Believe it or not AWOL is still with us. As some of you may know from prior posts, our dwarf hamster gets out of her cage a lot. I couldn't take the late night chases and was determined to stop the catch and release routine. Same strategy, I caught AWOL going for the food dish, we locked eyes and she bolted. I took to the chase and scooped her up, put her in the cage and then...put the cage in the BATHTUB. Its a good sized space, with nice high walls, the drain is closed and there is plenty of room for her to to do laps when we leave her cage open for "yard time". I told my mom she is a free range hamster. Sometimes she’s a bit freer than I like.

How was she getting out? There was the slightest bend in the bars of the cage and that's all she needed. Did she bend those bars? Hmmm-mighty mouse comes to mind.

Since I closed the breech I've I tested the cage (in the tub) to see if she could get out. I'm happy to say the problem is solved. I'm sure there will be more adventures for AWOL, after all she does have visitation rights and she is very difficult to keep a hold of.

Miss AWOL has an interesting behavior that I can't figure out. She fills her exercise wheel with nesting and food and then runs in it. All I can think is that she craves adventure. Diego and I have decided that she is acting out an avalanche or mud slide and running for her life, hoping not to get dumped on. OR maybe she is trying to build on our chases and the bits that she runs from are ME…For two ounces of furry pet, she does give us plenty of amusement!

AWOL the task brat