(yet another) gerbil escape…

I don’t make up these gerbil stories.  Sometimes, I wish I did…

Last night, my oldest daughter wakes me up at 4:35 AM (yes, I looked at the clock) with a gerbil in her hands.  She is mad.  And, proceeds to tell me that she found her little sister’s gerbil running around in her room (the gerbil made it out one room and into the next… impressive!)

Half asleep, I actually laughed.  I couldn’t believe it.

Then, I got up and we put the gerbil back into the cage.  I put duct tape over the open hole (where is the darn plug that goes into the hole to keep itty bitty gerbils inside???).

(Side note: Luckily, duct tape DIY is all the rage right now and we had a roll of duct tape sitting out just waiting for just this type of event.)

So, I asked my daughter how in the world she found a gerbil running around in her room in the middle of the night…  She told me that the cat was running around her room and woke her up.  She turned on the lights and saw the gerbil running away from the cat.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.

Thank you, daughter, for getting the cat away from the gerbil, chasing down the gerbil, catching the gerbil and THEN waking me up.

Much appreciated.

More gerbil escapades:

the gerbil update…

(another) gerbil update…

(yet another) gerbil update…

(sad) gerbil update…

another gerbil escape…

another gerbil escape…

We have gone quite some time without a gerbil escaping.

That streak stopped tonight.

We are ringing in the new year with a gerbil escape and recovery mission!

My daughter was supposed to be cleaning her room and I hear “Mom, can you come here?”  This is never a good sign.  Normally, someone just screams “Mooooom” and expects me to come running no matter what.  She was far too polite – something was wrong.

This is my older daughter that banishes her gerbils to her closet at night because of the gerbil noise.  Apparently, last night the gerbils planned an escape.  They chewed through 2 layers of duct tape (there is a plug missing, so she covers the hole with duct tape) and left the cage.  (We obviously need to change the duct tape strategy). 

Luckily, the closet door was shut to reduce the noise from the “gerbil ruckus,” so they did not get far.  By the time I got to her room, one gerbil had been recovered and we were waiting for the other one to make an appearance.  The gerbil poked it’s head out and we saw it.  Now, it was just a matter of waiting it out.

It was actually a hilarious scene.  The gerbil would poke it’s head out of one side of the closet, we’d try to catch it and it would poke it’s head out from the other side of the closet.  Meanwhile, the cat was waiting with me for her opportunity to “help.” 

Finally, the gerbil was “rescued” and all is right with gerbil life again.

(Do you think the gerbil thought of this as a rescue?) 

If you are so inclined, please read about our other gerbil escapes and tales:

the gerbil update…

(another gerbil update)…

(yet another) gerbil update…

(sad) gerbil update…

 

 

 

(sad) gerbil update…

“Paprika Squinting”

Well, as the title of this blog posts says… this is a sad gerbil update.

Yesterday, we were cleaning the gerbil cages and we saw that Paprika was looking very, very old and she was squinting (yes, it appeared she was squinting). She was hobbling around looking very tired and very old.  My 8 year old was very concerned.

Unfortunately, when we got up this morning Paprika had passed away.  Apparently from old age.  I thought she would have been lost or eaten by cats or dogs (read here and here and here for those stories).  I never envisioned her passing away quietly in her cage.   I thought she’d go out in a blaze of excitement since she was our usual escapee.

We buried her in our backyard… explaining to our neighbor (who was outside getting his paper) why we were digging in the yard and burying something at 7 am in our pajamas.

After the gerbil burial my daughter asked if she could stay home from school today (no).  I’m sure she saw an opportunity — always good to ask!

Here is my dilemma:  There is one little gerbil in a cage all by herself now.  The two gerbils that live in my older daughter’s room don’t like Ginger (the lone gerbil).  We know this because they have all been introduced.  It didn’t go well.

Should I buy Ginger a roommate?  Gerbils are very social animals… they even sleep in a little furry gerbil pile.

I said I would never, ever buy another rodent — but I would hate for one little guy to be all alone in a cage.  It’s not like gerbils can follow us around and hang out…

although, they have tried.

If you didn’t take the opportunity to click on the links above… please read about our gerbils (guaranteed to entertain):

the gerbil update…

(another) gerbil update…

(yet another) gerbil update…

 

(yet another) gerbil update…

Today, I was standing at the swimming pool talking to my friend when my middle daughter taps me on my shoulder while I was talking.  She is my little 8 year old that continually looses her gerbils (read here and here for more gerbil updates).

She proceeds to tell me that last night (yes, last night) while showing her gerbils to my youngest daughter she forgot to close the cage door.  And, the gerbils are missing.

I am standing at the pool.  In my bathing suit. Everyone has been swimming for at least 30 minutes.  She gets out of the pool and picks this moment to let me know the gerbils have been missing since last night.

So, I told my friend what the interruption was about… we laughed (if I didn’t laugh, I would cry) and I called my husband.  He said he would go start the hunt.

I called him as we were leaving the pool and he said the cats were standing vigil at the bookcase, so most likely there was at least one gerbil under it.

When we got home we moved the bookcase out a bit and got out our two gerbil balls.  We put one ball at both ends of the bookcase.  Paprika was under there.  It took about 10 minutes of waiting and she walked in to the ball.  I deposited her back into her cage.  She seemed quite happy to be home.

(Note: we are seasoned experts on catching missing gerbils and we have found that the gerbil balls are the quickest and easiest way to return a missing gerbil to it’s cage). 

We couldn’t find Ginger.

I just sat on my daughter’s bed feeling both sad and annoyed.  And, a little deflated.  Would we find the other gerbil?

One of my cats sleeps behind the gerbil cage and she was laying there… so happy to have her entertainment back.  By this time Paprika, the rescued gerbil, was already asleep when I saw the cat moving her ears and head around.  She heard something and it was close.

I laid down on my stomach and moved some items and saw a pile of chewed wires.

The gerbil had to be close.

Then, Ginger walked out from the mess of demolished wires.  I yelled for someone to hand me a gerbil ball.  Ginger walked right into the ball and I put her back into the cage with Paprika.

I can’t believe my daughter’s timing.  It is beyond me why it struck her to let me know the gerbils were missing.. the next day while at the pool.

I can’t believe we actually found the gerbils (yet again).  And, I know we would never have found them this time (or the other times) without the help of our other pets.

We lost a video game and a DVD player today (those were the wires that were chewed) but the gerbils are back safe and sound.

Incredible (yet again).

(another) gerbil update…

Recently, I walked into my oldest daughter’s room and saw that the gerbil cage was missing. Gone. The spot that it usually sits in… was empty. The only things that remained were the weights that normally surround the cage. (Note: If you have not read my earlier gerbil post, the weights keep the cage stationary so that the cats can’t knock it over)

The gerbils were just there the night before! Where did they go?

So, my daughter says, “They were making too much noise last night. They are in my closet.” (with the door closed)

What??? How much noise can two little gerbils make?

Well, we moved the cage back into their spot, surrounded by the weights. Normally, she takes a little 1 pound weight and blocks the wheel at night to cut down on the noise from the gerbils running on the wheel. She said the weights were not enough and the gerbils still made too much noise. Hence, the move to the closet.

I made a huge fuss at her stating that the poor little gerbils didn’t want to sleep in the closet and that she needed to leave them right where they were at night... in their spot, surrounded by the weights. I am still in doubt that these two tiny little gerbils can cause so much of a racket that they could keep her awake at night. Really, I didn’t believe her.

The gerbils have remained in their spot, surrounded by the weights. She has not put them in the closet since.

Last night, we assembled a desk for her room. Then, rearranged the room and cleaned it. I was tired. I laid down in her bed and feel asleep

Then, I woke up to an enormous racket. Not a bump in the night or one random noise. It was a genuine racket.

It was the gerbils.

The wheel was blocked by the tiny weight. Their cage is not that large. I have no idea how they could make that much noise. But, they were. My daughter was right. I was wrong.

I have not admitted this to her… but, it took everything in me not to get up and walk that cage back into the closet (and close the door).