Thanks, Happy New Year to y'all as well. We will be traveling on NY Eve which always makes me nervous. Going down to Mom's in SE KY. Doesn't seem like the drunks are as bad as they used to be.
I donno, it wouldn't really bug me about a rat being in bar as a pet. I use to feed all kind of wild animals out in the country. As a kid we had a field with lots of coyote and a few foxes. You could sit out there and they would come maybe a foot or two from you and lay down and nap. It was rarer during the day but at sundown. Only two times have I ever had problems with animals.