Rathdrum teen first to show in pocket-pet class

This is just a little story about a pint-sized pal.

Bill, a 9-month-old, hairless, dumbo cross rex rat, is a pocket pet.

"What I usually wear is a hoodie and jeans, so I stick him in my pocket and carry him around," said Wild Westerner 4-H Club member Alyson Chatterton of Rathdrum. "He likes to sit in my hood, and I carry him around."

Alyson, an incoming high school senior, won the grand champion ribbon and a blue "A" award ribbon during the 4-H Pocket Pets Fitting and Showing on Friday at the North Idaho State Fair.

She is the first 4-H member to show an animal in the pocket pets category, and she was the only one to do so this year.

"It’s always been available, but no one’s stepped up to show. And I’m like, ‘I know about rats, I want to show!’” Alyson said. "I’ve wanted rats since I was little, and I finally just used 4-H as an excuse, but I honestly wanted to do the pocket pets as well."

A happy owner of six pet rats, Alyson said Bill was the first of her rat brood with which she bonded. He twitched his whiskers and waited patiently in the palm of her hand as she spoke.

"He’s more attached to me than the others," she said, smiling. "He’s a clingy rat."

Although rats are normally nocturnal, they're social creatures that will change their sleep schedule so they get more time with their humans.

They're also pretty smart.

"People typically associate them with mess-makers and hoarders, but my rats, and other rats, they’re really good to train because they can do tricks,” Alyson said. "They’re like small dogs, they like everyone’s attention."

Sharla Wilson, extension educator for 4-H and youth development in Kootenai County through the University of Idaho, served as a judge and tested Alyson's knowledge by asking about Bill's health, anatomy, behaviors, diet and more.

"A lot of what the judge asks them about is, 'What do you know about your animal?'" Wilson said, adding that 4-H would like to see more youths in the pocket-pet program, which requires kids to care for and show critters like rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters and hedgehogs.

"It’s a project that’s so much more accessible to so many more kids," she said. “We've even toyed with the idea of how to do a goldfish show. Apparently, you show a goldfish with a chopstick, like a pig with a stick, and herd the goldfish."

Alyson's mother, Susan Chatterton, along with some of her 4-H colleagues, watched her presentation and cheered when she was awarded the ribbons.

"She did great," Susan said. "She amazes me with all the stuff that she knows."