The Mighty M&M

Welcome to the Winter 2011 Rat Olympics by Sister Anderson's Principles of Behavior and Learning Class! Each contestant has put in approximately 20 hours of training- split between two different mazes, the skinner box, and in shaping and creating a novelty trick. Each rat team was entered into one category to prove that their tireless efforts haven't been in vain and their rat truly is, the champion. So grab your stop watch and enthusiasm cuz this is gonna be great!

Our rat (M&M- short for Mighty Mountain Man), competed in the skinner box division. His excellence was known all through his training (he had learned to keep his paw on the lever, his head in the food slot, and just give the lever a little downward push to get all the food and treats he could eat- ridiculously cute) however, upon entrance in the competition, he seemed to be a little hesitant than usual. He didn't do his best, placing 2 out of 3, but he gave it a good effort. He just wasn't interested in the food we gave him.

All competitors had fun showing off their rat and what they had learned to do. The novelty trick was certainly "novel". We had rats that ran obstacle courses, climbed great lengths of rope (both vertically and horizontally), even one that was trained to jump in a tank of water, and push down a handmade lever that turned off the "bomb", saving the world from destruction. Oh how funny to see what animals (and people) will do for food/treats. We trained ours to jump across tables- he was good at it even with his large size (405 grams), though by the end of the semester he was getting tired of it and lost confidence after he fell a couple of times. Poor thing, at one point he slipped and bent his nail back pretty bad. This resulted in a surprising amount of blood on the tables and cage, freaking my partner (Gwen) out. He was cool about it though, he was back to jumping a few days later (after the weekend).

This was a really fun class but i've got to say, i'm so done with rats. If i ever find one when i'm older i'm making my husband take care of it. They're really nasty creatures. Cute at times, funny even, but ick. My kids will NEVER have one as a pet. Bleh. Sister Anderson surprised us all at the end of the day with little trophies (about 3 inches high) that had BYU-I Rat Olympics 2011 on them. It's proudly sitting on my shelf; proof of one of the oddest yet strangely cool things i've done in my life.