Critter Explosion

A friend asked me the other day what our current animal count was. Sadly - although that sentiment does depend on who you talk to - all the hamsters plus two rabbits have gone, and the jird is in the freezer. Said friend also thought all this time that "jird" was a typo, and it that it was actually a bird I was referring to. We still have the remaining 4 rabbits, as well as 4 cats, 1 dog, 1 horse and the frogs - which I think must be immortal, because they have long exceeded their lifespan, and the fish. We also have the addition of a pregnant guinea pig.

Grady brought home the class guinea pig - who it would appear as of next week or so, we have adopted permanently, due to allergies in the classroom - which is also how we ended up with the frogs, go figure - earlier this year, and my husband in a weak moment mused allowed that maybe we should get a guinea pig or maybe two. I don't know what possessed him to suggest that, but once those words were uttered aloud, there was no going back.

We are on a first name basis with the owner of the local pet store, and when we purchased our 'pig, he offered to provide us with a loaner stud guinea pig (I kid you not), because the children thought what fun it would be to raise a baby 'pig. They had struck out with kittens and puppies, so I guess guinea pigs were the next best option. Amazingly my husband actually agreed to this and so we trot off home with two horny guinea pigs. 

Sid was definitely the most fascinated with all the goings on. There was a little house in the cage, and thank god all the activity took place in there, because it was bad enough that Sid would announce loudly, "They're doing it again" each time both 'pigs disappeared into the shelter. At first Rob felt sorry for the stud 'pig, because he didn't seem to be getting any action, but it wasn't long before his sympathy dried up, and petty jealousy set in, as the male would sit, day after day basking in the afterglow. All he was missing was a cigarette. 

So, two months later we await the birth.  Apparently the rate of miscarriage and still births are quite high in guinea pigs - why no one told us that before we started this I don't know, so the excitement is somewhat tempered by trepidation. we shall just have to wait and see.