The roly-poly pudding

Why have I never heard about Pushinka, the adorable offspring of Soviet space dog Strelka? She was a gift to JFK from Khrushchev and had to be poked and prodded by the CIA before she could move into the White House, poor thing. It's no wonder she became "a little nippy" at some point in her life. Supposedly her descendants are still living today, which...mixed feelings.

Samuel Whiskers, drawn by Beatrix Potter

Also, I have to tell you a disturbing story, but please don't let it stop you from coming to visit me. This summer, I saw a vole in our yard (cute!). I'd see it frequently, scurrying. Then one day I saw beneath the bird feeder this Disneyesque scene: some birds, a squirrel, the vole, and another little creature that...might be...a rat. I would see the maybe rat here and there, out of the corner of my eye scampering into the garden after that, and convince myself probably it wasn't a rat (it was kind of sweet looking, and brown). Yesterday I looked out the window whilst working and saw this horrifying tableaux: SIX FUCKING RATS IN MY YARD. Possibly a mama and five adolescent offspring. One of them shimmied up the birdfeeder pole before being stymied by the squirrel rat baffle. This story is To Be Continued, because the ending is Unclear at the Moment.