Of Hamsters and Fat Ladies

OK, first things first. I thought I had watched all the "Two Fat Ladies" episodes and sadly sent the 3 DVDs back to Netflix so I could get the next thing in the queue. It turns out there are FOUR Fat Lady DVDs!!! WOOHOO. I've got one playing in the background now. Clarissa is diping some sort of shelled thing out of the ocean to eat. They are making wonderful foods with local foods.

Now for Hammy...it seems he's gone free range. Busted out of the joint. He's flown the coop. Gone over the wall. Broken out.
We don't know exactly when this happened. I saw him in the cage 2 days ago. He's nocturnal so we don't always see him. Jake fed him yesterday and lost the little twist tie that we use to keep the door shut. I was refilling his dish today and there was no Hammy in the cage. He'd turned the coconut-hut over so I lifted it to straighten up the cage thinking that he was in there...he wasn't He wasn't anywhere else either. BUT, the bag of food kept on the floor just below the shelf the cage is on has both bottom corners eaten off and there was a trail of hamster food. I followed it as far as it went...about 4 inches. After that I lost him.
We'll have to bring in a tracker, or a hamster whisperer or something.
For now, I've left some food and a tiny dish of water out (though I picked up the big bag of food and put it on the counter. I don't need 3 pounds of seeds strewn about the place.

A colleague at work had this happen and said that the hamster was gone about 6 months and then reappeared in the living room one evening.

I hope Hammy is having wonderful adventures (that do not involve hiding in my shoes or near the toilet and scaring the sh*t out of me in the wee hours of the night). I had a favorite series of books as a kid that were about a mouse who rode a motorcycle around and had adventures so I'm hoping Hammy makes the most of his free-range time.

I'm REALLY hoping he isn't hiding in El Kid's room because it is full of teen-stank and I don't think there is much oxygen in there. Also, if he hides under the laundry he'll be squished as El Kid roams about the tiny room.

I think I'll make a "lost hamster" poster and put it in the bathroom in the morning for El Kid to find when he gets up.
Or perhaps a ransom note signed by the dog who lives downstairs.

And one tiny "braggery" here at the end: El Kid has been accepted into the Rotary Exchange program for next school year, his junior year, and hopes to go to Japan. WOOHOO!