Post by Seaknife on Dec 15, 2008 22:09:56 GMT -5
This meeting was exceptional! We met at Alice & Dale Gobeille's house as the fire station was unavailable. They live nearby and opened their home without reservation. As you drive up, all the christmas lights lead the way into a beautiful home decorated in the holiday spirit.
Christy Beard and her husband brought Mai to show how rats learn to run mazes. They had a simple maze exhibition that everyone was excited about. For a portable maze they use cardboard. Christy is building a wooden maze at home. I am suprised that Mai did not weigh an extra two pounds when she left as she ran different forms of the maze for almost an hour with tasty treats for rewards. (and some stolen ones!)
The extra visiting rats did not run the maze, although one of the babies (Patches) showed good promise of having the right temperment to be able to do so. Dexter, the ferret, tried the maze, but 4" cardboard walls are not as good with an untrained ferret as they are with a trained rat!
The treats are a healthy puffed human baby food, by the way, and Dexter, Mai & Patches all liked them. Mai went home with a new baby sister as well.
Dinner was wonderful. Lets see.... ham, baked ziti, meatballs, real cornbread, smoked sausages, 2 types of cookies, juice & diet coke. It was all delicious! Thank you everyone for helping with that holiday banquet.
We did our gift exchange at the end of the evening. For a chinese auction, it was quite boring as there was no gift stealing going on! Everyone was perfectly satisfied with the gift they chose. One of the newcomers to the meeting received an address book for a gift and started filling it that night with names from other guests.
On a personal note, I want to say thank you to everyone who has helped bring this club to its current status. We are enjoying new friends, new information and new ideas in a socially casual atmosphere where we get to meet new pets all the time. This year has been incredible and I hope the next one just keeps on growing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!
Christy Beard and her husband brought Mai to show how rats learn to run mazes. They had a simple maze exhibition that everyone was excited about. For a portable maze they use cardboard. Christy is building a wooden maze at home. I am suprised that Mai did not weigh an extra two pounds when she left as she ran different forms of the maze for almost an hour with tasty treats for rewards. (and some stolen ones!)
The extra visiting rats did not run the maze, although one of the babies (Patches) showed good promise of having the right temperment to be able to do so. Dexter, the ferret, tried the maze, but 4" cardboard walls are not as good with an untrained ferret as they are with a trained rat!
The treats are a healthy puffed human baby food, by the way, and Dexter, Mai & Patches all liked them. Mai went home with a new baby sister as well.
Dinner was wonderful. Lets see.... ham, baked ziti, meatballs, real cornbread, smoked sausages, 2 types of cookies, juice & diet coke. It was all delicious! Thank you everyone for helping with that holiday banquet.
We did our gift exchange at the end of the evening. For a chinese auction, it was quite boring as there was no gift stealing going on! Everyone was perfectly satisfied with the gift they chose. One of the newcomers to the meeting received an address book for a gift and started filling it that night with names from other guests.
On a personal note, I want to say thank you to everyone who has helped bring this club to its current status. We are enjoying new friends, new information and new ideas in a socially casual atmosphere where we get to meet new pets all the time. This year has been incredible and I hope the next one just keeps on growing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!