14 November 1999 - 30 May 2002

Polo and his brother Marco were nine months old when they came to live here, and Polo was very taken with the smell of female rats about the place. He used to search everywhere when he was out of his cage, in the hope that one might be wandering around somewhere. Unable to find a real female rat, Polo tried his best to mate with other objects, including human hands, mobile phones and, on one memorable occasion, a giant-sized bottle of lemonade.

Polo was a special boy. He wasn't a particularly cuddly rat in his youth, but after his brother died he loved human company. As he aged he became frail and hated going back in cage so much that he was eventually given free run of the living room. He commandeered a bathrobe and slept on the sofa curled up in a sleeve of it. If there was person available to curl up on though, he much preferred that.

Polo died peacefully at home, in his sleep.