Pet Stories I

So I thought we would spend the next few posts, with fun stories about the pets we have had over the years. Animals have such interesting and unique personalities.
I think I will start with Herbie.

Herbie was a long hair, teddy bear hamster. He had a lovely Habitrail system that he loved to zip around in. He was a great little guy; he never bit us, but sometimes he would poop in your hand. We also had one of those clear plastic running/exercise balls for him. We would set him on the floor and he would run all over the place. He used to love bumping into us from behind. Usually we weren't surprised, because those balls make a lot of noise on a linoleum floor.

We originally purchased Herbie in Virginia. When he was about 3 years old we moved to California. I drove across country with Herbie riding 'shotgun' in the passenger seat of my CJ7. The trip was fairly uneventful until we hit Texas. It was summer, so it was very hot. About halfway through Texas I happened to glance over and there was Herbie on his back, unconsious. I immediately took the nearest exit and pulled off the road. He wasn't responding, though I could see he was still breathing.
In a panic that he was suffering from heat stroke and might die; I opened a bottle of water and practically doused him with it. I then soaked a bandana and wrapped him in it. Holding him for about 15 minutes he finally opened his eyes and started trying to get out of the bandana. He sat in my hand, glaring at me and then proceeded to start grooming himself. I am sure he was wondering why I had tried to drown him. After that we got back on the road and I made sure that the soaked bandana was draped over his cage when the temperature started to rise.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful until we got to the Agricultural station in California. They asked me the typical questions about fruits, vegetables and plants. I claimed that I had nothing except my Hamster, Herbie. The agent asked to see him. When I showed him the cage, he told me that Gerbils were not allowed to be brought into the state. I argued that it was a hamster, not a gerbil. The agent argued that it was a gerbil. I was getting irritated, so I pulled Herbie out of the cage, turned his bum to the agent and said....."Do you see a tail?".

Well of course hamsters have a tail, a very short tail, not the long tails that gerbils have. The agent still thought he was a gerbil, because he had never seen a hamster with long hair berfore. He made me wait while he went into the building, returning shortly with a book and another agent. They both looked at Herbie, who by this time was probably trying to figure out why everyone was so interested in his bum. They compared him to a picture of a gerbil in the book, and finally agreed that Herbie was not a gerbil and that we could continue on into California. With relief I continued driving into Barstow and then Los Angeles, I didn't know what I was going to do if they had tried to take him away from me.

Herbie's life in California was fairly uneventful. We had a huge kitchen nook area, so my husband made Herbie a really nice shelf with sides the length and width of Herbie's Habitrail and we suspended it from the ceiling using macrame cords that I made. This way Herbie wasn't bothered by the 2 puppies we had gotten (Those stories in the next post!).

Herbie lived comfortably for 2 more years. People have told me that hamsters only live a year or two. But Herbie lived 5 years. Near the end, he started to look like a little old man. His fur had started to turn grey and he was getting a bit bald on top. He also started getting grouchier, and didn't want to be held. I made a deal with Herbie; I would tap on his little sky house and he would climb up there and wait, munching on a treat, while I cleaned the rest of his cage.

I was out of town on a business trip when Herbie peacefully passed away. My husband called me in the evening to break the news to me. He said that Herbie had gone peacefully and most probably happy. His cheeks were full of food and my husband found him with his little head hanging over the food dish. We think his little heart just gave out.

Herbie loved his munchies!