Welcome to a new occasional feature of the Magic Messenger, Vox Pop! From the Latin phrase Vox populi that literally means "voice of the people", Vox Pop is a place for random member submissions. If you have something you would like to share, submit it in the form of an email to annarbormagicclub@gmail.com.
This month is a submission from member Ron Hoole. Ron attended our August meeting and performed a bit with one of his rats. If you don't know, Ron and his Wife run a rattery (a place where rats are kept and bred).
I realized, after my last visit. That I should have given you guys more of a heads-up about bringing one of our rats (to the monthly meeting). I had previously talked to Sean about bringing them, and that was a while ago. I just got so caught up with my life in the process. Time flies, too. There is so little known about the modern "fancy rat", yet fears mostly stem from all the history associated with rats. When we got into this, it opened my eyes. I love animals a lot already, but learning about "fancy rats" opened up a whole new world for me. I started feeling sorry for them because, despite doing a lot of good, their actions are often overshadowed by the general perception of rats, which is that the average rat is gross, and I agree! But the "Fancy rat" is a totally different breed, with another story. These little guys have done a lot of good for society. But people fear the things they don't understand, and it becomes an easy target. So people don't hear, we have been going out and talking with people to spread awareness. But it's been a tiny platform to stand on to say much of anything.
I've been thinking about how to scale up, but the 'magic' in the mix made things confusing and would take us off subject. When a "puppet" dawned on me. The show was literally writing itself in my head. The funny part about this to me was when I first started getting into magic, I was trying to incorporate puppetry into my earliest work. By the time I hit middle school, it no longer suited me. So I ditched the puppets, making this a full circle thing in magic for me. Combining things I know to teach and bring more awareness. This is something all the great masters, including Jeff McBride, have said: Add a little of who 'you are' into your magic This is a perfect pedestal for me to use in highlighting more of my work.
My character makes sense; I'm truly the "Rat Man" in life. Using a rat collector as my character makes sense as well. A Victorian-era rat collector sparked the "fancy rat" trend, which evolved into clubs among the aristocrats and gained popularity in the States by the 1920s. As the rat collector with a burlap bag, I'm telling the story "Narrestating" as I'm looking for rats. I introduce Reggie, my puppet, as one of the oddball "rats" that would go on to become "fancy rats" from out of the burlap bag. Reggie had already eaten some "magic cheese". That gives him the ability to do magic.
That's how I get magic involved. I've been focusing on making it funny. The whole show will be in three parts.
- Part 1 is the main act, set against the background of the story of the rats using comedy and magic..
- Part 2 is a segment I call "The Price is Right," a little magic square Game Show I use to kill time for my wife to set up for...
- Part 3, the "Real Rats and Real Facts" section, using a PowerPoint presentation and videos. All of this came to me in an instant, and I've been managing everything myself and losing weight in the process.
Anyway, since I arrived unexpectedly. And without having the other half of my team, it was a little of a shock for both of us, that said. This is mostly my wife's operation, and she generally addresses people's concerns. We are like a Penn and Teller team; she's the straight man, while I'm the comedy relief, more or less.
Good questions came up (at the meeting) that were actually very useful for me in understanding what kinds of things need to be addressed. We are true professionals in what we do, spreading the "rat" message; this is new ground. So, forgive our intrusion on any fears. Rest assured, we do have a good name. The rattery world isn't very well known; we are working on fixing that. To clear up any misunderstandings about what we do, I have provided a little background about us. I thought this might be an appropriate piece that "could" be added to the next Messager to get some people up to speed.
Thanks
Ron Hoole
Ron Hoole
About Pure TLC Rattery:
It is owned and operated by my wife and me. I often joke about the fact that Tamara missed out by not becoming a grandmother, so our rats make up for it - only it’s no longer a joke. Those rats are completely family to her, just as they are to me. With pride, we can say Pure TLC Rattery is a service that fills needs.
We both have experience working at PetSmart. This has benefited us in learning and understanding the various protocols and procedures used to handle all types of animals, including how to administer medication to them. We have applied our knowledge to our own rattery. We take great care and precaution with all of our rats. Like dogs, rats also have a pedigree to their lineage, which is followed. So everything is tracked and recorded. All of our rats are screened for ‘RBF’, Rat bite fever. Whenever there are any issues with any of our rats, they are taken straight to the vet. We have a rat specialist who examines all our rats. In addition, we are fortunate to have on board with our team. A licensed veterinary technician/ nurse, who comes over and helps once in a while. She has had rats all her life, so we don’t need money; we have rats, it works just like cold hard cash.
Our adopted rats get a booklet of information. It includes a birth certificate, a family tree, and paperwork stating they are free from RBF, as well as any special care information. A cartoon page I created, featuring rat characters. Explaining what they need to have and what to avoid. All sales documentation.
Pet stores that carry pet rats don’t know the genetic background of their rats. They’re unable to spend the necessary time socializing them, which makes them more prone to biting out of fear.
Most pet shops today that still sell rats generally sell them as feeder rats for snakes. If you're trying to avoid some unknown disease, don’t get a feeder rat. Not many pet stores sell rats as pets, which is why they are cheap! Many pet stores stop selling them because they often end up as snake food. In the rattery world, people are more methodical and detail-oriented. When it comes to our rats and how breeders interact with the rat world, it's a mutually exclusive operation. Not many people are aware of that. This is what makes my presentation so effective and practical. The goal is to educate people more about the rat-breeding world. A fun way to engage people with diverse backgrounds in a light-hearted, wholesome manner, making light of people's legitimate fears of rats.
We consistently receive high ratings, and our reviews are consistently outstanding. We’ve had people drive a whole day out to get one of our rats—my favorite testimonial.
“You guys treat your rats so well, if reincarnation exists, I want to come back as one of your rats!”
Rachel Thaxon
And all of our rats are guaranteed to be the sweetest rats you can
buy, or your money back!Because we live up to our name!
