancouver trip in early July. We are strapped for sufficient foster homes (more on this tomorrow...let's just say, the shelter is not a good place for anyone to be), but I'm sure there's a way to make this happen.

As I said, I'm completely fried. I will be much more capable of assembling these pieces tomorrow, and will work on it then. But it looks like we have transport for you, and transport in other directions as well. I wanted to let you know ASAP :-)

Okay, time to crash. Oh, and eight rats have homes now...a small beginning.