station 51, engine 51

Arlington, Virginia (USA) - Last night at appoximately 9:15 PM (EDT) a mother in the Buckingham area of the city was called out of her house in order to save a treed rat. The rat, Biscuit, owned and trained by her eldest child, had managed to shimmy 25 feet up a courtyard tree. Other members of the household were leary of rats in trees having never heard much about rat packs lurking in the upper canopy of urban parks. It appears from last night's events that not only can they climb but they aren't much bothered by seeing the ground many 'rat' miles below them. The issue with Biscuit on this humid summer night seemed to be an unwillingness or fear to move down the branch towards safety, according to those present. The emgergency- trained mother (aren't they all?) climbed up to the last branch that would support her weight before realizing the rat was well beyond her reach. At this point she decided to tape a box from the rat's cage, in order to provide a familiar smell, to the end of an ordinary kitchen broom and reach up toward the fearful rodent. After twenty minutes of making kissy sounds, talking sweetly to the rat, intermittantly cursing under her breath, and thinking to herself "another five minutes and we're going to a one rat household", the rat suddenly lurched close enough for capture. "I have the rat! I've got him!" echoed throughout the courtyard and quiet Arlington neighborhood. Biscuit was passed down to his owner/trainer and quickly secured in his cage at approximately 9:45 PM. Others in the house often wonder, it was reported.