Thanks. I'm probably leaning towards rats if I do get a pet. I'm surprised at how intelligent they are supposed to be.
I am a little concern about their pooping and pissing. That little house mouse I caught left a lot of droppings and some piss.... I had to clean and disinfect several desks and my audio rack in my basement. I discovered that he was probably hiding behind the audio rack (based on the poop I saw) during the time when I had no idea what was leaving droppings all over the computer desk. Then one day, he darted out from under my TV (I only saw something dark streak out and I kept wondering was I imagining things?) . It took me several tries before I finally verified it was a mouse. I caught him with a little "humane" trap I got at Home Depot. I actually ordered another trap earlier from Louisanana -- but Katrina hit and the shipment was delayed. I then went to Home Depot and bought another trap. I wanted to observe the little guy before releasing him but the Home Depot trap was solid plastic -- so I couldn't see him. The other trap I ordered was a steel mesh.
I put some peanut butter into the trap and left it before going to sleep. The next morning I went downstairs and noticed the trap was set. I lifted it up and could hear something scurried inside. I place the trap into a shoebox and took it to work where I released it at the woods near the parking lot. I was scared to open the trap because I thought it would jump out and bite me or something. So, I slowly opened the trap at arm's left but nothing came out. I slowly turned the opening towards me and I finally saw the mouse close up. I only saw his quivering butt and it seemed like he was trying to run away from the opening. Then he slowly turned around, unsquinted his eyes and looked at me. His eyes kind of looked bird-like to me. I slowly lowered the trap to the ground -- making sure the opening faced towards some tall grass (I thought seeing some cover would make him more likely to run towards it. He poked his head out, paused, and then hopped towards the tall grass.
I then looked at the empty trap and noticed it was full of poop and what looked like saliva. I threw it away in a trash can.
Ever since then, I've gone to some pet shops just to look at the mice -- mainly because I never got a real good look at that mouse.
