(no subject)
I remember when I first got Mei Mei, or maybe before, when I just got the cage. The biggest daring thing I ever did, was to sneak a hamster into my dorm room, and I did it in stages because I figured that was the sneakiest thing to do it. She was in a cardboard box, the ones with the folded top with airholes, and I hid her in my over the shoulder bag as we walked past the RA. She was in PetSmart with another one, Chinese Dwarf Hamsters, and the shopgirl said that they were her favorite kind because they rarely bit, though I'd been leaning towards the Chinese Dwarf because they were on sale, which seems really cheap, no pun intended, believe me. And she was Mei Mei. She loved her wheel, and I waited five days before I tried to pick her up, scoop from underneath so it doesn't appear to be aggressive. And she was home away from home. She would sit in my shirt pocket, my bra, my hair, my shoulder, my sleeve, occasionally the hood of my hoodie but that always made me nervous because I couldn't feel her there. I only dropped her once, and that was a complete accident, she was on my shoulder and I turned too quickly and she must not have had a very strong grip at that moment because she slipped and fell and I panicked, but she was okay. She made this cute, weird little noise when she sat right next to my ear, she'd sit up on her hind legs and I guess she was grooming but it sounded like little squeaky huffs almost, like biting your lip and pushing air back and forth between your front teeth really fast. Chinese Dwarf Hamsters have one of the longest tails in hamster-dom, and she was mistaken for a mouse a lot, and when I was staying with Hannah and Tom and she was with me, I tried to show her to the Japanese girlfriend of Tom's friend, and she called Mei Mei a rat, but she didn't really speak English perfectly so what are you gonna do. At least one of my RA's had to know about her, but she was the best sneakiest ninja hamsters ever, and she would cling to the top of the cage upside down like a bat or something, and sometimes instead of climbing the ramp to the second level she'd just climb up the bars. The first wheel, the one that came with the cage, literally sounded like thunder it was so loud. I got her a silent spinner and it was really small, if she'd been any bigger she wouldn't have fit, but she was just right for it. I found her beneath it. Stretched out, eyes closed. Like it as her choice, when she went. Where she wanted to be. I'm really never going to know what exactly happened. Old age, disease, stroke, I don't know, a lot of things can go wrong. I got her in October of 2008. I wish I remembered the exact day. It's probably analoged in my eljay somewhere but I don't feel like looking. She lived with me in Virginia, Buffalo, Caz, Maine. She went on so many car rides, and she'd just run in her wheel. Best traveling hamster ever. She never drew blood though she nipped me a couple times, if she was overstimulated or if she'd been held for too long. She loved to nestle in my hair, sometimes after keeping her on my shoulder I'd find a little nest-knot. I didn't take her out or play with her too often in the last few months, combination of the cats and concern for her health, she was getting older.
She was a wonderful traveling hamster, but she was getting old. Driving for three days might have been too much, and as much as she probably wasn't very aware of her surroundings, I think she might have liked the west coast.
I am going to miss her so very much. It's really hard to remember how you lived before someone you love entered your life.
She was a wonderful traveling hamster, but she was getting old. Driving for three days might have been too much, and as much as she probably wasn't very aware of her surroundings, I think she might have liked the west coast.
I am going to miss her so very much. It's really hard to remember how you lived before someone you love entered your life.