Hamster CageMatch 2009

So today is Science Fair.

Kelly and Alice put together a lovely poster with just enough information to hold the attention of their classmates, I think.

Last night, I was cleaning out the little hammies' cages, because I think it might be cute to have 'visual aids' for the poster for when the judges come by. Imagine how cute it would be to have a little hamster running in the wheel with the speedometer going, so they can see exactly how the experiment works! It'll be so cute. So I was sprucing up the cages for the trip to school tonight.

The Test Cage is enormous. It's got a wheel at one end, and is just cavernous. I had Souffle in there (the male), scooting around while I was cleaning his cage. It just looked so big, I thought "Surely Oreo wouldn't even be able to find him in all the space!" and, being the Dumb Blonde that i am, I snagged Oreo, and put her down in the far corner of the test cage, just to see if they'd sniff around, or something.

Folks, it was like Armageddon.

She made a bee-line for Souffle, and they went at it like those cartoon depictions of the Tasmanian Devil. There was a little whirlwind with fur flying, and it was NOT a love-match, trust me.

I had to get in between them before they killed each other. I reached in, and they both clamped down on my fingers with their sharp little teeth. Souffle let go first, I think when he realized that he wasn't fighting to the death any more, and I was able to reach in with my other hand and scoop him to the safety of his new clean cage.

Then I was able to address Oreo, who was still attached to my finger.

Ouch.

But she let go once Souffle was removed from (what I can only imagine was thought of by her as) her space, and then happily waltzed over to the wheel, and proceded to trot around like nothing had happened.

I guess there's not going to be baby dwarf hamsters in our future any time soon.