ACCOUNTANT BY DAY

When my dwarf hamsters finally died of old age earlier this year I decided to wait until we were actually settled in somewhere before getting new ones. Then when we got up here I wanted to wait until we were unpacked and better organized before I got new hamsters. Then when we realized that the air conditioning wasn’t really working I wanted to wait for that to be fixed, since little animals are often very sensitive to the heat.

Also I was thinking maybe I should try other little rodents, like a rat. I saw this rat at Petsmart on Friday night that I liked a lot and I was thinking what a nice rat she seemed, and maybe I would call her Holly if she were mine. But Saturday when I gave my roommate a ride to work I had to go a little ways down Nieman road to get turned around to go back home, and I noticed a pet shop. It’s called Pet Stop and it’s a little bit north of Shawnee Mission Parkway on Nieman, and when I checked it out later in the afternoon I saw these amazing animals called degus. They are from South America and get larger than most pet type rodents, and in Chile they are considered pests because they are 100 or more to an acre there, but here mostly they aren’t known. I brought my roommate back on Sunday to show her and she liked them too. I would have to buy them a new cage or make one, but I think that would be all right. Because they are very social animals I would also need to buy a pair of them so they have company. I watched them for a long time in the pet store and found that they treat each other very nicely. They like to play and they do a funny dance with their paws and noses touching. I read somewhere this weekend that they develop long-term relationships with each other and will become depressed and dejected if their friend dies or is separated from them. So I would have to make sure that I fulfill their emotional needs too.

But I still have to make myself wait until the air conditioning is all fixed and the house is ready for them.