Gerbils are Not Hamsters

The Lemming recently discovered that gerbils are not hamsters. Well, of course they're not hamsters: if they were, they'd be called hamsters, and the Lemming would have to find something else to write about.

Gerbils aren't mice, either. They're gerbils.

The point is that hamsters live in hamster houses: those colorful plumbing nightmares you see on television sometimes. Or in pet stores.

Hamster houses are fine for hamsters, partly because hamsters don't mind prefab tunnels: and apparently don't eat plastic. Not often, anyway.

Gerbils, in sharp contradistinction (yes, it's a real word), dig their own tunnels: or try to. They also eat plastic, including the sort that hamster houses are made of.

Gerbils shouldn't eat plastic, but it's no use trying to educate a gerbil on the consequences of chowing down on synthetic tunnels. They eat the stuff anyway, after which their owner learns what a Wikipedia page meant by "serious health issues."

The same resource says that folks have quite a few opinions about how much space a gerbil needs:

"...Information from gerbil societies from throughout the globe is conflicting with regards to tank sizing. However, a common minimum given appears to be 10 imperial gallons per gerbil...."
(Housing in captivity, Gerbil, Wikipedia)

The page doesn't say so, but the Lemming assumes that the "tank" should be filled with air, not water: maybe that's obvious, but we live in an era of stupid warning labels, and that's another topic.

And why, the Lemming wonders, in this liberated age, should gerbils insist on imperial gallons? Do they consider common gallons beneath their dignity? And who ever heard of a house pet with royal pretensions, anyway?

Pretensions are not the same as pre-tensioned concrete, which is a fairly common structural material these days: and the Lemming's mind is wandering.

Again.

Finally, this is a gerbil:


(From Roo72, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

This is not a gerbil:


(From JJ Harrison, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

It's not a hamster, either, and that's yet another topic.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Save the - Goldfish?!"
  (June 16, 2011)
• "A Good Dog: Not Bright, But a Good Dog"
  (December 3, 2010)
• "Hamsters: Cute; May or May Not be the Right Pet"
  (August 28, 2010)
• "Cute Baby Easter Bunnies, Responsibility, and a Charming Photo"
  (March 30, 2010)
• "More Photos of Cute Animals"
  (August 1, 2009)

Disapproving Rabbits, the Next Generation: Dougal

"Dougal "
Disapproving Rabbits (December 19, 2011)

"Here's an update on Dougal: he's getting more used to us, though his first instinct is still to bolt into his cardboard box. He's coming out more often, mostly to run laps (as seen in the video below)...."

The Lemming wondered how long the folks who bring us Disapproving Rabbits would remain rabbitless. They lost Cinnamon, that ancient and leporine bulwark of disapproval, back in June.

Here's their account of how Dougal entered their lives. Part of it, anyway:

"Dougal"
Disapproving Rabbits (December 9, 2011)

"We were heading out of town on a long drive, talking about Christmas, when Sharon said that she was ready to get another rabbit. She missed the scampering sounds, the chewing, and "that good rabbit smell." I agreed. We'd been putting it off because our schedules had been full of work and travel, but now, oddly, things were calming down in December.

"About a minute later I got a message from my friend Laurie, who volunteers at the Humane Society. They had a rabbit, she wrote, that she thought would be perfect for us. We were about five miles away at the time. So we made a detour.

"He was a big boy: about a year old and seven pounds. Super skittish when we got him into the familiarization room, but Laurie told us that he was a stray who was adopted and then returned, but once he calmed down...."

There's quite a bit more text than usual in that Disapproving Rabbits post: understandably, since it was a narrative of Dougal's integration into a new household. The Lemming enjoyed reading about Dougal, acclimatization, and getting photos of a skittish rabbit. But then, the Lemming has a soft spot for tales that end with "...it's good to have a rabbit in the house."

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Sic Transit Gloria Bunny - Cinnamon, of Disapproving Rabbits"
  (June 22, 2011)
• "Rabbit, Snow: Disapproval"
  (December 1, 2010)
• "Your Daily Adult Requirement of Cute: One Little Rabbit, Then Two"
  (October 5, 2010)
• "Rabbit Philosophizing"
  (May 13, 2010)
• "And Now, the Recommended Daily Adult Requirement of Cute"
  (March 25, 2010)

Save the - Goldfish?!

"San Francisco Wants to Ban Goldfish to Prevent Their 'Inhumane Suffering' "
Todd Starnes, FoxNews.com (June 16, 2011)

"The San Francisco Animal Control and Welfare Commission wants to take away your goldfish, proposing a bill that would also include a renewed ban on pets like puppies, kittens and hamsters.

"The proposed ban is meant to discourage 'impulse buys' of pets that sometimes end up at shelters, said commission member Philip Gerrie....

Before anybody has a stroke, please note that the Lemming thinks:

• Animals should not be mistreated
• Pet owners have responsibilities
• Kittens and puppies grow into cats and dogs
• Free Willy was a fun movie

The Lemming also thinks that even elected officials should think before acting.

Is impulsively buying a kitten or puppy - or a baby chick - a bad thing to do? Not, in the Lemming's opinion, necessarily. In principle, it's possible for someone who knows about litter boxes and leash laws to suddenly decide that it'd be nice to have a kitten around - and a dozen years later still be taking care of the long-since-grown-up cat.

The Lemming also realizes that not everybody who grabs a cute little ball of fur and fangs really understands what having a pet means.

That's the real world, now, back to the article:

Swim Free, as Free as the Wind Blows - - -

"...He [commission member Philip Gerrie] said goldfish, guppies and other tropical fish were added to the proposed ban because of what he called the 'inhumane suffering of fish' and the way the fish are harvested.

" 'It causes animal suffering,' Gerrie told Fox News Radio. 'Whole reefs and ecosystems are being exploited for whatever might be marketable or sellable.'

"The Board of Supervisors considered a similar ban last year that would have included dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, rats and guinea pigs – but not fish. That proposed ban was tabled last August. The supervisor said they were going to reconsider it in January of this year – but did not.

"The proposed fish ban has local pet store owners up in arms...."

There's a lot going on in those four paragraphs.

Fish Really do Have Feelings - Sort of

About the "inhumane suffering of fish?" That may not be as crazy as it sounds. Fish are animals with a central nervous system that doesn't work all that differently from ours.¹

On the other hand, it's anyone's guess whether or not the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is aware that domestic goldfish are just that - domestic. There are no prides of Lionhead Goldfish swimming free along the sunlit shores of some exotic island.

Commercial exploitation of exotic animals, that's something else.

Remember how groovy "zero tolerance" must have seemed at the time? And that isn't quite another topic.

By the way, here's an entirely different sort of commercial goldfish:

"Goldfish Commercial"

link2772, YouTube (December 8, 2006)
video, 0:31

Save the Endangered - - - Rats?!

Last year's efforts to save San Francisco's (pet) rats may not have been the result of someone assuming that greedy pet store owners recklessly disturbed delicate ecosystems in the city's dumpsters and sewer system, harvesting rats for the pet trade. Still, you never know.

Again - rats have central nervous systems. They're not all that different from mice - and the Lemming's been over this before:

• "Mice Feel Pain (We knew That) - And Show it Like We do ('No One' Knew That)"
  (May 11, 2010)

In the Lemming's considered opinion: elected officials should get out of the office more often, and see what it's like on the planet the rest of us call home. So, again in the Lemming's opinion, should quite a few scientists.

And that is another topic.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Apathy is Rampant, But Who Cares? - The Sequel"
  (February 7, 2011)
• "Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide Now! Or, Not"
  (January 3, 2011)
• "John Muir: 'Hitched to Everything Else in the Universe' "
  (October 17, 2010)
• "San Diego Zoo on Birds, Some of Which are - What Else? - Endangered"
  (September 2, 2010)
• "Attack of the Mutant Eucalyptus Trees!"
  (June 13, 2010)

¹ Background (pretty boring):

• "Mechanoreceptive and Nociceptive Responses in the Central Nervous System of Goldfish (Carassius auratus) and Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)"
  Science Direct (September 2005)

A Good Dog: Not Bright, But a Good Dog

"Dog"
Hyperbole and a Half (July 6, 2010)

"A lingering fear of mine was confirmed last night: My dog might be slightly retarded.

"I've wondered about her intelligence ever since I adopted her and subsequently discovered that she was unable to figure out how stairs worked.

"I blamed her ineptitude on the fact that she'd spent most of her life confined to a small kennel because her previous owners couldn't control her. I figured that maybe she just hadn't been exposed to stairs yet. Accepting the noble responsibility of educating this poor, underprivileged creature, I spent hours tenderly guiding her up and down the staircase - placing biscuits on each step to lure her and celebrating any sign of progress. When she still couldn't successfully navigate the stairs at the end of her first week with me, I blamed it on her extreme lack of motor control. This dog is uncoordinated in a way that would suggest her canine lineage is tainted with traces of a species with a different number of legs - like maybe a starfish or some sort of primitive snake...."

"...With so many years of experience behind me, I was sure that training this new dog would be a very simple task.

"I was wrong. Not only is training my dog outlandishly difficult, it is also heartbreaking. She wants so badly to please me. Every fiber of her being quivers with the desire to do a good job...."

Allie does a good job, with text and cartoons, of relating her struggle to train this lovable canine dimwit.

Another sample. She's been putting 'this dog' through a sort of intelligence test.

"...In the second test, I had to put a blanket over my dog and time her to see how long it took her to get out. I threw the blanket over her and started my stopwatch. She made some cursory attempts at freeing herself, but as the seconds ticked by, it became clear that she was not going to pass.

"Still, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and assumed that she just enjoyed being under there and could get out if she wanted to. I added an extra couple points to her tally for faith's sake...."

That picture is the last in a series, about the blanket test.

Then there was the time 'this dog' was told to find a treat - that Allie had shown him, when she put it under a cup. He couldn't - or, anyway, he didn't.

The post has over a dozen drawings in it - the Lemming thinks Allie has a good dog. Not a bright dog, but a good dog.

---

A tip of the hat to , on Twitter, for the heads-up on that post.

Hamsters: Cute; May or May Not be the Right Pet

"Hamsters"
Humane Society of the United States

"Hamsters make great pets, but their small size and widespread reputation as a “starter pet” may encourage impulse acquisitions. Find out if a hamster is the right match for you and learn how to provide top-notch care."

There's a 59-second video on the page, and links to:

• Hamster Feeding
• Hamster Housing
• Hamster Care and Behavior Tips
• More Resources

It's a pretty good resource for someone wondering if a hamster would make a good pet: or what sort of cage/box/enclosure would be a better choice for their hamster.

And there are some photos of the cute little fur balls.

One thing I didn't know: hamsters do not play well together. They're territorial, and the more common sort are strictly one-to-an-enclosure pets.

The 64-dollar question is: is the hamster a good pet? The Humane Society's answer is, it depends. They've got a pretty good discussion of it here:

• "Is a Hamster the Right Pet for You?"
  The Humane Society of the United States (April 21, 2010)

Taming a Panicked Parakeet

"Caring for Parakeets : Taming a Parakeet"

expertvillage, YouTube (September 25, 2008)
video, 3:27

"If your parakeet is wild and excited, learn different ways to tame and calm parakeets in this free pet care video.

"Expert: Elizabeth Cantu
"Bio: Elizabeth Cantu has owned and been working with parrots since 1994. She has been active in captive parrot rescue and rehabilitation.
"Filmmaker: julio costilla"

This isn't a polished video with a professional narrator: you'll hear quite a few "um" and "you know" interjections. That said, Elizabeth Cantu does a good job of explaining how to convince a panicked parakeet that you're not a source of danger.

There's common-sense advice, like 'don't let the kids rattle the cage,' and a fairly clear step-by-step process for letting the bird know that you're not a threat - and that your hand is a place to find food.

Elizabeth Cantu also tells what to do, if the parakeet can't take the presence of your hand - at first.

Cute Baby Easter Bunnies, Responsibility, and a Charming Photo

"A few words about Easter, and Baby Bunnies"
Disapproving Rabbits (March 29, 2010)

"A repost of what I wrote last year:

"So, Easter's coming up.

"I, of all people, am not going to tell you that rabbits don't make good pets. They do. They're intelligent, cute, and fun to have around.

"However.

"There is always a problem this time of year of people who buy rabbits as pets as Easter gifts, then decide later they don't want them...."

There's pretty good advice here. And a picture of some really cute little rabbits:


(from Disapproving Rabbits, used w/o permission)

I like animals. Even if I didn't feel that way, I'd still have to be treat them humanely. (I'm a Catholic, and we've got rules about that, too: A Catholic Citizen in America (August 17, 2009).)

This Disapproving Rabbits post recommends that, if you're determined to take responsibility for the care and feeding of a rabbit, you get one from an animal shelter, not a pet store. My oldest daughter got her rabbit, Giol, that way: and he's a charming little fuzzbucket.

And seriously? Think about it before getting a pet. I'm not one of the 'animals are people, too' folks. On the other hand, I recognize that homo sapiens sapiens has the ability to make choices - and that makes us responsible for the choices we make.

So enjoy the cute rabbit photos, and if you just want something soft and cuddly: get a plush toy. They're a whole lot easier to maintain.

Related posts:

• "Posts about Dogs, Dog Hair, Puppies, and All That"
  (November 6, 2009)
• "Animals: Yeah, the Catholic Church has Rules About Them, Too"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 17, 2009)
• "Meet Casper, the Traveling Cat"
  (August 1, 2009)

How to Pick Up a Gerbil

"Gerbils as Pets"
About.com

• "...Never pick up a gerbil by the tail.
• "The best way is to carry gerbil is simply cupped in the palm of the hand. You can gently hold the scruff of the neck (hold the loose skin on the back of the neck) to prevent the gerbil from getting away if necessary.
• "If you are not comfortable picking up an untamed gerbil as above...."

Well, now you know.

There's more: including a bit about how to tame a gerbil.

Lemming Tracks: There's Something Fishy About Today's Posts

Aquatic, anyway.

Two of today's three posts are about some animal that lives in the water: a weird sea green sea slug, and Neon Tetras. Which seem to be capitalized. Who knew?

The Lemming doesn't have a grand plan for what sort of posts go on what days. Which may be another way of saying that even I don't know what I'm doing.

Hmmm. I could try rephrasing that: but after a highly sleep-free night, it would probably just get worse.

Which might be interesting, come to think of it.

No: Better quite while I'm behind.

One thing I can predict with a fair degree of confidence: Wednesday's posts won't be all fish, all the time. Or about Aardvarks.

Well, maybe just one.

We'll see.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Neon Tetras

"Neon Tetra | Paracheirodon innesi"
Aquatic Community

"Neon Tetra information:

"Scientific name: Paracheirodon innesi
"Common name: Neon Tetra
"Max. size: 2.2 cm / 0.85 inches
"pH range: 5.0 – 7.0
"dH range: 1 - 2
"Temperature range: 20 – 26°C / 68 - 80°F

"The Neon Tetra is an extremely popular aquarium fish. It is sturdy and inexpensive and is often one of the first fish species purchased by beginner aquarists. A shoal of brightly decorated Neon Tetras will add colour as well as activity to the aquarium. Since the Neon Tetras stay quite small and have a peaceful temperament, they are often found in small community aquariums.
Neon Tetra classification:

"The Neon tetras belongs to the genus Paracheirodon..."

Okay: Maybe you've never yearned for this much information about paracheirodon innesi. There's quite a lot of information here.

And one photo:

"
(from Aquatic Community, used w/o permission)
"Neon tetra picture. Copyright www.jjphoto.dk"

There's quite a lot of text about neon tetra care, feeding, disease and breeding. Turns out there's something called Neon Tetra disease, caused by a parasite: and the best (only?) way of dealing with it is keeping the parasite out of the aquarium.

The page looks like a pretty good source of information about that sort of fish.

Blogs About Dogs - Not BAD

The blogosphere's gone to the dogs!

Well, no: but there are quite a number of blogs about dogs out there. I picked a few two years ago today, and these are still there. There's something to say for a blog that lasts that long. Even if posts aren't made all that often, its continued existence hints that someone's interested enough in the subject to keep the thing around - or at least that it's not so bogus that the hosting company deleted it.

Not all dog blogs are created equal, of course.

That shouldn't be all that surprising. Over the last fifteen millennia or so, we've gotten Chow Chows, Dachshunds, Basenji and Whippets from the the basic model. Starting with such a diversity of dogs, it's only natural that blogs about dogs would be a mixed lot. Like these:

• Dogster: For the Love of Dog Blog "The Dogster Dog Blog is committed to tracking every story related to all foods recalls. You can count on us to keep you completely in the nose of every detail."
• Bosco Dog Blog "...A Dog's Life in the City of Minneapolis, MN & now... Austin, TX"
• A Dog Blog tales of two dogs and their battle against canine cancer and megaesophagus. Bubba and Pinche and gone, now, but the blog continues, with stories from other dog owners, and information about these diseases
• Celebrity Dog Blog for those whose day isn't complete without seeing pictures of Jessica Simpson and Daisy, Mischa Barton and Charlie, and other celebrities with their dogs
• Dog Gone Blog "handling out opinions like they Were kibble"
• Funny Dog Pics the title says it all

Mocha the Hamster, Broccoli, and Cute Footwork

"Mocha in 'His First Broccoli!' "

cadencestar, YouTube (March 19, 2007)
video, 1:35

"He is 13 days old today :)

"Music: BoA - Some Day One Day, remixed by Bestiz.com

"Featured on cuteoverload.com...."

This is one of the cuter, more endearing, downright adorable videos of a hamster that I've seen. Just a tiny hamster, small enough to sit in someone's hand with plenty of room to spare, stuffing broccoli into his cheeks would be cute. Then, about 48 seconds in, text on the screen says, "LOL! Did you see his feet?!"

Just before, Mocha had done something wiggly with his feet.

The footage with Mocha's footwork is repeated. Did I mention that it's endearing? And cute?

Enjoy.

---

A tip of the hat to irish_brigid, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this.

The Incredible Dancing Parrot, Frostie

"Frostie Dancing To Shake Your Tail Feather! Bird Loves Ray Charles!"

"Frostie The Funniest Dancing Bird On This Planet jives to the Blues Brothers & Ray Charles hit from their Difinitive [!] Collection Album! Frostie is a 20-year-old Bare-Eyed Cockatoo, otherwise...."



OnePickieChickie, YouTube (February 01, 2009)
video 2:42

This 'dancing bird' video is actually rather good. I think the "Funniest Dancing Bird On This Planet" has to be taken as a subjective statement.

On the other hand, this bird is good. I don't know how Frostie learned to dance: but I've seen worse choreography.

Enjoy.

Continued from Yesterday: A Cat, a Dog, and a Pet Door

I've moved that cat-and-dog video from yesterday's post here:

"Cat Blocks Dog Intrusion"

andavid21, YouTube (July 25, 2009)
video, 0:15

I'd take that video's YouTube title with a grain or salt. I've known cats, and dogs: and neither was very serious during that 15 seconds. Still: it's cute.

---

I don't generally re-arrange posts like this, but for reasons that I still don't understand Google blocked this blog yesterday evening - something in their system flagged it as a 'spam blog.' Since it's possible that one or more of yesterday's posts was responsible, I'm editing them.

When I went back, I saw that they were noticeably different than the 50th percentile of posts here at Apathetic Lemming of the North.

Besides, I like this video.

"We Heart Cute Cats!"

"We Heart Cute Cats!"
CRITTERISTIC (April 3, 2009)

"'I want to hold your tail!'

"How precious and innocent kitten love can be!..."

That's just about all there is to the text. The charm and interest is in the photo, shown at 1/5 size in that thumbnail.

As far as I can tell, "Cat Heart" is the result of someone with two cats and a camera taking advantage of a wonderfully serendipitous opportunity.

Dogs, Cats, and Just Getting Along

"Cats and Dogs: The Dating Game"
timesunion.com (May 7, 2009)

"For those of us who love both dogs AND cats, we think we can just bring home a little 'surprise' for our resident kitties and life will continue as we know it. We plop the puppy or dog on the floor, scoop up the cat 'just in case' and proceed with the introductions...."

The best (funniest, anyway) part of the article is "CATS AND DOGS: THE DATING GAME."

DeDe, a cat, is selecting one of three dogs. Here's an excerpt:

"...DeDe: Dog #1, if I was to sit in front of you on the other side of a fence, and occasionally lick my paw, or lie down and roll over, or stare at you while you are just out of my reach, would you be a bad dog and tell on me?

"Dog #1: Yawn… The grass feels so good on my back. Does your back ever itch like crazy?

"Dog #2: Look - a butterfly! Look - a leaf! Look - a guy mowing the lawn! Look - kids!

"Dog #3: I've never met a chain link I couldn't bypass. Your tail is toast, sweetheart...."

I rather like Dog #2. But then, I'm something like that myself.

---

A tip of the hat to irish_brigid, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this.

Four-Eared Cat: Cute Quirk of Feline Genes

"Yoda the Cat Astounds With Four Ears"
FOXNews (August 19, 2008)

"They say cats have nine lives, but this one has four ears.

"A genetic abnormality gave Yoda, of Downers Grove, Ill., four ear flaps instead of two.

"Ted and Valerie Rock first spied the little guy in 2006 at neighborhood bar on the South Side of Chicago before a Bears game. He was the last of a litter of eight put up for adoption by the bar's owner...."

The article doesn't say anything about whether Yoda likes to be scratched behind the ears.

Cats with extra toes are fairly common: this is the first time I've heard of one with extra external ears.

Meet Giol, the Rabbit

"Meet My Fuzzy Buddy - Giol"
PetLvr.com - [The Blog] (April 22, 2008)

Meet Giol: a flop-eared rabbit with the colors of a wild rabbit. This blog post is an account of a new pet owner, learning how to deal with a rabbit - and why it's a good idea to keep calculators out of reach.

Five photos.

In the spirit of full disclosure: the author of this post is my daughter, and I took the photos. It's a good post, though.

Better Ideas From Japan: Meow Lingual Cat Translator

"Chat with your cat"
Shiny Shiny - A girl's guide to gadgets (March 29, 2008)

"If you are having communication problems with your cat the Japanese have got the answer. On sale now is the Meow Lingual Cat Translator from Takara, a device that turns all those miaows into human speech."

It's for real. Photo and description.

(Thanks to my oldest daughter, for bringing this to my attention.)

More ideas - good, dubious, and strange - at "Better Ideas From ... "

Group Hug With Pets Goes Horribly Wrong

What Was He Thinking?!

Seven photographs, all probably taken in a second or two, show what happened when a college-age guy tries to photograph a group hug with two cats and a dog.

People familiar with cats may enjoy the evolution of expression on the feline faces.