THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509080256
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Janelle La Bouve and Eric Feber
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
People will steal anything even rats!
About four weeks ago, in broad daylight, a thief backed up to the garage of a Shillelagh Road home and removed a lawn tractor valued at $2,700.
But it was a second theft that still has the neighbors scratching their heads.
Howard Flenner can't understand why a thief would want grown rodents, each averaging about 17 inches long, going by the scientific name Rattus rattus.
That's right, some thief made off with a booty of five 10-gallon fish tanks crammed with 20 breeder pairs of albino rats and their pups. The rodents were swiped from an out-building on the Flenner property.
``I guess it's funny that someone would raise rats,'' said Flenner who was very upset about the theft. ``But I thought it was strange someone would steal rats.''
``It's bad when someone stoops low enough to steal rats,'' said his mother Laquiata Flenner, who often fed the rodents. ``If they just wanted the rats they could have stuck them all in one tank.''
The tanks were home to 58 rats including three doe breeders to each buck, or male rat. Every 42 days, the productive mammals produced about 70 offspring.
Flenner's loss amounted to $650 worth of equipment and rats, ranging in size from tiny to jumbo.
If he still had the domesticated black-hooded and tan-hooded albino rats, Flenner said he could sell them for between $1 and $90 each, depending on the animal's size and intended use.
``It's more or less a hobby,'' said Flenner, who sells his scurrying wares to zoos, pet stores and individuals.
He used to raise hamsters and gerbils, too.
``I started raising the rats because they are whole lot cleaner, believe it or not, and they're a whole lot easier to care for,'' he said. ``The demand is a whole lot greater than you might think.''
People buy rats for pets or to feed to snakes, he said.
``You have all these pet stores and they have all these snakes. If you see 10 rats in a pet store, nine of them are going for food. And the little white mice? If you see a 100 in a store, maybe one will be a pet. The 99 will be feeders,'' he said.
Flenner plans to continue raising rats since that thief made off with his pink-tailed bounty. Symphony stories
After the audience had gathered at Chesapeake City Park on Labor Day Saturday to enjoy a concert by the Virginia Symphony under the direction of Norfolk native Thomas Wilkins, Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward offered official city greetings to all assembled.
But the welcoming remarks drew smiles and laughter.
Looking at the huge crowd that had come from all over the city to enjoy a free concert of the classics, the mayor exclaimed ``Welcome to Downtown Chesapeake!''
With that greeting ringing in everyone's ears, the symphony then proceeded to ring symphonic music throughout the park.
A clear, late summer night sky full of stars acted as perfect canopy for the symphony's soothing and soaring sounds.
The evening was such a success, said Chesapeake Fine Arts coordinator L. Randy Harrison, that even the event staff took notice.
``The people who worked and volunteered for the event were able to sit down and enjoy it,'' she said. ``Everybody got a chance to sit back.'' by CNB