A mouse, plural mice, is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse. Mice are also popular as pets. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are locally common. They are known to invade homes for food and shelter.
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus Rattus. Other rat genera include Neotoma, Bandicota and Dipodomys.
The fancy rat is the domesticated form of Rattus norvegicus, the brown rat, and the most common species of rat kept as a pet. The name fancy rat derives from the idea of animal fancy or the phrase "to fancy". Wild-caught specimens that become docile and are bred for many generations still fall under the fancy type.
The National Fancy Rat Society (NFRS), founded in 1976, is a UK-based club for rat fanciers that promotes fancy rats exhibitions, as well as the study and breeding of these rats. The society publishes a bi-monthly journal, Pro-Rat-A, and holds many shows throughout the year all over Britain, with membership in the thousands.
Jack Black was a rat-catcher and mole destroyer from Battersea, England during the middle of the nineteenth century. Black cut a striking figure in his self-made "uniform" of a green topcoat, scarlet waistcoat, and breeches, with a huge leather sash inset with cast-iron rats. Black promoted himself as the Queen's official rat-catcher, but he never held a royal warrant.
The house mouse is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and hairy tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus Mus. Although a wild animal, the house mouse has benefited significantly from associating with human habitation to the point that truly wild populations are significantly less common than the semi-tame populations near human activity.
The Rat Terrier is an American dog breed with a background as a farm dog and hunting companion. They share much ancestry with the small hunting dogs known as feists. Common throughout family farms in the 1920s and 1930s, they are now recognized by the United and American Kennel Clubs and are considered a rare breed. Today's Rat Terrier is an intelligent and active small dog that is kept both for pest control and as a family pet.
Cat Fancy was the name of a popular North American monthly magazine dedicated to cats, owners of cats, and breeders of cats published by I-5 Publishing.
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the hot rod icon Rat Fink and other characters. Roth was a key figure in Southern California's Kustom Kulture and hot rod movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.
Fancy pigeon refers to any breed of domestic pigeon, which is a domesticated form of the wild rock dove. They are bred by pigeon fanciers for various traits relating to size, shape, color, and behavior, and often exhibited at pigeon shows, fairs and other livestock exhibits.
The most common rodents kept as household pets are hamsters, gerbils, common degus, fancy mice, fancy rats, common chinchillas, and guinea pigs (cavies).
The American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) is a national club for domestic rabbit and cavy breeders. The ARBA is headquartered in Knox, Pennsylvania in the United States. Its membership is composed of rabbit and cavy breeders throughout, fanciers, and pet owners in North America and many countries throughout the world.
A fancy mouse is a domesticated form of the house mouse, one of many mouse species, usually kept as a type of pocket pet. Fancy mice have also been specially bred for exhibiting, with shows being held internationally. A pet mouse is inexpensive compared to larger pets, and even many other pet rodents, but mice are comparatively short-lived: typically only 18 to 30 months.
A laboratory rat or lab rat is a brown rat of the subspecies Rattus norvegicus domestica which is bred and kept for scientific research. While less commonly used for research than mice, rats have served as an important animal model for research in psychology and biomedical science.
Rattie Ratz: Rescue, Resource, and Referral is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the fancy rat. It is based in Woodside, California. It was founded in 1998 and incorporated in 2001.
The World Cat Congress (WCC) is an international confederation of the biggest international federations and national associations in the cat fancy.
The Down Under rat is a fancy rat variety noted for the markings on its stomach. The "downunder" marking refers to both a patch of colour on the underside of the rat which matches the coat colouring on the top, and to the variety's Australian origins.
Lumina Media was an American publisher of magazines, books, and associated websites. Throughout all its incarnations, the business has focused on the pet-keeping and -breeding market, though also with some other topical lifestyle and hobby publications. The original company was founded in 1974 as Fancy Publications by Norman Ridker, absorbing Kennel Club Books in 2004, which made BowTie a main competitor to TFH Publications in the pet-book market. In 2002, Bob Garfield of On the Media called Fancy Publications "the Time Warner of the pet magazine business". After some financial difficulties, BowTie was restructured as I-5 Publishing in 2013 under the new ownership of David Fry and Mark Harris, and took on its present name in 2016.
Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and dog trainer who received his veterinary degree and a Special Honors degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the Royal Veterinary College plus a doctorate in animal behavior from the Psychology Department at UC Berkeley, where he researched the development of social hierarchies and aggression in domestic dogs.
Animal fancy is a hobby involving the appreciation, promotion, or breeding of pet or domestic animals.
