Gråperle (Pearl)

My first dwarf hamster was the Campbell's dwarf Gråperle ("Grey Pearl", or just Pearl for short). She was an impulse buy to replace my beautiful kitten (trilltrall turned out to be terrified of kittens...). We'd discussed rodents for some time and come to the conclusion that at least dwarf hamsters don't have tails. (I don't mind tails. trilltrall though...) And it appeared that dwarf hamsters were more active during the day than syrian hamsters, so we were thinking of buying one. Then one day in April 2007 we stopped by the pet shop, they had Campbell's dwarfs, and it was spring, the weather was lovely, and trilltrall said why not.

Recently I have realised that I don't have a lot of photos of Pearl. And only one video. She was such a tame sweetheart, people could hold her for themselves when they visited. I didn't need to take a lot of photos to show her off. I guess that must be why, though I regret it now. She was very tame, she never bit anyone, and she'd come and climb across the ceiling of her cage every morning to get her morning snack. She loved to climb. She sucked at it, though, and it was sometimes scary with the thump we heard from her cage every time she fell down. It's a miracle she never hurt herself.

Below are some of the few photos I have of my darling Pearl. She died from old age on Dec 1st 2008, some 20 months old.

This video is Pearl eating a white clover. She loved white clover and cherry blossoms. Cherry blossom season is just over here now and I did give Knerten and Fjerten this delicate delicacy too, but they didn't care for it. I wonder what they will think of clover, which I certainly will also give them later in the summer.

Rest in peace, Pearl. This is the last photo of her, taken the morning I found her dead. It wasn't unexpected, as she had been showing signs of getting old. It was still a sad day.

She then spent some 5 months in the freezer, wrapped in hamster cotton, until the snow melted and the ground finally thawed. In April 2009, two years after she moved in with us, we went for a little walk in the woods and stuck her in the moss at the foot of a pine tree. I like to think that maybe a fox ate her when she finally thawed. If not, we all know what happens to dead animals. In either case, IMHO, a more dignified end than just being thrown out with the garbage would have been!