Had a chuckle over this:
>(By the way, My family, myself included, call them "rats" constantly.  I
>say "I have to go feed the rats", etc.  We do this as a joke, knowing full
>well that they are not rats, but that many outside people think of them as
>rats.  So we do it almost mockingly.)
 
I tend to refer to my ferrets as "rats" too sometimes for the same reason,
but also because my last name happens to be "Furr" (by marriage- my maiden
name is Bass, which has also caused a few jokes growing up and was the basis
for my college nickname of "Trout").  My babies are my "Furr-rats", rats for
short.  Get it?
 
Jamie
[Posted in FML issue 2385]