THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 23, 1995 TAG: 9510210039
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
THE ENTRIES FOR the Best Story of a Rat Encounter during the month of September are in and the winner is. . . Jody Ward.
Jody is a professional nanny in her 20s who was taking in the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach with some of her friends on a Friday night.
Let her tell you about it.
``We were just hanging out on Atlantic Avenue when we saw a rat - a big rat - cross a motel parking lot and cross the street toward us,'' she said. She said the rat scooted beneath her girlfriend's car.``It was under the car with its tail sticking out.''
Jody, who lives in the Kempsville section of Virginia Beach, is an animal lover. She said she thought the rat looked pretty tame. So she asked her girlfriend to tug on its tail. She did, the rat came out, and Jody picked it up.
The rat was silver in color and ``looked a lot like a guinea pig,'' she said.
Jody held the rat in her arms and saw a tag attached to the rat's ear.
On the tag was the name ``Shader'' and an out-of-town phone number.
She said the rat was clean and liked being held. ``One of my girlfriends said, `Put it down. It might have a disease or something.' ''
But she thought the rat was gentle. ``I don't like to think of an animal being separated from its family and friends,'' she said. ``I thought since the rat had come across the motel parking lot across the street that it must belong to someone in the motel.''
So she crossed the street and walked into the motel, carrying the rat on her shoulder ``like you would hold it if you were burping a baby.''
Jody walked to the registration desk and placed the rat on the counter.
``I said `this came across your lot, so I assume it belongs to someone in here.''
The clerk, she said, didn't seem upset. She pecked at the keys on her computer and found that a couple named Shader, staying on the fourth floor, was registered.
A few moments after the clerk called the couple's room informing them that their pet was downstairs. A minute or two later, the Shaders, an elderly couple, appeared. The woman said to her: ``Oh, you are so precious to have returned him. He got out of our room and disappeared.''
Jody said the grateful couple insisted that she take a $20 bill as a reward.
She said the clerk hadn't received any complaints about the rat. But she can't imagine how the rat got to the street unless it used the elevator. (Which must have enlivened the weekend for anyone sharing the ride.)
The motel management, which has a reputation for hosting reunions, has disavowed any knowledge of this one - surprise! So we haven't used the motel name, although it's known to Jody and her friends.
Jody - by the way - doesn't own any rats herself. Her only pet is a cat named Cookie Marie - so named because it likes to eat vanilla wafers, she explained. by CNB