Three not so blind mice

As we all know, I have had (R.I.P. Walter #2 and Gus Gus!) two pet rats.

Honestly, could they get any cuter?!

That must mean I loooooove when I see a wild rat crawling around an apartment!!! I'm like the pied piper! False. Yesterday, Sarah, Maddie and I were just trying to enjoy a nice movie when out of the corner of my eye I see a little mouse crawl across the floor.  Now, if you don't know the story about my first pet rat, Walter #1, I will try to sum it up. Here is a rough timeline of what occurred not even 24 hours after bringing home Walter #1 from the pet store (where the worker asked if I was going to feed him to my snake. Rude!) 

• Playing with my new pet ratty, who will be referred to right now as Walter, and feeding him peanuts. 
• Walter crawls off my lap and starts exploring the couch. Who am I to stand in the way of a young ratty exploring?!
• I look away for a single second and turn back to see the tail of Walter disappearing in the couch
• Oh he is just under the cushion! Let me get him before he runs away *lifts up cushion*
• Walter is nowhere to be found
• Panic sets in
• I see a little hole in the couch, and realize that Walter is literally inside the couch
• I place a few peanuts by the opening to lure Walter out
• He peaks his head up to sniff them and then goes back down inside the couch. Guess I fed him too many peanuts -__-
• Start to feel sick as I realize I am going to have to cut out the entire bottom of the couch
• My mom comes down the stairs to find me sweating, hair in a mess, with the couch on its side, and a hole in the bottom
• "You lost your rat didn't you"
• Oops.
• Solution: put couch outside because he will want to go back to his natural habitat
• Bring couch back in after a couple days because Walter is definitely gone
• Get two new ratties!!! Walter #2 and Gus Gus. Can you believe my mom and dad let me get not one, but two more rats?! Me either. 
• All is well in the Darmody household
• A week later and all is definitely NOT well as my mom claims something is nibbling her butt every time she sits on the couch
• "You are crazy mom" say me and my sister as we make faces at each other and laugh
• Another week goes by with my mom claiming Walter #1 is definitely alive and living in the couch, and complaining she can't sleep because she has nightmares of Walter #1 running rampant in our household
• Think about checking my mom into a mental institution 
• A few nights later as I am watching TV, to my surprise I see Walter #1 scamper across the floor with a smug look on his face, almost as if he is mocking me:

Try and catch me now, owner!

• I call in reinforcements and my sister and I get our lacrosse sticks (why?) 
• "We've got you now Walter #1!!" we say as we laugh to ourselves
• But at this point Walter #1 is wise to our plans, and doesn't show himself until we give up
• By now it has been over three weeks and now I'm starting to have nightmares about rats crawling in my bed
• We decide to put the couch up on buckets because then Walter #1 would have to come down for food but wouldn't be able to get back up
• HA! we finally outsmarted a rat
• Then one night I am watching The Office and hear the worst squeal in my entire life, as if a rat was stuck in a trap (nice analogy right?)
• I got my sister and we shined a light in the sun room with the couch (now conveniently renamed the Rat Room) and saw Walter #1 finally caught
• I sprint upstairs to get my dad because at that point Walter #1 was just a once pet rat for less than 24 hours, turned into a scheming, wild rat who was causing emotional distress in our family 
• I never saw Walter #1 again after that

So immediately when I saw that dang rat run across their apartment floor I got flashbacks of rats nibbling my mom's butt and sleepless nights. Hopefully this time we can catch him before he causes too much emotional damage. As of right now, no luck.