Better Already

I REALIZED while rushing to the chemist that I feel WAY BETTER than I have in days. Not so paranoid. More to the point, not so depressed.

I'm only 28 pages from the end of my French novel. That and 6 Feet Under, an everyday tale of folks living above a funeral home, have been soundtracks to my life.

No I don't think 6 Feet Under has depressed me. It's the best TV series I've ever seen. I like Billy the bipolar brother who keeps coming off my meds. People who do that are shockingly irresponsible and should be institutionalized!

I hope you like the furry chinchilla picture? I really would love a chinchilla or three (as long as they had huge wheels to ramble upon). They need a special "marble" which is a stone chopping board you slam in the freezer to be lovely and cold in summer. As dwellers of the high Andes, chinchillas find summer captivity unbearable ~ sometimes to the point of death.



I can't really keep a chinchilla. The nearest tiny equivalent is the Russian or Djungarian hamster also known as a "winter white" because its winter fur tones with the snow. They also have thick luxuriant fur, with fur on the soles of their feet; they also take dust baths and like chinchillas probably do need a "marble". Mine looked close to death one summer's day (thanks guidebook for giving no warning of this). They perked up immeasurably rambling on a tray of ice-cubes. Before y'all call me an animal-torturer, remember these are Siberian hamsters. And if they didn't want to be on the ice, they'd have walked off it.

Anyway I have to go have a charming weekend everybody.

PS has anyone else seen Made In Chelsea? Docusoap. One character is heir to the McVite's biscuit empire. I like the blonde girl with the kind eyes. I don't know her name yet. She went on the fishing trip where the other girl put a live maggot on her tongue. That's a true sign of class ~ not being afraid of dung and wiggly things. If you don't believe me, observe the reactions of lower class people around dirt. They act like they're too perfect to get dirty. True upper class people never do. I met the upper classes at university. They're OK.
I try to be classless (which makes me middle-class). How about you...?


Illustrated: chinchilla in ball with cat looking on; winter white hamsters in summer; winter white hamsters in winter...

Furry Rodents

FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY


a cute foreign mouse from Zyra

if this critter isn't a chipmunk then it's a wild American ground squirrel

Russian hamsters are mini furrz killing machines

black-footed ferret in the wild

brown rats can be very brave, this one wants the big cat's dinner

British squirrels used to be red, until naughty imported American greys took over!


WISHING Y'ALL A WONDERFUL WEEKEND

More Hamster Stuff!

SO IT LOOKS LIKE I HAVE TO FIND HAMSTERS for this hamster townhouse, doesn't it?

It looks awfully "bleak and drear", as the Brontës might say, with no trottings of tiny feet within ...

A closer look last night revealed that it has never been used (the doors and window on the plastic hammyhouse with a gay pink roof hadn't even been popped out yet). It does indeed have three storeys, unlike the 2-storey one illustrated yesterday. They connect as platforms via wire ladders. The accommodation is big enough to accommodate a 12" rat wheel, if desired. You just move the platform which would be in the way to the other side.

Unfortunately, it appears the bars would be too wide for baby robos, which can squeeze themselves literally pencil-thin. So it might have to be Russian "winter white" dwarf hamsters, which are twice as big as roborovskis (Mongolian pygmy hamsters).

So there we go ...

O I don't know: I still might go for Mongolian pygmy hamsters again. Trouble was last time I had to travel about 50 light years to get them. Most pet shops won't stock them "they're too fast, unhandle-able and are not suitable for children" I was gruffly informed upon my last set of enquiries ...

Winter White Siberian Hamsters

... A FURRY-FRIDAYS-ON-SATURDAYS ENTERTAINMENT POST ...

IF I DO get hamsters again, I might go for Winter White Dwarf Russian hamsters.



They are normally sold as just "Russian hamsters" but there are two species. In Europe winter whites (phodopus sungorus) are the most popular. They are very good natured with people and each other, hardly ever bite. They are about twice as big as roborovskis (phodopus roborovskii) and far less flighty by nature. Winter whites DO make very good pets for children.



They are named "winter white" because (provided you don't leave the lights on all the time), the reduced daylight hours in winter make them lose the characteristic grey colouring and, depending on the individual, go anything from white-grey with spots to almost pure white.







In America, "Russian hamsters" are more likely to be Campbells dwarf hamsters (phodopus campbelli) , which come from the same Siberian regions. In natural coloration they look very much the same, except the characteristic dorsal stripe is less marked and there are no black stripes round the flanks.



These are said to be less good-natured than winter whites. I used to have one winter white and one Campbells who lived together and found this to be true because the winter white was perfectly placid, whereas the Campbells absolutely hated being picked up! But unlike winter whites, these can be bred into a vast array of colours.





Coming from the Siberian wastes as they do, Russian hamsters of both types have the thickest and softest fur of any hamster species. They even have fur on the soles of their feet!

Of course, this being Furry Friday on Saturday I have to add that baby Russian hammies are very tiny ...



... and cute!