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His name was Barnaby and he looked just like this: 
I used to play with the 3 that I had on the bed. (Attack the Hu-man's moving fingers)
They would hide under the sheet then launch a full frontal assault. The nibbles were life threatening ...then run back under the sheet and plan another attack! 
He's the only rat I had, but I also had a mouse, also when I was a teenager. His name was Franklin D Roosevelt and he went to boarding school and college with me.
Perpetuating a stereotype! 
If I know what's good for me. He has a BIG appetite. 
My rat certainly was, actually rescued him from the psych lab at college. Otherwise, he would have been "recycled" to biology. 
So he came home with me...
Named Ginger, had long hair, was very unusual. He even had a leash for her/him. We never did know what gender Ginger was, the vet said he couldn't tell. 
That's why I had shorthairs. 
But a vet who can't tell on a longhair guinea pig doesn't deserve his shingle. This is basic, and very easy to tell on these critters.
And since Ginger was a single guinea pig, it didn't really matter. But you make a good point. I know that both my rat and my mouse were male and they were much smaller creatures. The kitten I rescued back in August is supposed to make a trip to the vet to be neutered soon. Maybe I need to get a second opinion... 
...until you've thoroughly checked the end...
I wasn't a farm boy, I was a kid in the suburbs of L.A. And if I could figure this stuff out, anybody could. I know there are some animals that pose problems, but sexing these common household pets was never a challenge.
Hell, Willard was proud to show it off! It might be the last thing you ever saw, but at least you knew...
He's seen more than one vet and they, fortunately, agreed. I found him as a tiny kitten in a grocery store parking lot late one night back in August. I took him to the Animal Emergency Clinic, since it's open all night, but the vet there said he was male and healthy, told me to just get him checked out at my regular vet the next day. I usually adopt older animals, have never had a kitten before, so I've needed lots of advice... 
He calmed down quite a lot, but was always somewhat nervous, hated leaving his cage when I cleaned it. But he had a much better life with me than if he'd been "recycled" to another science lab. 
I actually had my mouse, Franklin, much longer. I bought him at Grants, if you remember that department store. He was the only mouse left and I just couldn't leave him there alone. My mother wasn't thrilled, LOL. My grandmother used to "mouse sit" for me when I went away to camp in the summers and I still had him for my first year in college...
Mishka was rescued from our cat after she stumbled out of vent during a heat wave one summer and collapsed
When I was 6-9, we lived in a big old house on the side of a mountain right at the North end of Lake George. There were mice and they got into food - and other things. A squirrel built a nest in my doll carriage. My mother made my father set traps, but he couldn't deal with it. Unless a mouse got caught, he'd let them go outside.
The last Grants I remember was downtown, know it was still there in the '90s. It's since been turned into a theater, and the inside was completely changed, but you can still recognize much of the original Grants on the outside.
We went to the Grants is Hudson Falls.
Hi neighbor!
The Grants I remember going to as a kid was in the Grand Union Plaza on Broadway in Saratoga. That whole plaza has been gone for awhile now. And my grandmother lived in Hudson Falls, so I remember going downtown with her there, too! What a coincidence! 
The Grant's in Hudson Falls is now Tops Furniture on Jucket Park. The use to give out S&H Green Stamps. Our world evolved around Hudson Falls and Fort Ann.
Mmmm, my Grandparents lived in Hudson Falls on Clark St. We lived in a house where RT 4 and Vaughn spilt. We may be cousins!
My mother's parents lived in Fort Ann. Going to 'the Falls' to shop with Gram was a trip! It usually involved lunch at Woolworth's.
I'l have to look when I get over that way. I'm usually trying not to get hit by oncoming traffic at the circle. My grandmother's church was the one right on the circle.
And she lived on William Street right across from Derby Park. I can remember going to Lewis's with her when it was still in a house! 
We'd go to Glens Falls, too, when she was trying to entertain us. I can remember going to the library, thought Glens Falls was kind of a big city compared to Saratoga, LOL. I can also remember going to Zack's in the summer and to an ice cream place that's further down the street if you go straight instead of going around the circle. I believe Zack's closed, but last I knew that ice cream place was still there. We very well may have crossed paths!
Hey Rhiannon12866, I invite you to contact me by DUmail if you would like to continue this conversation... I feel like a thread hijacker!
Ok, your grandmother's church was either St Paul's or the 1st Presbyterian. My father's mother played organ and was choir director at the Methodist church for almost 50 years, a block north on RT 4.
The ice cream shop you may be remembering would have been the Tasty Freeze. It was north of the circle on the old feeder canal. And is still there and open in the summer.
BTW, if you are ever looking for a fun, nostalgic and beautiful activity, the Feeder Canal as been cleaned up, restored and the old tow path turned into a hiking/biking/paddling green space. It leads from above the falls in Glens Falls, to the 5 Combines east of Hudson Falls on Burgoyne Ave, not far from your grandmother's place near Derby Field. The 5 Combines was a local swimming hole in my parents day. The Tasty Freeze has a dock now! http://feedercanal.org/
Zack's is still open down River St. It is only open in the summer though. I believe it is under different management though.
The circle is much easier to navigate now! RT 4 from Fort Edward, north, has had major sewer and road upgrades. They widened the street, added turn lanes, made it much more pedestrian friendly. They also put in raised curb traffic triangles to direct traffic around.
PS: My apologies to BlueJazz for hijacking their thread. 
I have no problem with them as pets , but in the "wild" when they are an infestation in a house or hotel? ....ugh! 
