Operation: Abe Report, Day Seven and HamWatch 2010: Day Eleven

Operation: Abe Report

As of this morning, I am very sad to report that there is still no sign of Abe, and I fear the worst has happened. Leo maintains a lot more hope than I do, I confess. I just have a bad feeling, because none of the food I've put out, not even the stinky Limburger cheese that Willa's gone crazy over, has been touched. Not in any room. Not even a little bit. I am very sad over this loss, and I keep trying to think of anything else I can do to find him, but I can't imagine what else I could do. I'll continue to put out little piles of food and leave his cage open on the floor, but I don't have a lot of hope that Abe's coming back.

HamWatch 2010

In much more optimistic news, the babies are incredibly mobile and active. I'm calling them "The Mob" and when The Mob wakes up, there's a wobbly feeding frenzy with morsels of food that are far too big for their tiny mouths. So this scenario is quite common: one little hamster sits with a giant piece of corn, trying to stuff it in it's cheeks, only the corn gets a little stuck, so the hamster tries to pull it out, only it can't get it out, so it wiggles around, pulling on the corn, and somehow manages to lose its balance and somersault backwards...and eventually, is able to remove the corn. It's also common to see two little hamsters sharing a big piece of food, both holding on for dear life, nibbling little pieces off of the larger chunk. And sometimes, they lay on their sides, holding the food like a toddler would cuddle a teddy bear, only unlike the toddler, the hamsters take little bites now and then.

The babies' eyes haven't opened yet, so how they're getting around so easily is a mystery to me. They're extremely wobbly still, though, and pretty unstable, so although they're also quite fast, there's a lot of stumbling and they perpetually appear as if they're just going to keel over. It's a lot like being on the streets of Newcastle in the UK just after the pubs close.

Willa, the Wonder Mom, is really
effective at corraling the babies!

They also squeak a lot. There are two distinct squeaks- one is the "where's the milk?" squeak, and the other is the indignant, "Mom, put me down!" squeak. I don't mind telling you that having The Mob in the office is intensely distracting and I haven't been nearly as productive as I should've been this past week, because I keep having to get a closer look at whichever baby is taking a wobbly wander around the aquarium.

All of the black hamsters have white chins like Abe, which I love, because I loved his little white beard, so I'm glad to see the babies will be carrying on that trait. It's impossible to tell if they'll be longhaired like Abe, but I hope that some of them are.

The babies love to bring nuggets of
food back for naptime.

There is a runt in The Mob. One of the blonde babies is substantially smaller than the others. We've already decided that we'll keep that one, because it's just so darned sweet, plus there's one more that we're keeping for sure. One of the black babies was born with three feet and a wee little stump. It has no problem getting around, but I don't think the pet store will take that one, and besides, I've already fallen in love.

Stay tuned for more, and if you think of it, send up a wee little hamster-sized prayer for Abe.