In the late 70's, I had a hamster. I thought having a hamster would be fun, but honestly it wasn't. Why, you ask? Well, for one thing, hamsters are NOCTURNAL (well, mine was). And second, they don't like to be picked up. When you try to pick a hamster up it will do anything to get away. So I never formed a bond with that tail-less rat. It would sleep all day, then at night when I was trying to sleep it would run in it's wheel and keep me awake. One day my grandparents came over for the weekend, and my grandfather slept in my room. Mom told me to put the hamster cage (actually a huge fishtank) in the basement so the hamster wouldn't keep him awake. I did. A week later, mom asked me to go into the basement pantry and get something for her. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I glanced over in the corner of the room and realized I had forgotten all about the hamster and it was there for over a week. It didn't die, though. I ended up giving it to a neighbor who raised hamsters. Even though I'm an animal lover, I never felt bad...I know the above cartoon's about a fish, but the concept's the same.
