Tales from the Mischief presents
The New Arrival
Roofy: “The Committee of Welcomes is now in session. The Committee is me. All of me.”
Roofy: “The applicant arrives by ceremonial human. A strong start. Humans are hard to train.”
Bandito: “Security question. Do you now, or have you ever, known a heron socially?”
Bao Bao: “Question two. One biscuit enters the room. There are eleven of us. Show your working.”
Roofy: “Now the oath. One paw on the biscuit. ‘All that I find, I share.’ We are still refining the wording.”
Tommy: “Character reference. The applicant is small and owes me nothing.”Roofy: “Yet. Write that down.”
Muttly: “If applications are open, I would also like to be a rat.” Roofy (off): “Refused. With honours.”
Roofy: “Approved. On grounds of smallness, cheek, and an excellent tail.”
Welcome to the pile.Tales from the Mischief. A new sketch on Sundays.
A rat colony tells its own members from strangers. Acceptance is not automatic: in Barnett’s wild colonies a male simply added to an established group was usually attacked by the resident males, and some died within a few hours. Introduce on neutral ground, slowly, and watch them.[1]