Gerbils…..2

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Right, I’m going to roll up my sleeves and start updating the blog again because so many things have happened these past months and I don’t want to miss them, so, before that happens I will write a few entries to make for the lost time.

And I am starting with the first one following the suggestion of a good friend:

In a world where gerbils run free…. (this is for you Glen 🙂 )

I think that the last news you have about our gerbils were as of last year Christmas present and how happy we were to have new members in our family right?

Well…. much has happened since then!!!

I’m going to try to summarize it, although it is never a summary….:

  • Month 1) Boys watching and watching and playing with the gerbils at all times, picking them up, setting them free “for exercise” on the living room table, caressing them. Pepelu and I, safariing for gerbils around the apartment and lifting (him) sofas twice a week.
  • Month 2) Lots of small friends coming over to see our new members of the family, circuits “for exercise” on the living room table. Trying new snacks (the gerbils, not us). Pepelu and I safariing for gerbils around the apartment and lifting (him and the boys) sofas once a week. We kind of know where they like to hide when they escape.
  • Month 3) We realize that the cage is a bit small and Jon’s birthday is close, so my sister in law proposes to buy him a really nice cage and I think it is a good idea (Pepelu does not have any opinion just in case)
  • Month 4) Jon’s birthday, 11 years old birthday. My sister in law comes with superpresent, supercage, best one in town for her nephew. Gerbills in the cage, superfair for them, big slides, tubes, second floor…. wow!!! And it seems as if they like ….. eating it!!!!!! (or at least cracking and gnawing it) In 1 hour, half of the slide has disappeared!!!

After we end up the celebration (we are at home lunching with some friends), and the adults are with the coffee and the children playing around, Jon comes to see his animals and comes to me, holding one of them:

› Jon: “Mom…. Black is very quiet, he is not moving….”
› Me: “He is asleep, you know they like sleeping during the day”
› Jon: “But he is very cold…..”
› Me: “Bring it here come on, let me heat him a little bit, maybe the heater was not on….”.

Jon gives me the gerbil and as soon as I hold him I “CLEARLY” see that alive alive…. I would not say the guy is very alive, he is “stiff” with his eyes crossed and I only want to throw it away and say “ARRRRGGGHHHH” but mother as I am and poor Jon looking at me with his eyes wide open, I have to breath and caress the thing “come on Black, come on, you are ok, you will be ok…..”. After a couple of minutes, I have to give the bad news to Jon:

› Me: “Jon, baby…. I believe….. that Black has had a heart attack…. or something like that and the poor guy is not reacting… he passed away….”
› Jon: “What??? What??? WHAT??? Black??? BLACK??? DEAD???? Nooooooooooo noooooooooo nooooooooo noooooooooo Black nooooooo. Why!!!??? Oh why??????? Worst day of my lifeeeeeeeeee noooooooo nooooooo Blaaaaack Blaaaaaack”
› Mi sister in law: “Oh God, I’m sure he has chocked with the plastic of the slide, oh God..……”
› Me: “No jeeeez no, don´t worry…. it´s just been bad luck! Jon baby, you know animals and pets die, he probably had some illness which we didn´t know and he just died, quickly and he did not suffer….”

Jon lying on the ground, crying and crying non stop (just if you have not realized, Jon is a very sensitive and emotional and emphatic boy). Three hours later, after everybody had left, he is still crying, so I say to my hubby: “You know what? Take Jon out for a walk and fresh air and maybe you can go to Jose´s who I think has quite a few gerbils, and maybe if he can spare one, we can take it since you know the gerbils cannot be on their own, just be careful so that it is the same gender as the one we have of course”

Coming back from Jose´s with a Tupperware and inside another black gerbil, very similar to the one we had, a bit smaller, so… “Blacky”. Jon is happier and smiling again.  We get “it” in the cage…. and….. the other one, Grey goes crazy, absolutely crazy…. running around, chasing Blacky, and “climbing” on “her?????” Shit Shit Shit!!!!

› Me: “mmmmmm darling…. I think this one is not the same gender…. I think this one is a “girl”…”
› Hubby: “emmmmm, I´ve told Jose´s son to give me the same gender but… since we were not sure which gender we had, it was a 50/50…..”

Oh God shit shit shit…….

  • Month 5) 27 days later…… the boys check upon the gerbils

› Alex: “Mom…. The gerblis have pooped BIG, really BIG. Ahhhh noooo ahhh ahhhh ahhh we have babies!!!!!”
› Me: What, No What???? How many!!??? 5!!! 5 babies!!!! Shit shit shit what do I do with 7 gerblis!!!!????

I have to say that it has been a really sweet experience to see them since they were new born like gummy bears and they could not see nor walk and they just rolled over and they were all together warming up each other to see how in 2 weeks they were independent “children”, really sweet indeed….

  • Month 6) More little friends, coming over home to see the new babies. Me, trying to give away some of them but no luck with the moms….. Babies run away, we don´t know how, all family safariing every 2 days…. One of them goes behind the WC, can´t go away, and I have to phone my plumber:

> Me: “Carlos, emmmm….. I need something, kind of a personal favor…..one of our pets has gone behind the WC and can´t go out…. the children can see it with a lamp and they are crying for him….. please…..”.

Carlos the plumber comes, he moves the WC completely, the children chase the baby around and can pick him up and back into the cage…. WC back to its place…. dear Carlos…. his face when he saw the pet was a gerbil…..

Meanwhile, another baby gerbil is missing, we believe that the balcony door was open and tell the children “she has gone away to explore” (we live in the 5th floor…) Six gerbils left….

  • Month 7) 1st week of July›

> Alex: “Mom…. I think we have babies again….”
> Me: What?????? WHAT????? What do you mean AGAIN?? But we separated the babies and the mom!!!!!!! How did this happen!!!??? Oh God!!! How many?? 5???? 5 again???

Running to Internet to look up “Separate the mom from the dad immediately after giving birth because that same night the mom will get “pregnant” again”…. shit shit shit that part I didn’t read…..
What did I say about the “sweet” experience….. 11!!! 11!!!! What do I do with 11 gerblix at home???? We are going on holidays in 15 days!!!!

> Enly (our Filipino nanny): “Mrs… cousin says she wants gerbil…”
> Me: (yes! Yes! YES! YEEEES!): “Of course…. How many???? One full family???? They are very cute, they need to be together….”
> Enly: “No no, she wants two”
> Me: (right, better than nothing…): OK! Sure! She can come anytime to adopt them!

Filipino cousin adopts 2, and I go in injury time to the animal shop which I have heard the adopt, to bring the mommy and 3 babies (Thanks Lord because we are leaving on holidays for a week and yes my sister in law has said she will come over to give them some food a couple of days, but 11 gerbils….  now 6 is better….)

  • Month 8) Back from holidays. Mmmmm I don´t see all the gerbils… I can only see 4…..

> Me: ”Sis…. mmmm when you came to give the animlas water and food, didn´t you realize that there are less gerbils than before?”
> Sister in law: “Emmmm to be fair, I could see many animals all together and I have not counted them at all…..”
Right, let´s leave some food on the floor and check if they appear…
One of the babies never appeared, she went to explore with her auntie (or that we told the children), and the other one… .it appeared that night, all tousled and dirty, who knows where she was hiding. We put her back in the cage and it seem she had lost her scent because the next morning she appeared in a very bad state quite injured and bleeding, her own mother attacked her! I took her out and tried to heal her but she didn´t make it… Four gerbils left.

  • Month 9) Nothing, we can´t convince anybody to adopt, and moms have not even read my blog yet……
  • Month 10) I write an ad in a second hand web site and I get contacts from people all over Spain asking to send the gerbils by mail….! but no… Jon wants to know the family that is going to adopt them and confirm it is a good family…..
  • Month 11) We found and adoptive family!!!! They are taking mommy and the baby that is left. A good family with two children that Jon has approved. Jeeeezez Yes YES YES!!!!

OK, only two gerbils left, which I want to put for adoption too but Jon and Alex are like “No WAY”, so…… not sure how this is going to end…..

Maybe if I tell them that we can get a cat instead…. (by the way, Pepelu says “I only approved 2 fish last year…..)

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3 Responses to Gerbils…..2

  1. Glen says:

    Ha! Hollywood has to know about this. I’ll narrate the trailer in my deepest voice: “In a world where Itzi blogs wild…” 🙂

  2. Itziar says:

    Very true! That is what Pepelu says….
    All very good here. Speak soon Mina! Xxx

  3. Mina says:

    I feel for you but that is what you get when you go for two fish and come home with gerbils (not the one that is fixed!)
    Hope all is well with you.
    Love,

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