Late last year, Michele Raybon, 51, of Palmdale, Calif., took to Facebook after posting video of her 50 mice, 25 males and 25 females, bathing in their kitchen sink. The publication received over 350,000 views.
Michele, who is currently retired, welcomed her first “babies,” as she calls her pets, from a Texas breeder in 2018. According to the British newspaper Daily Mail, she began breeding the animals with the arrival of naked molerats Elvis and Chuck and hooded rats Lucy and Ethel.
When she moved to California, she noticed that there were no mouse breeders in the area. Because of this, the retiree started selling the rodents, but soon decided to stop and keep them as pets.
“That’s why I have so many, because I bred them for temperament just so I could sell them to other people who love mice,” he says.
When Michele has visitors, people are often shocked at the number of rodents they encounter, but she says they are quickly drawn to her “babies” and that each has its own personality, with some being more sociable than others.
“All my mice have good tempers, so I introduce one of them to someone and I usually win it or the rats win it.”
The American wants to change the negative opinion that most people have about rats, believing that rodents are dirty and sick animals.
“A lot of people have changed their minds and surprisingly want them as pets. Some people are very open, others not so much,” says Michele.
Along with the rodents, she breeds four dogs, three cats and two pigs. “I love animals, I wanted to be a vet later, but that never happened.”
* Intern at R7supervised by Pablo Marques