Head-Over-Paws In Love

 
Ah, Valentine’s Day, or as we rodents like to squeak, Volentine’s Day, has come upon us. Time to sniff out some chocolate swirl cheesecake, snuggle in with your cuddle bunny, and watch a romantic chick flick. Bobette and I are about to get a-snugglin’ ourselves just as soon as I finish this blog; we’ve got the nestlet all to ourselves, as the octuplets are being pup-sat tonight by my best comrat, Gus.
 
Bobette and I have been together for nearly five years now, which is quite a record in the rodent world, as most mice and rats don’t live beyond the age of three. As I described in last year’s blog, she and I met while working as lab rodents, and the first time I laid my beady red rat eyes on her, peering through a set of glassy test tubes on the lab bench, I was head-over-paws in love. She took some time to win over, as we’re a bit different from each other. For one, we’re not even the same species. She’s also as quiet as a church mouse, and I, as I’m sure you’ve deduced from my many scratchings by now, always have something to squeak about. But “opposites attract,” as they say, and 5 days after our first meeting (which is the estrous cycle of a mouse, by the way), I got down on one paw and asked her to marry me. We’ve lived in wedded bliss ever since, and due to the extended-life gene both of us received from those lab experiments, our bonds of love have all the makings of being raternal.
 
I hope you’ve found love on this special day, be it romantic, with family, or through close friendship. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some wife-snuggling to do. (I guess she and I should be careful, though, and thankful that Volentine’s Day comes only once a year – one set of octuplets is quite enough.)
 
Keepin’ it squeak,
Bob