I have a six year old daughter. She has been after me for several years now to get her a pet. Somehow, to her, our existing cat, two dogs, turtle and fish didn't qualify as pets. I got her a Beta (it is a type of fish), and she has been taking care of "Matthew" very well for several months.
Last month, a stranger moved into our home. A small grey and brown mouse. She was living behind the gas stove. Our cat gave up trying to catch her. My son caught her a few times, but she always managed to get back in the house (once, she jumped out of the mason jar in which he was carrying her - she jumped out and over his shoulder, and ran back behind the stove).
Anyway, we got a humane trap and after several failed attempts (she figured out how to defeat the trap), we finally captured her once we had made adjustments to take into consideration her previous escapes. I had several empty fish aquariums, so we set one up as a temporary home for her until we could decide what to do with her. Since she had previously returned when we just released her into the yard, we knew we would have to drive her many miles away to prevent her returning or would have to kill her.
From the second she was put in the tank, it was obvious she was a lively and intelligent mouse. I had owned pet mice as a young person, but this mouse exceeded their intelligence by more than twice. As I watched her, I realized that she was on the level of Jonathan Frisby (if you don't recognize the name, you led a sheltered childhood.) Since she was a female, we named her Mrs. Frisby (who in the story wasn't as bright as her husband, but was still fairly bright.)
We went to the local pet shop and purchased an elaborate hamster condo to house our newest "pet". We explained to the six year old that Mommy would be in charge of caring for this mouse, but it could be *her* pet nonetheless. We set up the condo, put in the bedding, the water bottle, the food, and transfered her in. Within seconds, she was scouting out possible escapes. I watched her for a while, and was sure all the parts were tightly attached. I went downstairs to get a drink. My mouse/daughter-needing-a-pet problem was solved. Oh so I thought.
I was only gone a few minutes, and when I came back up to the office, Mrs. Frisby was gone. I got a long plastic stick and pushed the bedding around to be certain she wasn't just hiding. Then my 17 year old son called from the kitchen that Mrs. Frisby had run under the stove. She had found one set of bars that was slightly more spread than the others, and squeezed herself through.
Now I had $60 in hamster cage and nothing to watch in it. I began researching hamsters and gerbils. I had both as a child, but that was a long time ago. I decided that gerbils appeared to be the better choice for our family: less smell, more intelligent, more playful during the day. Problem is that they don't like to live alone. They like to have a companion. My husband and I decided that two females would be a reasonable expenditure.
I did some more research and found a local breeder, but she only had one female left. The next brood isn't due for a week or two, and then it will be 5-6 weeks before she could release one to me. I arranged to pick up the one she had - Lauren. Of course, the breeder warned me not to use the hamster condo, but to use the rehabilitated fish tank. Gerbils do better without the air circulation.
Shoot, I still had that hamster condo. Why not just get a hamster too? They like to be alone, so I could get away with just the one. So, Zoe ended up coming home too.
Who should we recapture this morning? Mrs. Frisby, of course, so we made another trip to the garage for another empty fish tank and a quick run to the pet store to get another mesh lid to keep her in. This time, she doesn't get the condo; she gets mouse-impervious glass and very fine (though sturdy) mesh.
So, I went from 2 dogs, 1 cat, a turtle and some fish, to adding a gerbil (plus another in 6 weeks), a hamster, and a wild mouse. What a zoo. I sure hope Mrs. Frisby isn't pregnant.
