For the inspiration behind this blog click here.
Another hamster related memory for you. It seems that these were popular wee pets for kids, and still are, as this memory comes from a mother and the story of her kids first hamster. Again, another memory which lit up the face of the person telling me it. A combination of remembering the event, the horror and the lesson learned. There was a little laughter too...but only a little!
Kylie
“It only happened a couple of years ago actually. I’d never had pets as a kid and it was only when I had kids of my own that I had a pet to look after.
We got the kids a hamster. Nice furry thing called Kylie. Kylie the hamster!
Kylie turned out to be pregnant. Not something we'd planned for of course. She had five babies in all. Of course the kids wanted to keep them and we felt we couldn’t really say no.
They were tiny things – all "skin" and pink. Kylie looked after them well really, making sure they were warm in their bed and giving them milk. The kids were looking after them too – making sure the bedding was clean and playing with “Mummy”.
I was doing the usual bits of housework, dusting, hoovering, tidying, you know? Anyway, I was in the kids bedroom hoovering when I noticed Kylie’s cage door was open on the floor. The kids had been cleaning her cage out earlier and couldn't have closed the door latch properly.
The babies were still in the cage and so was Kylie. But I looked again when I was picking the cage up to put it on the dresser. One was missing. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I hunted all over, picking up everything on the floor and looking underneath.
I couldn’t find it. When the kids came home we had to explain that one of the babies was missing. They were convinced it was “Jason” but who could tell – they all looked the same. It made it more personal though! It was quite sad and a bit of a mystery.
The kids were a lot more careful after that with the cage door. We still have Frank, Alice, Homer, Marge and “Mum” Kylie.
I should say that we did find Jason. Well my husband Paul did actually. Its not a nice thought and definitely not a nice way to die. He’d gone up the hoover! He was too small to even clog up the hose! We found out when we emptied the hoover bag. Paul had hoovered up a necklace one of the kids had left on the floor after playing dressing up and was fishing in the bag to get it. That’s when he saw him. It must only have been two days later. I really hope he didn’t suffer – if the shock didn’t kill him he would have lost it in amongst all the dust in the bag.
I never did tell the kids. For a while they believed he’d run away into the skirting boards and was living in the walls. The youngest got a bit scared of that though and would have dreams that he’d grow big and fat, with huge teeth that would bite her in her sleep. We had to tell her a white lie after that to stop the dreams – Jason had gone to heaven and the reason we knew that was there was a new star in the sky over our house!
Showing posts with label Hamster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hamster. Show all posts
Friday, October 20, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Holly the Hamster - RIP
For the inspiration behind this blog click here.
Hamster's are funny wee furry things aren't they? I didn't have a hamster when I was a child but it seems lots of my friends did. Not sure what I was missing out on really (not much you might say!).
In the last story about Mixtures, we didn't get to hear how she met her death, but there was little time for contemplation as the tale was swiftly followed by the memory of another friend who cried out that she'd murdered her first hamster.... I wonder if anyone else has a similar tale to that of Holly.....
Holly
“Holly was the name of my hamster – she was named after Christmas because that’s when I got her – and she loved playing outside her cage.
"I had gotten her lot of toys as you’d expect, but one in particular was one of those big plastic balls that you put them into and they run about. You know the ones, like caged balls rolling madly about the floor, propelled by a running hamster! I suppose whoever invented them had exercise in mind as well as fun. Well whatever, he probably made a fortune!.
"Well Holly loved that ball. It was almost like she’d run to it as soon as she was out of the cage, begging to be let in. I put her into her ball as usual one this one day and set her off on the bedroom floor.
"After a short while I realised the ball wasn’t moving at all and I went over to it and started it up again on a roll across the floor – I thought she was just tired. Still there was nothing in terms of a direction after the ball hit the door . I went over to it and picked it up. Oh, but you’ll never guess what I’d done (as she hides her face in horror). I’d killed Holly! Hard to believe isn’t it!?
"But it wasn’t through exhaustion as you might think – I suppose their heart capacity is quite small after all - no, it was worse than that. When I’d put her in the ball and closed the door, her leg must have got stuck. She was hanging by her wee leg, upside down, from the door of this plastic ball.
At this point we, the audience to this tale of woe, were all wide mouthed and eyed with a sympathetic “ohhhhhh” sound radiating from us at different pitches.
"Well, I snapped it open, but it was no good. I think the motion of the ball and her hanging the way she was, all the blood must have gone to her head.
"I buried Holly under the hedge in the front garden and my Mum planted some flowers over the spot the next month. Do you know what else, I buried her with the ball. No, not in it, but just by her side. I couldn’t bear any other hamster using it, it wouldn’t be right. She’d have probably haunted it!."
Hamster's are funny wee furry things aren't they? I didn't have a hamster when I was a child but it seems lots of my friends did. Not sure what I was missing out on really (not much you might say!).
In the last story about Mixtures, we didn't get to hear how she met her death, but there was little time for contemplation as the tale was swiftly followed by the memory of another friend who cried out that she'd murdered her first hamster.... I wonder if anyone else has a similar tale to that of Holly.....
Holly
“Holly was the name of my hamster – she was named after Christmas because that’s when I got her – and she loved playing outside her cage.
"I had gotten her lot of toys as you’d expect, but one in particular was one of those big plastic balls that you put them into and they run about. You know the ones, like caged balls rolling madly about the floor, propelled by a running hamster! I suppose whoever invented them had exercise in mind as well as fun. Well whatever, he probably made a fortune!.
"Well Holly loved that ball. It was almost like she’d run to it as soon as she was out of the cage, begging to be let in. I put her into her ball as usual one this one day and set her off on the bedroom floor.
"After a short while I realised the ball wasn’t moving at all and I went over to it and started it up again on a roll across the floor – I thought she was just tired. Still there was nothing in terms of a direction after the ball hit the door . I went over to it and picked it up. Oh, but you’ll never guess what I’d done (as she hides her face in horror). I’d killed Holly! Hard to believe isn’t it!?
"But it wasn’t through exhaustion as you might think – I suppose their heart capacity is quite small after all - no, it was worse than that. When I’d put her in the ball and closed the door, her leg must have got stuck. She was hanging by her wee leg, upside down, from the door of this plastic ball.
At this point we, the audience to this tale of woe, were all wide mouthed and eyed with a sympathetic “ohhhhhh” sound radiating from us at different pitches.
"Well, I snapped it open, but it was no good. I think the motion of the ball and her hanging the way she was, all the blood must have gone to her head.
"I buried Holly under the hedge in the front garden and my Mum planted some flowers over the spot the next month. Do you know what else, I buried her with the ball. No, not in it, but just by her side. I couldn’t bear any other hamster using it, it wouldn’t be right. She’d have probably haunted it!."
A friend's first hamster - the sad story of its death
For the inspiration behind this blog click here.
Well, it seems I've opened up some old wounds with some friends. They thought my idea about the whole "first" thing was a great one but sadly, after a few gins I opened it up with "first pet" and how it died. Oh, the tears that followed, the pained voices and the sympathy around the table - obviously a girls night out I hear you cry - yes you're right! Then came the bravado from the men at the next table - well two blokes actually asked us what the fuss was all about so I delved on in and asked them about their first pet. Of course their stories were more macho (and mostly about dogs!). So, there's lots to get through and lots to keep you hooked and smiling so I'll post them as fast as I can before moving on to the next subject..........
Mixtures the Hamster
“He was called Mixtures…he was black, brown and white you see….get it?! Mixtures was really cool and was my friend when I was young. He would chirp away in his cage, running on his wheel, making all sorts of hamster noises – he was just great!
"I remember coming back from school one day and my Mum sitting me down in the kitchen literally as soon as I walked in the door.
“There’s something I have to tell you” she said in this somber tone. “The thing is, Mixtures died today. He’s gone to pet heaven”.
"Well I knew that that was rubbish…the pet heaven side of it…but geez I was so upset about the fact Mixtures was dead…so I guess at the time, it kept me going. Sounds a bit stupid now I know. But, hey, I was young!.
"I was like: “How did he die Mum, he was fine this morning?”.
“Well, when I went up to your room, he was all curled up in a ball and not moving.” She said.
“Where is he now ?”
“I put him in the bin”.
(We all errupted in a fit of the giggles at this point in the story. Honestly, the empathy part came later I promise).
"In the bin! In the bin! You might laugh but the fact was it was the kitchen bin she was talking about! Hardly hygienic! Buried amongst the carrot peel and goodness knows what else!.
"Anyway, after some tears and huffing about I got over it remarkably quickly actually.
"But I remember a few weeks later I was watching Blue Peter on TV and you know how they were big on the whole pet thing..especially dogs and tortoises? Not sure if they do all that now…but anyway, they were talking about hamsters. And, you know what? According to them hamsters hibernate. I’m not sure, now that I’m older, if that’s entirely true, but its what I remember seeing on the TV.
"Well…they said that to hibernate the hamster would curl up into a ball and not move much. The way to test it was to put him under a low heat grill and the heat would make him uncurl! I dread to think really about how many people may have tested this theory and burnt their hamster. I can smell the fur melting just thinking about it!
"So what the chance that Mixtures might have been alive then? Its an awful thought and it did bother me for a long, long time afterwards. I mean, Mixtures may have been put into the bin man’s lorry and then woken up, struggling for breath amongst all the rubbish. Nothing I could do!”
Funny that whole theory on hamster’s hibernating. I think the jury is out and I have consulted a few sources on this one…including a veterinary surgeon…they don’t hibernate. However, someone else recalls, completely independently of the previous story, about the same episode of Blue Peter….
Well, it seems I've opened up some old wounds with some friends. They thought my idea about the whole "first" thing was a great one but sadly, after a few gins I opened it up with "first pet" and how it died. Oh, the tears that followed, the pained voices and the sympathy around the table - obviously a girls night out I hear you cry - yes you're right! Then came the bravado from the men at the next table - well two blokes actually asked us what the fuss was all about so I delved on in and asked them about their first pet. Of course their stories were more macho (and mostly about dogs!). So, there's lots to get through and lots to keep you hooked and smiling so I'll post them as fast as I can before moving on to the next subject..........
Mixtures the Hamster
“He was called Mixtures…he was black, brown and white you see….get it?! Mixtures was really cool and was my friend when I was young. He would chirp away in his cage, running on his wheel, making all sorts of hamster noises – he was just great!
"I remember coming back from school one day and my Mum sitting me down in the kitchen literally as soon as I walked in the door.
“There’s something I have to tell you” she said in this somber tone. “The thing is, Mixtures died today. He’s gone to pet heaven”.
"Well I knew that that was rubbish…the pet heaven side of it…but geez I was so upset about the fact Mixtures was dead…so I guess at the time, it kept me going. Sounds a bit stupid now I know. But, hey, I was young!.
"I was like: “How did he die Mum, he was fine this morning?”.
“Well, when I went up to your room, he was all curled up in a ball and not moving.” She said.
“Where is he now ?”
“I put him in the bin”.
(We all errupted in a fit of the giggles at this point in the story. Honestly, the empathy part came later I promise).
"In the bin! In the bin! You might laugh but the fact was it was the kitchen bin she was talking about! Hardly hygienic! Buried amongst the carrot peel and goodness knows what else!.
"Anyway, after some tears and huffing about I got over it remarkably quickly actually.
"But I remember a few weeks later I was watching Blue Peter on TV and you know how they were big on the whole pet thing..especially dogs and tortoises? Not sure if they do all that now…but anyway, they were talking about hamsters. And, you know what? According to them hamsters hibernate. I’m not sure, now that I’m older, if that’s entirely true, but its what I remember seeing on the TV.
"Well…they said that to hibernate the hamster would curl up into a ball and not move much. The way to test it was to put him under a low heat grill and the heat would make him uncurl! I dread to think really about how many people may have tested this theory and burnt their hamster. I can smell the fur melting just thinking about it!
"So what the chance that Mixtures might have been alive then? Its an awful thought and it did bother me for a long, long time afterwards. I mean, Mixtures may have been put into the bin man’s lorry and then woken up, struggling for breath amongst all the rubbish. Nothing I could do!”
Funny that whole theory on hamster’s hibernating. I think the jury is out and I have consulted a few sources on this one…including a veterinary surgeon…they don’t hibernate. However, someone else recalls, completely independently of the previous story, about the same episode of Blue Peter….
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
