The Castle and Its Keep
Have fun storming the castle as you browse through photos of our rattery facilities. All of our ROUS rats are raised underfoot in a purple craftsman-style house clinging to one of Seattle's many hills. The neighbors actually don't seem to mind either the house color or the fact that it contains a herd of rodents. In fact, Gawn was a big hit at the last neighborhood block party. Our gang tries their very best to be good ambassadors for ratkind in the Seattle area and beyond.
Lynn's Office
A few of our brood live upstairs in my office which is currently the design department of Those Bad Girls Greeting Cards and my freelance illustration business, Three Cats Designs. These are singleton boys, The Steno Pool (see below) and sometimes a nursery cage with mom and her litter or an ill or injured rat convalescing in a one-story hospital cage.
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Rafiki,
Orzo, Goldberry and Farley's lair. |
Our
nursery cage and Ducky's bachelor pad. |
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The
six bad office girls, aka the Steno Pool, live upstairs because Sheeples
pouts if she has to live in the rat room. Besides, I need an excuse
to goof off when I should be working on an illustration deadline or filling
a card order. |
Odious
Odin lives in his bachelor pad in our living room because being around
other rats makes him a super cranky boy. Here, he can observe the
silly humans and cadge a bit of dinner by giving us meaningful
stares. |
The Rat Room
Our rats inhabit a finished, daylight basement room in our home. We have four cages for the ladies and six for the gentlemen. The room is well rat proofed for safe "walkabout" time outside the cages. Hammocks, igloos, hidey pipe sections, parrot dangly chew toys and other amusements furnish each cage. The majority of our cages are from Martins' Cage with three large prairie dog cages from Quality Cage along the rear wall.
The gentlemen's cages in the rat room (plus one girls' dormitory at the end.)
The ladies' cages in the rat room.
The Wenches
Lynn Rosskamp, Chief Rat Steward
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Reaping
the rewards of good breeding, Keoki and
I celebrate his win at the March 2001 Port Orchard show. I enjoyed
the pretty
ribbon, while Keoki
preferred his victory snacks. |
In addition to being a nearly full time rat janitor, chef, nurse, entertainer, nanny, public relations agent, and all around mommy, I also run a small greeting card company, Those Bad Girls, and am a freelance illustrator. Rats, naturally, make their way into my work as often as possible. I also perform in cabaret acts around the Seattle area, most often with my partner in art crime, Trixie Lane. I also volunteer at a local youth center, Lambert House, and the rats have occasionally accompanied me on my weekly shift.
Wilhelm Fitzpatrick, Reluctant Rat Henchman
Wilhelm is a reluctant member of the ROUS clan. He's more of an honorary scullery wench for the rattery, and also is one of the sole members of the RatsPacNW Spousal Auxilliary. Wil goes above and beyond the call of duty by creating and maintaining the club's online show entry forms. He also manages to squeeze in some cuddle time now and then, as ROUS Petit Syrah demonstrates in the photo. Wil is rather rat allergic, which lessens his enjoyment of the ratties, but he does appreciate them from a safe breathing distance or with the help of a dust mask.
Satori, Royal Pain
We are also ably assisted by Satori, cat from hell, who loves to "help" clean the cages and feed the rats. Here you see him picking up litter and rat raisins that have fallen out of the litter pan with his tummy. Who needs a ShopVac when you have a ShopCat?
Sid Fishious, Attack Betta
This is Sid Fishous VI, the current official betta of ROUS. Fear his mighty fins!
