The class really did love their new hamster, Fuzzy. Everyone wanted to hold her, feed her, put her in the plastic hamster ball and watch her roll around the classroom. They didn’t even mind cleaning her cage. The class was warned that hamsters are very good escape artists. Mrs. Elrod assigned one person each week to take care of the new pet.
One morning, before the school day started, Mrs. Elrod entered the classroom. It was nice and quiet. She put her things down on her desk. Then, as was her habit, she walked over to Fuzzy’s cage.
“Hi, Fuzzy,” the teacher said cheerfully. “How did you sleep?” Mrs. Elrod really didn’t expect an answer, but when she looked inside Fuzzy’s house, she saw that Fuzzy was gone! Mrs. Elrod looked all over the small cage. Then she noticed that the top of the cage was open. Pretty smart for a baby hamster, she thought. There was no time to waste. Mrs. Elrod looked on the playground and saw Andrew and Daniel playing tetherball. She called, “Psst! Come here.” The two students ran over. Mrs. Elrod tried to keep calm.
“Don’t panic,” she warned, “but Fuzzy isn’t in her cage. Come in and find her before all the kids come in.” Andrew and Daniel opened the closets, looked under and inside desks, and even looked in the bottom of the trash can. No sign of Fuzzy!
“Let’s leave some food on the floor,” suggested Andrew. “When she finds it, she’ll come out to grab it, and we’ll grab her!” Mrs. Elrod cautioned them. “Hamsters have very poor eyesight, she won’t see the food. She will have to smell it.”
They decided to try. Just as they were laying the trail of food, Daniel whispered, “There she is, sitting in the corner of the closet.” Fuzzy was chewing on lined paper. She held it in her paws and ate it as thought it were something really delicious. Daniel sneaked up on her. Fuzzy tried to bite him. She went into reverse and tried to run away.
“Hey! That hamster has gone crazy!” he declared.
“Hamsters want to be free,” said Mrs. Elrod. “They are rodents originally from Asia and Europe. They’ve been bred as pets for many years, but how would you like to spend your life in a cage?” Daniel had an idea.
“Then why don’t we just not catch her? She can be free and happy.” Mrs. Elrod shook her head. “In the city, there are many dangers for a small hamster, such as cars, animals, and humans.”
“Gotcha!” cried Andrew. He had just made an attempt to capture Fuzzy under his lunch box, and he succeeded. Mrs. Elrod carefully took the hamster and placed her back in the cage.
The next day, Andrew and Daniel brought as many things as they can that might interest Fuzzy. “We know she couldn’t leave her cage, but we want her to be as happy as she can in there.”
