It is not true that rats abandon their babies almost as soon as they learn to eat and crawl on their own. Mother rats are very caring, and sometimes even carry their offsprings on their backs - especially if they sleep so sweetly. Rats are not in vain used by scientists in their research - they are really very smart and quick-witted.
In fact, rats are quite easy to train, and become true friends for their owners. They especially love it when their fluffy tummies are scratched (however, rats are not alone here - who in this world does not like to have one's tummy scratched?)
Probably the only work in modern popular culture depicting a good rat is the famous Pixar's cartoon 'Ratatouille'. But even here there is room for a really sad fact.
Actually for the truthful display of rotting vegetables and fruits on screen, Pixar studio employees collected a whole garbage heap, which, of course, attracted many live rats. So, after filming 'Ratatouille' the staff ruthlessly called in the deratisation service... Definitely, this Twitter page with cute rat memes should have appeared even earlier.
Oh yeah, there is another famous rat in popular culture. This is an outstanding martial artist, as well as a connoisseur of the Renaissance art, named Splinter, who became the teacher of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was Splinter, by the way, who gave the turtles their world-famous names.
