Hamster Havoc

We recently acquired two pet hamsters, or "mice," as my mother likes to call them. Each hamster has its own cage which is kept in each of the boys' bedrooms. The number one rule we have for the hamsters is Only Mommy & Daddy are Allowed to Open the Cage Door. Actually that's the only rule we have. This rule came about after our last hamster met an untimely death in an accident involving a toy John Deere hay baler. But that's a whole different story.

Last week I had a day off from school and was looking forward to a whole day alone with Hayden & Jarrett. No plans, nothing to do but play and be together. It was a nice feeling and such a change from my usual busy weekday schedule. Unfortunately, this peaceful feeling didn't last long. Shortly after breakfast Hayden came racing downstairs & into the kitchen yelling that one of the hamsters was out. I think I muttered a word (or two) that I won't repeat here, before following up him up the stairs and into Jarrett's bedroom. I shut the door behind me, hoping the little varmit hadn't escaped the bedroom yet.

I glanced around the room, looking for any movement on the floor, and that's when I saw Jarrett curled up on his bed crying. The critter will have to wait for now (the hamster, that is, not Jarrett) while I attend to my son. I picked him up, asked why he was crying, and between sobs he muttered, "Mommy mad? Try to hold hamster." I could see he was feeling real awful and guilty, so I spared a lecture but did remind him of the one and only rule of hamster ownership in this household.

My next mission was to locate the furry firecracker and return him to his proper dwelling. I found him quickly, in a corner, behind the dresser. As I bent down to pick him up I saw a blur of movement and he was gone. Turns out the little boogers are quick. Very quick. The process of finding the hamster, reaching for him, and missing him happened over and over. Each time I'd miss the boys would squeal with laughter and dance around. They were quickly confined to the bed because I was afraid they'd accidentally squish the little guy.

After 20 minutes of playing Hide & Seek, I called for back-up, also known as my mother. Now, she hates the hamsters anyway, so to say she was less than enthused would be an understatement. She was kind enough to come over anyway and through a process of rearranging the furniture to create a path that the hamster couldn't squeeze out of & escape- we caught him! Whew! Safely back in his cage.

I looked around Jarrett's room & commented on how it looked like it'd been ransacked. A rocking chair was overturned, books had fallen off the bookshelf, pillows thrown on the floor. What a mess I had to clean up. And then it happened....

Hayden slowly walked up to me and, with his head hanging, broke the news to me: his hamster was also out of its cage and on the loose. I swear to you as my mother is my witness- this actually happened. At this point both my mother & I began a rant of some choice words/phrases. It honestly crossed my mind to let the stupid thing remain lost and starve to death. But I am an animal lover, plus I had a vision of us living with the horrid odor of decaying hamster & that was enough to snap me back into reality.

We marched into Hayden's room with a better plan this time around: Locate, barricade, create path, block all possible exits, place cage at end of path, catch hamster. It worked much smoother this second time and we were done within ten minutes.

I decided to reiterate to the kids the importance of having rules & I had them repeat to me the one rule. They both knew the rule and promised to never ever open the doors again.

Just to be sure though both cages now have small luggage locks on them...

The story doesn't end there though- I went downstairs after the Rodent Roundup, grabbed the fish food, and discovered one of our fish floating upside down. I know statistics say that owning a pet can be comforting, can actually lower blood pressure & reduce stress. I used to believe that, but I'm not sure that applies to our household.