Zoo Visit Becomes Comparison For Kid's Wisecracks

"The otter is a large, aquatic rat."

I had a nice time with the kid at the Oregon Zoo. As we are now proud owners of rats, the kid compared every animal on the basis of how rat-like it was.

The otters were the swimming rats, the elephants, rats with long noses -- you get the picture. The schtick got a bit old but I was glad the kid was an engaged and doting pet owner.

Here is a photo of the actual rats, who score very highly on the rat index. This was taken during a pseudo-scientific experiment where we think we're doing some kind of research while we play with the rats and give them treats.

Sloths are out, rats are in.