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Rat mama brings her babies to her human owner in super sweet viral video

Despite the reputations of their sewer-dwelling brethren, fancy rats make awesome pets.

Rat mama brings her babies to her human owner in super sweet viral video

Annie Reneau

We started our pet rat journey with two baby rats, Cinnamon and Midnight.

Rats get a bad rap.

When people hear "rats," the first thing many imagine is the honking huge rats in the sewers of New York. Words like "infestation" may come to mind, along with horror stories of people's unexpected encounters with the creepy creatures.

However, such images and stories are a sharp contrast to the delightful adorableness people with pet rats associate with the word.

Our family has had several pairs of rats as pets over the years. The first pair came from a man we affectionately nicknamed Weird Al the Rat Guy, who had an entire rattery in his basement where he bred fancy rats. And after our first pair, we were hooked.

"Fancy rats" are one breed of domesticated rat. Dumbo rats are another. These are not your NYC sewer rats. They're smaller and cuter and smart and sweet. Yes, they do have that weird, hairless tail, but once you get past whatever willies you may have about rat rails, they're the best.

Have you ever seen a rat eating a Cheerio with its tiny little hands with almost-opposable thumbs? You'll never be the same.

Rats were our kids' first furry pets and they were perfect starter pets. They're comparatively low-maintenance, especially if you have at least two. (They're social creatures, after all.) They're affectionate and rarely bite. They love to play and are quite intelligent, so you can train them to respond to simple commands. (Rats have even been trained to sniff out land mines and conduct search and rescue missions.)

Their cages can get smelly if you don't change the litter frequently enough, but females tend to be less smelly than males and rats themselves are super clean. (A rat washing its face is every bit as cute as one eating a Cheerio.)

Our first rats were babies when we got them and oh so very adorable. Allow me to convince you:

Baby rats, Cinnamon and Midnight.

Annie Reneau

How could anyone resist those faces?

Anyway, pet rats are awesome, which is why people keep sharing a sweet video of a mama rat bringing her babies to her owner for safekeeping. Fun fact: Rats generally have between six and 12 babies in one litter. (Can you imagine having a dozen babies at once? OMG.) This mama appears to have nine or so, and she brings them one by one to the crook of her human's arm.

Watch:

The video was posted by Whispering Grove Rattery in Atlanta on YouTube two years ago and has nearly 6 million views. It was reposted this week on Reddit, which has pushed it into virality all over again.

How could it not, though? Teeny little baby rats, a sweet mama rat and a human she trusts enough to hand her babies over to? It's the stuff of dreams. (Or nightmares, if you really can't get past the common squeamishness about rats. I highly recommend reconsidering, though. They really do make awesome pets.)

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Women working in Africa’s cocoa farms have received business education programs for 15 years. Here’s how that benefits the entire world.

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The impact of the CARE and Cargill partnership goes beyond empowering cocoa farmers

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Cocoa, the key ingredient found in your favorite chocolate bar, has been a highly revered food product throughout human history. It’s been used for religious ceremonies in Peru, royal feasts in England and France, traded as currency for the ancient Mayans. And considering that many of us enjoy chocolate on a regular basis (mochas and candy bars, anyone?) it seems like that love is still going strong even today.

And if you are someone who looks forward to that sweet chocolate pick-me-up on a regular basis, you likely have the women of West Africa to thank.

Women like Barbara Sika Larweh, a mother of six who works as a cocoa farmer in Larwehkrom, a community located within the Sefwi Wiawso Municipality in the Western North Region of Ghana.

care, cargill Mama Cash now empowers other women to gain independence

Nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa comes from both Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where Barbara and other mothers make up over half of the labor force. These female cocoa farmers shoulder the same physical burden as their male counterparts—all while also running households and paying for their children to go to school. And yet, they typically don’t receive equal income. Nor do they have access to the resources that could help them achieve financial independence.

Thankfully, positive changes are taking place. Barbara’s story exemplifies the impact of programs offered by CARE and Cargill, such as Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA), which are small groups that offer low-interest loans to individuals living in poverty, helping them to build savings without going into devastating debt.

Through these initiatives, women, like Barbara, are equipped with vital knowledge like financial literacy to improve household incomes, sustainable agriculture practices that improve yields, and nutrition education to diversify their family’s diets.

“They came and trained me on the VSLA. I dedicated myself and volunteered so that I would be able to train my people, too,” Barbara explains.

Within the first year of using the programs, Barbara and the people she trained profited—earning her the nickname of “Mama Cash.”

This is no isolated event. In cocoa-growing communities supported by CARE and Cargill programming between 2019-2022, the number of households living below the national poverty line decreased by nearly 32% in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana - as a direct result of increasing and diversifying income through using these programs.

Like Barbara, who today is an executive member of the Community Development Committee, more than 2.4 million women have used their success as entrepreneurs to transform into leaders and decision-makers within their communities. Whether it’s giving most of their earnings back to their families, reducing child labor, or exponentially increasing overall farm yields, the rippling effect is profound.

The impact of the CARE and Cargill partnership goes beyond empowering cocoa farmers. The joint initiatives have fostered progress on complex global issues related to social justice, such as gender equality, climate change, and food security. By improving access to quality nutrition, water, and hygiene, the joint programs have positively influenced the cocoa communities’ well-being.

Suddenly there’s a lot more to think about the next time you eat a candy bar.

Find out more about the important partnership between CARE and Cargill here.

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