bunrab | Rodent Fiction, part 1

It was the Squirrels who developed space travel. The first animals they sent up into orbit were tamarins - the simians were good choices for experimental animals, since they had hands as flexible as Squirrels', and could be trained to do many routine tasks. Tamarins in particular were almost the same size as Squirrels, so the prototypes used for the tamarins could be made again identically for the Squirrels. As it turned out, however, the Squirrels' fascination with space did not extend to having the temperament to sit in a small capsule for hours or days, so most of the actual astronauts were Guinea Pigs. It was a good choice - among the races of Rodents, there were many smarter and cleverer than Guinea Pigs, but the Guinea Pigs, as a race, were temperamentally agreeable to sitting still for long periods and to giving reports. Lots of reports. In fact, it was difficult to get a Guinea Pig to shut up. Since the Guinea Pigs were generally longer-lived than other Rodents of their size, a few months in a spaceship to Mars was not as big a slice out of their lives as it would be for the Squirrels, and a few days to the Moon were nothing. The Chinchillas declined to volunteer; although even longer-lived, and still small enough to be good travelers, they were, as a race, even less inclined to sit still in an small enclosed space than the Squirrels. So Guinea Pigs it was, in pairs at first, and then as many as seven at a time, and if one had to suffer the constant chatter, well, that was the price one paid for getting People who were willing to travel.