I had a rat named Izzy who was a delight. I had a ferret harness she would walk about in, and I would take her to the park and the little kids would flock around me like I was the Pied Piper. Their mothers all stood back in a ring about 20 feet (ca. 6m) in circumference, yelling in to their kids, "When you're done looking at that -ugh!- thing, I'll be right here."

She would ride atop the hood of my sweatshirt, right against my neck, and fall asleep. If you held her up to your face, she'd kiss your nose.

Alas, she is gone, and my stepdaughter's athsma makes it unkind to get another. But when she moves out.....

Alex