Liz and Matt talk new foster rats, naked mole rats, BlizzCon, Venom, Bohemian Rhapsody, Flash, Daredevil, and Doctor Who.

Ratty Topics – We have two sweet new foster pet rats, Willow and Celeste, who are going to their forever home next week. Willow recently had mammary tumor surgery and then had an allergic reaction to her sutures. She developed two seromas in succession that had to be drained but we’re hoping she’s on the mend. (*A seroma is a blood filled pocket of tissue, it looks like a squishy swelling.)

For information on the benefits of spaying to prevent mammary tumors, check out podcast Episode 16 and Episode 29. 

Our silly boy Lando established the pecking order in the newly integrated Spicy Silly Squad (or “Splicey Squad”). After a few weeks of introductions, everyone is getting along!

For tips on how to do rat intros, check out podcast Episode 1, Episode 6, Episode 11, and Episode 22. 

Local Animal News – The National Zoo in Washington, DC has a live-cam of their naked mole rat colony! Squee!! For fans of naked pet rats, they look very similar but have huge fangs. The colony is organised much like bees with a queen… who is close to being decided.

News article about the selection of the queen

In disturbing wildlife news, insects and birds have declined by almost 50% since the 1970’s according to several scientific studies. Insects are the base of the food chain and pollinate most of our food sources –  if they die out, the planet’s ecology will collapse.

Washington Post article – 50% of wildlife gone

Guardian article – massive insect decline

NY Times article – massive bird decline

What can you do?

• Don’t use pesticides on your lawn OR on insects at home – many pest companies routinely offer to kill any and all insects on your property. No! The environment needs bugs.
• Plant a wide variety of native plants – not just orange butterfly weed to save the monarchs, but many different plants which host and feed different species. Non-natives don’t provide any food sources for insects and birds. (And don’t mess with nature, btw, by hand-rearing and releasing monarchs.)
• Get rid of your traditional lawn little by little by adding more and more native plantings. (If you live in an apartment, grow them on your balcony in pots.) Also, plant native trees which are overlooked host sites for insects and birds.
• Leave the leaves this fall which provide habitat for insects (which provide food for birds).
• Lobby against pesticides and median mowing which destroys wild-growing native plants.

Nerdy News – Matt talks news from BlizzCon, especially the super annoying and insulting Diablo mobile game villainy – er, news – and the highly anticipated re-release of vanilla World of Warcraft.

Diablo gets booed

Fan gets insulted

We saw Venom back on opening weekend, and mostly loved it but wanted more! More plot, more character development. We LOVED Bohemian Rhapsody and if you like even one Queen song, you’ll like this movie, too. It was an incredibly loving and well-done tribute to the band but especially to Freddie Mercury.

We are enjoying the new season of Flash and Daredevil; DD especially is much better than Season 2 of its own series or any of the other Netflix Marvel shows. And, welcome back Doctor Who!! The series has FINALLY been regenerated from the Moffat sludge of the last three years and is back to its classic roots of what originally made the show great.

If you enjoy our podcast, please consider supporting our two favorite charities.

Small Angels Rescue, Inc., is a Frederick County, MD based 501(c)(3) non-profit, no-kill, all-volunteer organization dedicated to rescuing and re-homing gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, and rats.

Extra Life unites thousands of players around the world in a 24 hour gaming marathon to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Also, check out our Etsy shop if you would like to buy a rat bonding pouch handmade by Liz and visit us on Instagram (thenerdyratpodcast)

Email us questions and feedback at thenerdyrat@gmail.com !

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