RIP Rhino

Hamsters do not have a long life span. But they are supposed to live between 2 and 3 years. Ours did not last a year. Not a very hardy animal. We aren't sure what happened. It's running around like crazy as usual one night and the next morning, he isn't moving. We moved him out to the garage, telling the kids that his caged needed to be cleaned because he was smelly. He stayed out in the garage for quite a while. We didn't have the heart to tell the kids and couldn't decide whether to just go to the store to get a new one and give them the ole' switcheroo trick. They started to suspect something was wrong as Rhino seemed to be always "asleep" when they would go by on their way out to play.

They finally asked if they can take him out to play with him and we had to tell them the truth. It went better than I feared.

Their neighbor friend (Lauren) is an animal fanatic. And the girls were playing "animal rescue" in their club house (our tree house) and they were making this list of things they could do to earn money to buy a new hamster. I thought they were just playing "make believe." Apparently, they were serious. Lauren's mom made a little flyer for them and they went around to the neighbors in our cule-de-sac to sell their services. I doubt they will get much business but Lauren's neighbor thought it was cute and let them wash their dogs (a small dog and an itty bitty dog). Along with the tip they gave them, they made enough to mostly buy a hamster. So we took them to the pet store and let them pick out another hamster.

This is Bolt. Although the kids just keep calling him Rhino.

Notice they are wearing gloves...the hamster kept biting them. It actually managed to draw a little blood from Lauren's finger before they caved and put on Caitlyn's gardening gloves. It's a bit high strung...not sure if they will manage to tame him or not. Caitlyn didn't want anything to do with a loose hamster. She only likes to watch him while he is in the safety of his cage. Hopefully Bolt will last longer than his cousin Rhino.

They decided that the next time they earn some money, that Lauren will get to keep it at her house. She wants a bird. I hope her parents are okay with that. I also hope they already have a cage and whatever else it needs because Emily had to pay a bit extra from her birthday money for the balance of the little critter and we already have the cage, food and bedding for the thing. And the birds are decidedly more expensive than hamsters. I guess they will jump that hurdle when they get to it.