It is no wonder my dear hammies that in front of you all, I keep comparing you with Denki & White Ham. Especially you, Hamlet. Because you are a syrian like my beloved Furballs. And all you hammies are here with me because of Denki & White Hammy. :) 10 years down the road, I finally developed the photos from the rusty roll of film. I do teared abit when I saw the blurry photos.
In the summer holidays back in 1998, 3 good friends went cycling around the neighbourhood. Hot day it was and they stopped at a bustling wet market for a rest. They accidentally chanced upon a lady selling hamsters (groggy memory, I can't remember was it a shop or just a stall already). The friends took an interest in viewing and all 3 of them exclaimed they were so cute. One of the friends eventually decided to purchase one. The other 2 kept quiet because 1 had no experience with pets and the other had caused many hamster lives already. That one friend decided to buy one ham but the lady pleaded with her saying, these 2 hamsters were very close to each other, they were sisters. Being soft-hearted that the friend was, she took the 2 hammies. The 3 friends went cycling home while occasionally stopped to marvel at the 2 little ones.
(Denki in her transporter)
A few days later one sudden night, my friend sounded distressed. She told me that her mum found out she had been secretly keeping the 2 hams and threatened to throw them down the rubbish chute if she did not get rid of them herself. Although at that time I was very afraid that I would once again caused my casualty numbers to go up, I did not want to see the 2 babies being abandoned. So I took them over and announced to my friend: "My house is the Hamster Orphanage, my doors are always open to hamsters. :)"
(White Ham peering out to see what's it all about)
And so, the baby sisters came to me in a tin with a small packet of food that probably could last only 2 days. They were still babies and only the size of a dwarf hamster. Together, I called them The Furballs. One of them was brown with a white band while the other was a cream with white band. The brown one was called Denki and the cream called White Hammy aka White Ham. They lived with me through thick and thin and through the hard times. Eventhough I was working part time to support my school fees and expenses, I managed to save up a little sum aside every month and bought them their supplies of high end chlorophyll wood shavings and lots of treats. They in turn had been my pillar of strength. The 2 sisters who are syrian never in their lives fought. When sleep, they would slept side by side or over one and other. They lived in harmony throughout. The Furballs passed on in year 2001. White Ham was around 3 years old while Denki was 3 & half years old.
(Spot where White Ham is)
(Spot where Denki is)
Some of the dearest memories I had of them. The day when Denki escaped and landed into my toilet bowl. I had no idea that she was scrambling for her life the whole night until I woke up to find her missing and White Ham getting all anxious looking at me. I eventually found Denki struggling to keep afloat. She was in trauma and I had to skip school to keep her company. When I brought White Ham to see her, she sniffed at Denki, stood up on her hind legs, used her front paws to hit Denki's head as if saying: "Look at you! Naughty head." That moment was really priceless. =)
(Kiddo White Ham and Denki)
Another time, the Furballs got into a tussle when I gave them their favourite alfafa stick. It was one long stick of this green treat (smelt nice!). Both hammies bit on both ends of the stick and refused to let go. There on the table, the 2 of them were playing tug-o-war with the stick, going: "Mine, No Mine, No let go Mine!" After 5 mins, both of them still refused to let go, standing on their hind legs with the stick ends in their mouths. I asked them: "Don't you ever give up?" They looked at me with an strong expression of "NO". Fine, I took out a sisscors and cut the stick into half, both of them went tumbling backwards. That moment was priceless. =)
(White Ham hiding behind)
When the Furballs passed on, part of me was lost. I kept their cage and kept away from pets. But somehow the words still stayed on echoing in my mind: "The Hamster Orphanage".
7 comments:
Awww... It is a very touching story. =) This is the pair of hamster you told me about right?
Haha~ You are a kind soul. Helping others to adopt hamsters and even caring for them to the extent of skipping school. ^^
My friend's WW hamster just gave birth recently and will be putting up the hams in my adoption board. There are about 4 hams I think... Interested in adopting some more? =)
This is such a wonderful and heartwarming story. It's great to hear about a fellow hamster lover's reminiscing the past with fondness ... I can really feel your love for all your hamsters ^_^
Eventually they became mine and they had lived with me throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed their companionship.
Jac, I still unable to view your website. (T.T) I am still waiting for the next few weeks to see results, if not, I am thinking of going to the SPCA again to adopt the others.
Major relocation going on at Hamsty neighbourhood right now.
Aaaww!
You've been keeping hamsters for so long!
It's amazing that they never fought, that's rare & you're lucky to have had 2 Syrians like that.
Yup, I find it weird too cos' everyone was saying that syrians fight. The 2 never laid paws on each other. They are the first hamsters under my care that lived so long. All my previous hamsters never lived long (maybe I was too young to have pets then). :(
Woah~ What Hamsty World relocation? O.o
Relocate the hammies to different cages. I hold back on Baby Mott because she likes her house alot. If I bring her to stay in another cage, not sure how she would react. She needs to shift, cos' the current cage is going to be small for her as she is growing up now.
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