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I found an unopened bottle of Vim Floor Cleaner up in the store room. Used it to clean out the bathroom. Very normal stuff, except I haven't used Vim in at least a year. Vim was what I used to use on the hamster hutches, the disinfectant soap. The smell immediately reminded me of the kids, and how little I've seen of them lately. The bathroom itself is a bit of a memory hotspot, you see.
Squeaky was my first serial-escapist, and he managed to cling to the floor's sink trap for a full day before he was found. He was wet, and cold, and shivering and very hungry, but the boy could defy Copperfield himself. Hommy used to putter about the cover of the same sink trap/drainpipe whenever she stumbled into the bathroom (not by accident though; she used to wait outside until the bathroom door opened for this purpose). The other kids all invariably fell down the drain at some point or other, either in the bathroom, the laundry room or the kitchen. A good point to ponder for hamster-keeping types. Always have functional traps installed (inside the pipe) wherever there are sunken drainage outlets in your floors. Make sure they work, and always cover any such outlets overnight when there are hamsters in the house (because it's come to my attention that even the most apparently secured hamsters have the potential to escape). The already provided flap that usually covers these outlets is not enough. Hamsters are strong enough to lift the flap and dive.
And I would do anything to be able to scoop clinging hamsters from drainage peril right now, or scrub hutches. FYI, I haven't lost a single hamster to the drains, the midnight escapades or negligence, and I dare admit I'm negligent. Can you believe this? I'm getting mopey over blue Vim disinfectant.
Squeaky was my first serial-escapist, and he managed to cling to the floor's sink trap for a full day before he was found. He was wet, and cold, and shivering and very hungry, but the boy could defy Copperfield himself. Hommy used to putter about the cover of the same sink trap/drainpipe whenever she stumbled into the bathroom (not by accident though; she used to wait outside until the bathroom door opened for this purpose). The other kids all invariably fell down the drain at some point or other, either in the bathroom, the laundry room or the kitchen. A good point to ponder for hamster-keeping types. Always have functional traps installed (inside the pipe) wherever there are sunken drainage outlets in your floors. Make sure they work, and always cover any such outlets overnight when there are hamsters in the house (because it's come to my attention that even the most apparently secured hamsters have the potential to escape). The already provided flap that usually covers these outlets is not enough. Hamsters are strong enough to lift the flap and dive.
And I would do anything to be able to scoop clinging hamsters from drainage peril right now, or scrub hutches. FYI, I haven't lost a single hamster to the drains, the midnight escapades or negligence, and I dare admit I'm negligent. Can you believe this? I'm getting mopey over blue Vim disinfectant.
