Hamster Escape Artists and more..

Look carefully. Have you seen this escapee? Granted, he looks harmless enough, but no cage has yet been made that can hem him in and hold him down.

For reasons unknown, he goes by the name of Chocolate Milk, but he is widely known as Houdini The Mystical Disappearing Hamster.

When my daughter brought this hamster to my house she told me. She warned me. Even so, I thought the error was due to the poor quality of the previous cage. Scoffing, I gazed into his little jet eyes and wondered how something so darned cute could ever get past the well built wiring of the heavy duty cage we had purchased.

Just in case, however, I insisted that she shut the cage door and CLIP it as well using a strong metal clasp.

Of course, on the one night that my daughter is not home for the evening, she not only fails to clip the door shut, but she also leaves her bedroom door open. We have a cat. A very catty-cat. With teeth and claws attached. Not a good mix to say the least.

That night, I slept securely, knowing all was right in my world. Smug? Perhaps.

The next morning, when I went in to feed the various pets, I noticed right away that something was dreadfully amiss.

The cage door was flung open. Hamster? Nowhere.

Did I mention that the cage is up about five feet off of the floor?

My first thought was that the cat probably had had a lovely little snack, as I was fairly sure our little hamster friend had to have addled his wee little hamster brains when walking off of the dresser. Unless, of course, he had stashed a teensy hang glider somewhere out of sight.

(Note: If your child wants a pet, a rat is a much smarter choice. I have never been bitten by a pet rat, nor have I had one walk off of a table. Nuff said.)

Back to the story: Shudder. Mental cringe. Various scenarios running through my mind, none of them very good. Please keep in mind that I had not yet had my coffee, so it was mental muddle city.

As I pondered the possibilities... a streak of fluff, a waddle of tail tuft, popping into the very messy closet.

Whew! At least I knew that Wild Kingdom hadn't been played out somewhere in the house. That was a relief!

Now all I had left to do was find a way to entice the little bugger into coming out without his getting crushed in an avalanche of pre-teen gee-gaws and laundry. Lord knows, he really didn't need to come out, as there is a lot of candy and such stashed in there. (Didn't know that until this happened. Perhaps the escape was for the best?)

I trotted to the kitchen (after having posted the boys as sentries), grabbed a little melon, trotted back and started making the kissy noises I usually make when giving him a treat. Why melon? This is the diabetic hamster from many, many posts ago and I thought something sweet might get his attention as he had been on a low sugar diet.

I don't know if it was the melon, the noise or the desire for sleep, but after only a few minutes he came creeping out from under the laundry basket. It was as if he were dancing a cha-cha. Two steps out, one step back, two steps out, and so on.

The minute his hamstery little lips locked onto the proffered tidbit, I scooped him up and plopped him back in that cage. AND I put the clip on it.

And I still managed to get the kids to school on time.

The things we mothers do!

Until next time! Happy hamster hunting!

Theresa