Furry Rodents

FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY


a cute foreign mouse from Zyra

if this critter isn't a chipmunk then it's a wild American ground squirrel

Russian hamsters are mini furrz killing machines

black-footed ferret in the wild

brown rats can be very brave, this one wants the big cat's dinner

British squirrels used to be red, until naughty imported American greys took over!


WISHING Y'ALL A WONDERFUL WEEKEND

The tubby little dormouse!

THE HAZEL (OR COMMON) DORMOUSE Muscardinus avellanarius is the only species in this tiny tubby rodent family native to the UK.


Adept at climbing...


... and often to be seen scrambling about hedgerows in the most impossible-looking positions...
(perhaps they get tips from Cosmopolitan magazine)


They love blackberries!



Going for a clamber in the shrubbery...


They are the tiniest tubby rodents we have, after harvest mice.
And doesn't this one so enjoy being captured and held!


They're most active in autumn, fattening themselves for the Big Sleep ahead...


The dor- comes from the French dormir ~ to sleep.
They build tiny nests and sleep the whole winter through...


They do sleep so deeply ~ more like a coma ~ these normally ultra-alert rodents becoming utterly insensible...
... and a canny photographer might show...


... how daffodils are obviously their first choice for a bed-down...!

WISHING Y'ALL A CHEERY WEEKEND!

Water Voles

FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY


Formerly known as water-rats, these are actually a species of vole, and are more closely related to hamsters than rats.


Unlike wild rats they rarely bite when cornered, and are really furry and cute:


They live in burrows in river-banks...


Aren't they beautiful?


Ratty from Wind in the Willows was actually a water-vole...


Water vole numbers are dwindling sa their habitats become increasingly threatened...


Of course water-voles love swimming...


If you keep your eyes open next time you visit the countryside you may well see a sight like this


If we don't look after their habitat, these beautiful furry animals will soon become extinct...

Gerbil dream

I HAD a dream last night about a kindly gerbil, who was running about our house looking cute. Then the gerbil ran into the garden, got lost, and vanished into the great green leafy yonder. Oh well. When I woke up I felt depressed because my life is still down the sewer. But full of hope, because every new day gives a chance of hauling oneself out...



Talking of gerbils, I have always envied Richard Gere. With his piggy eyes and not-particularly-distinguished appearance, I have always been left bemused as to why female breakfast TV presenters seem to find him so attractive.




And if I were an actor, the roles he's played are exactly the same as I would want to play. Very interesting career.

Having said that I would have chosen Naomi Campbell (actually no ~ I've had enough of personality disorders for one lifetime) or Linda Evangelista over Cindy Crawford any day of the week...

I Miss My Little Hammies

FURRY FRIDAY (ON SATURDAY)

YES I most certainly do miss them. No hamster donkey derby with three scurrying the wheel at once, no roborovski carnival. It's all pine-coloured and dull, with only the rumbles of the central heating pipes for company...

Usually to illustrate my posts I had to grab photos of other people's hamsters*, which looked exactly the same as mine, as all roborovskis are "the same" in appearance (no "fancy" varieties available except for the "white-faced" roborovski)...

***"TAME ROBOROVSKI HAMSTERS IN NEST"... MY ONE AND ONLY PERSONAL YOUTUBE FILM!!***

So here in close up are my actual three: Bashful, Itchy and Spherical, taken just a few months before they all died.

The reason they keep seemingly inspecting the camera up close then vanishing, by the way, is because they were NIBBLING the side of it as I filmed ~ the little swines!



Here's a cute tiny version, if you prefer:



The two illustrated up top are named Tic and Tac, and many thanks to RoborovskiHamsters.Webs.Com for the link ...