What Adrienne Thinks About That

She is right about so many things. Do you think I can trade Cricket for a cat?

I may have told this story before...

I had chickens last year. We have a great chicken coop and I thought it would be wrong to not have chickens so we decided to get a few. My father got involved and as a result we ended up with over 100 chickens. 100, when speaking of chickens, is clearly not a FEW.

The chickens were extremely cool when they were little. I'd even get out of bed in the middle of the night to go hang with my babies and let them snuggle up on me. There is simply nothing cuter in life than 100 baby chickens climbing all over you. But anyone who knows chickens knows that this infant stage lasts about 10 days. After that they start turning into teenagers. They are all awkward and goofy, sprouting feathers out of fur and getting all gangly. It is pretty funny in this stage to hear them getting thier voices. Every once in a while you'll see a rooster looking like he's choking and then a horrid "errrr" sound will come out of them.

The coolest thing about chickens is that they will eat all your veggie and bread leftovers. Actually, they'd eat chicken and steak if you let them, but that's just gross. My chickens thought avacado and garbanzo beans were the greatest thing on earth. Even one was a pet, running up to me wanting to be stroked whenever I went into the coop.

As the winter began though, I got what I considered to be a surprise. Athough the rest of the world will tell you I was stupid not to have assumed it would happen. Willard moved in. He was a rat.

I've spent the majority of my life with barns and animals and I've seen my share of mice (eeww), but I'd never seen a rat (ewww ewww ewww!). They are just as disgusting as you'd think they are.

No one believed me for most of the winter because I was the only one who ever saw Willard. Then one day in early summer, I went to the coop and Willard had multiplied. I had many offers from the local rednecks (all family members) to sit in the coop with a shot gun, which I considered, until I realized they thought this was sport and the idea of rats splattered everywhere did little for me. So instead, we poisoned them. In theory, this was a good idea until the rats began dying in the coop and then the chickens would eat them. There would be these empty rat shells lying around. Gross, gross, gross. And of course, we could no longer eat the eggs that were laced with poison.

One evening I went to the coop and found seven (SEVEN!) rats in there. They couldn't have cared less that I was in there and barely flinched. My beloved chicken coop was now the rat coop and I was as grossed out as any human could be - even for a self-proclaimed hick.

The chickens were gone within a week. Luckily, another farmer wanted to try his hand at chickens and took them to his place. I haven't had the heart to visit them.

So anyway, my point is that I so fully agree with that quote. But rats have no place *anywhere*!

Sorry for the long blog entry, but I figured it was ok to tell long stories on a Sunday. : )

Oh! One more thing. Where do hampsters come from? Were they genetically mutated from something or do they have an actual home in the wild somewhere? I think wild hampsters would be cool to have.

Just ask the librarian. ;) From Encyclopedia Americana:

Hamster

Hamster, any of 24 species of Old World rodents grouped into two subfamilies. Members of Calomyscinae resemble mice, while Cricetinae species have large cheek pouches, a wide body, and a short tail. Both subfamilies belong to the family Muridae, in the order Rodentia, class Mammalia.

The single Calomyscinae genus comprises the mouselike hamsters (Calomyscus; six species). Cricetinae contains seven genera, consisting of the small desert hamsters (Phodopus; three species); the ratlike hamsters (Cricetulus; six species); the common, or black-bellied, hamster (Cricetus; one species); the golden hamsters (Mesocricetus; four species); the Gansu hamster (Cansumys; one species); and the dwarf hamsters (Allocricetulus; two species, and Tscherskia; one species).

Physical Characteristics and Habitat. The mouselike hamsters have a head-and-body length of 2.5 to 4 inches (6 to 10 cm), a tail length of 3 to 4 inches (7 to 10 cm), and a weight of 0.5 to 1 ounce (15 to 30 grams). Their soft fur is brown above and white on the lower body. The tail is also dark above and white below and is covered with thick hair. Unlike members of Cricetinae, Calomyscinae hamsters lack cheek pouches. Genus members are found at elevations of between 1,300 and 11,500 feet (400 and 3,500 meters) in the Caucasus and in Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, occupying barren hillsides as well as monsoon regions.

Cricetinae hamsters have a combined head-and-body length of 2 to 13 inches (5 to 34 cm), a tail length of 0.5 to 4 inches (1 to 11 cm), and a weight of between 0.5 and 32 ounces (0.02 and 0.9 kg), with Phodopus species being the smallest and Cricetus cricetus the largest. When stuffed with food, the large, internal cheek pouches of Cricetinae species can double the size of the animals' head and shoulders.

Fur color within Cricetinae can be black, brown, gray, or pink, depending on the species, some of which also have colored stripes on the back or sides. All members of the subfamily have wide, hairy feet. Cricetinae occupies the steppes and dry, grassy plains of central and southeastern Europe and Asia.

Reproduction, Development, and Longevity. Calomyscinae species breed from spring to autumn, with females annually producing two litters, each containing three to seven young. Offspring are typically born in the spring or summer, depending on geographic location, and reach physical maturity in six to eight months. Lifespan among these species is typically two to three years.

Members of Cricetinae also breed from spring to autumn, with a litter of five or six young born following a gestation period of 16 to 22 days. Under favorable conditions the females of some species produce three or four litters per year, while others annually give birth to only two litters. The young reach sexual maturity at approximately two months of age. In the wild these hamsters live for about two years.

Behavior and Diet. Mouselike hamsters are nocturnal during the summer but can be active during the day and night during the autumn and winter. Individuals often share a shelter, which typically consists of an aboveground nest made of grass. Calomyscinae species consume seeds, vegetation, and animal matter.

Cricetinae species are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular (active at dawn or twilight), although during the spring and summer Cricetulus migratorius is reportedly active at any time. All members of the subfamily either are true hibernators or enter a state of deep torpor during the winter.

Typically solitary animals, Cricetinae hamsters inhabit an underground burrow. Most species are relatively docile, although those of Cricetulus can be aggressive, often rolling on their back and exposing their incisors when encountering an aggressor. Like Calomyscinae hamsters, members of Cricetinae feed on seeds, vegetation, and, in some cases, animal matter.

Environmental Status. Although many hamster species have a very restricted range, none are currently classified as endangered. Species of Phodopus and Mesocricetus (particularly M. auratus) are commonly used as household pets or in scientific research. C. cricetus can prove destructive to agricultural crops. In some areas this species is trapped for its skin.

Peter A. Ensminger

You know, I've always wanted to have chickens, which I clearly can't do in my suburban neighborhood. I am already an outcast there for my lack of fundamentalist beliefs and lack of lawn chemicals, and I don't think I could deal with rats like that. Such a sad story!

Forget Jeeves!!! From now on I'm just going to ask Adrienne! Definately all I ever needed to know about hampsters. I can't imagine they'd be at risk of extinction any time soon since they reproduce so much.

I would love to have one or two chickens running free, but it would almost be too much of a hassle. That, and I really don't want to give the coyotes that live in the woods behind my house any reason to come into the yard. I haven't seen any yet but I can hear them howling late at night.

Gah!!!!! There is no "P" in "hamster!" Sorry...pet peeve. Actually...no. I'm not sorry. But it's still a pet peeve.

And rats/mice/etc... are adorable!!!! I got to hold one last week at a rugby teammate's apt.

All i really want is cat or dog and you are all talking about rodents and fowl, trust me if you can't curl up with it to watch tv it is not a worthwhile pet, which makes me wonder how my husband has lasted so long.

If you had to let him out at night or if he was too noisy, you probably would have gotten rid of him by now. ;)!!!