It was Pauline (aka PauliB) from Germany who first brought SunnyRat's unusual wall of postcards to my attention, some time ago. I confess I gasped in delight upon discovering it… have a look:
Each postcard is accompanied by a little rat, with a curious spark in his eyes! :)
There seemed to be quite a few of them, so I was curious and talked to Julia (aka SunnyRat) about her quirky wall. Julia is from Russia and works on a software company… but as it turns out, she’s also mommy to a large family of pet rats, and does some wonderful art as well! It was a pleasure to learn more about her and her pets, so I hope you enjoy this mini-interview as much as I did.
- Could you introduce your rats to us? What are their names, how old are they… what do they like to do all day?
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At this moment I have eight wonderful little rats. They all are male and their names are: April, Baikal, El, Sky, Krosh, January, Cheshire and Fort Erie. They have different ages, from a few months to almost 3 years old. The youngest is April, and this April he will be one year old :)
I must say that I like to give names, which are ordinary words or geographical names, because when I hear these words accidentally it always becomes sunny in my heart and I’m smiling.
Every rat is a little person with its own character traits. For example, Baikal (on the right), a rat with Siamese “point” on the nose, is a calm, tender, plush teddy bear who loves to be cuddled and stroked and is a perfect shoulder companion. April (on the left) is curious, cheerful, restless bundle of energy who adores people. He is always ready to be with you and that is why he appears on photos most often. He has curly whiskers and white unsymmetrical stripe on the face. They are best friends, and together with their brothers, we are a big united family!
They have an organized part of the room, where they live. Here it is:
This is where they play, jump, climb, runn, groom each other, do housekeeping, generate and solve problems, have dinner and communicate… I’ve made some videos with our rat’s everyday life, you can watch it if you would like, if you’re curious and have some time: video #1, video #2.
And all rats love to sleep and usually they do it in hammocks! :)
Also, they are intelligent animals and love to learn new things. So we do some trainings together and they can easily perform simple tricks. For example, here we are leaning how to do a rotation:
Sometimes we take part in rat shows, where events like tightrope walking and rat agility take place. So they do sports too.
- Where did you get the idea to include them in your postcard photos?
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I was inspired by SeanPatrick’s wall! I found it so uplifting, lively and enjoyable that I decided to make something personal too. And, of course, I thought about rats at once, because they usually make me smile.
- Are they cooperative in the photo sessions?
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It may depend on the temper of each specific rat… some cooperate very well and some are difficult to take pictures of. But they love to explore new things and love to do something together with human beings, so we simply have fun. And the more often it happens, the better we understand each other.
Something yummy doesn’t hurt too! :)
- What kind of reactions do you receive from other members who notice your wall?
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The reactions I usually get are warm words and well wishes to the rats. Some people talk about their own pet rats. Compliments and energetic emotions! And, if I may take this opportunity to say thank you so much for such kind of reactions! I appreciate it very much and this is a happiness for me to know that someone somewhere on the planet is smiling too, looking at these photos.
- What about you, what do you do for a living, and for fun? And do you have other pets?
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I work as an analyst at a company that develops solutions for computer protection. And, by the way, sometimes my rats are used for this company advertising items, such as wall and pocket calendars.
Also I enjoy almost all kinds of creative activity. Especially I love to draw. And thanks to postcrossing I can do it much more often, because to draw for somebody is always more enjoyable for me, than to do it for no particular reason. So most of my sent cards usually have little drawings.
Rats are my only pets. I am with them about ten years and have to say that since the discovery of pet rats there is always laughing at home. And the more I learn about them, the more I like them!
Thank you Julia, that was wonderful! :)
PS – Do you know of any other quirky postcard walls? Please share them in the comments!
48 comments so far
What a great and amazing interview!
Thank you very much for sharing and the cute photos! :)
I love this! :) Your rats are so cute! :)
D'awww! They're so cute (especially when nabbing cookies). What a great idea -- and the drawings are really cool, too.
Cuuuuuuuuuute! :)
What a fantastic blog entry! Such great pictures, and a sweet story of a Postcrossing user and her beloved pets! I wouldn't mind having a cookie thief in my house if he were a cute little rat like in the pictures above! 🐭🍪
Great! I keep my fingers crossed, that i draw SunnyRat's account one day. <3
Great, loving animals is so important :)
Sweet story. Thanks for telling us more about what great pets rats are. Your drawings are very very good. Hope I get a card from you someday.
Thank you for bringing a smile to my face. I didn't know rats could be so cute. I hope I get one of SunnyRat's cards one day.
lol - nice blog!
What a sweet and happy story! As a HUGE lover of all my pets, a hamster included, I totally get your passion. I sure hope I am lucky enough to get one of your cards someday in my mailbox! :-)
So lovely! I enjoyed watching the gallery :)
How fun!
hahaha, cute! :)
wow! just wow! in every respect, what a great wall, what great drawings and what a great read!
Wow, this is just super-cute! I can't stop smiling. :)
I adore rats, and this is such a great idea. :)
Julia, thanks for these lovely pics.
PC, thanks for sharing with us.
There's no limit to imagination, definitely!
Really brought a smile on my face with this story!!!!
Like these rats very much and the postcardwall. THANK YOU
How wonderful! Wow! It is so exciting and laughing! The postcardswall is very interesting!
What a cute story 😍 Hope to get Julia's address one day and also hope to receive one of her self drawn cards.....
Wow! What a cute bunch of postcrossers with tails!! My girl ratties Lucy, Lola, Rita & Mavis wanna say HELLO! Great mansion they got there. My girls enjoy their villa with balcony a lot. My girls are eager to learn tricks. The male rat packs i had in the past were more relax and of the eat sleep repeat kind of rats. I love rat postcards. My friend Heidi ( postcrosser dollart FI ) always seem to find a rat postcard for me. Give the boys some kisses from me and my girlie rat pack!
I'm one of the lucky persons who send already a card to Julia. And I LOVE the way the little rat presented my card.
Great interview and lovely wall. Love it. :)
Aw, this is so cute! Great idea to include your pet rats on your postcard wall. :) I'm sure they give a smile to a lot of people.
I used to have rats some years ago and when seeing a post like this I immediately remember how intelligent they are and how unique every rat is.
Adorable rats and awesome wall of postcards. And the drawings are so cute. What a great story for the blog.
A wonderful read for a good night sleep, thank you!
Interesting and amazing interview. I must say the rats are cute. :)
this is so great, really looks like fun and happiness with the rats !
nice pictures too! best wishes to you and the rats!
Too cute: )
I wish I can see my postcard on it one day!
This is amazing and cute! I hope our postcrossing paths will cross one day! Thank you for sharing!
A cute story!!!
This is adorable! Cute rats with cute postcards!
Such photogenic rats, and a gifted rat mommy =)
This blog entry made me smile so much! What beautiful and spirited photos! I had a pet rat as a young teen...she was just as smart and loving as any of the dogs I've had as an adult. Thanks for making my day!
Totally enjoyed this. Thank you for sharing. We had a hairless pet rat years ago named Winston Churchill. He was very smart and lovable. They are amazing creatures.
I love rats! This is so cute
How nice! I love the pictures of the postcards with the rats so much! Hope to get your address in the near future!!
This is so cute!! I am not really a rat fan, but these pictures, the little video and the way Julia describes them, well, I might consider one day having a rat as a pet! And I love the drawings you do of your rats!! congratulations!
how wonderful, I would not like to be with them in the same room but I love reading about them on my computer
So lovely and fun:))
Now I know, rats can be trained to dance, too. Thanks for the information it's a real story, indeed. I wish you all the best things in life!
I LOVE this!!! So many people have misperceptions about rats being creepy and scary but this information, paired with sunny stories and ADORABLE pictures, makes me really take a second look at them! They look like they make wonderful pets, provide real companionship and are far more intelligent than I would've originally guessed! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences, it's always fun to learn new things and change my mind about previously held opinions!
Thank you for sharing your story, your art and your wonderful rats with us. They look so cute! (^_^)
I hope to draw a postcard of SunnyRat's address, or at least get one from her!
What wonderful, wonderful little heartbreakers! :-)
You should get cards printed of your cuties, I am sure most people would absolutely LOVE them and your drawings are cute too! :-)
Julia, your family looks wonderful! I agree with Robin67 that some cards with pictures of your pets would be very popular! And your drawings are fabulous! I do hope I receive one of your cards someday!
Absolutely love these illustrations!
omg cuties!!! :) and awesome drawings :D ..I wish I could draw that well <3
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