I am hosting a guest blogger today, I felt that I wasn't qualified to tell the "Hamster Tragedy" since it wasn't my hamster and I wasn't a part of their demise. So here is "Hamster Tragedy" told by Mike Thomesen:
We never owned a male hamster; that means that Speck came to us already pregnant. Speck lived in one of those Habitrail cages, gold plastic with all sorts of clear plastic tubes to run through. Mom and I were alarmed when Speck appeared to be pregnant. When little hamsters were born, we knew they would need a home so that our house did not become a hamster farm. I asked the sophomores I taught if anyone was interested in taking one of the babies. I had several takers. My instructions were, "Bring a paper sack tomorrow, meet me after last period, and, oh yeah, make sure everything is ok with your parents." Next morning I put the whole Habitrail in my plum colored 1989 VW Jetta. That morning was cold, so I knew it would be safe to leave the hamsters in the car. By 2nd period the sun had come out. The outside temperature never got that high, but inside the car, things heated up. When I went out during sixth period so I could bring in the hamsters, I found that they had overheated and all were dead. Speck had swollen up so much that I could barely get her out of the tube. I put them all in the dumpster and went inside to tell some disappointed 10th graders that there would be no free hamsters. We laughed a lot. It wasn't as funny when I had to tell you and Meredith that Speck would not be coming home.
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7 comments:
I've never heard that story!
My mouth was literally hanging open when I read the line "Speck had swollen up so much that I could barely get her out of the tube." I do have two questions though:
1.Why did you not bring the hamsters into your classroom and let them wait there until the kids came to pick them up?!
2.What did you use to get Speck out of the tube? Please don't say your bare hands...
(1) There's no way I could have taught world history with hamsters in the classroom. 10th graders could deal with hamsters if they had been there all semester, but to bring something so new and cute and fuzzy into the room would have meant that no one would have learned anything that day.
(2) I held the tube in my left hand and popped the top of the tube with my right. Speck did not shoot right out, but did emerge slowly.
And when Speck emerged, did he go SPLAT?
I love the new Q&A feature.
Not SPLAT! Speck was sort of puffed up and fluffy, therefore unable to splat. I chose the word "emerge" carefully. Speck just emerged-- no "pop," no "thunk," no "bang." Just a slow exit from that plastic tube that she used to run through.
That is quite a story! You are so funny Mr. Mike!!!
Heather, I just sent you an email with a question about one of your plates. Let me know when you get a chance. Thanks! And thanks for coming to the party! It was great to see you!
I thought I would have been relieved to finally hear this story, but today I was proven wrong! That is sad, gross, and not to mention a little disappointing Mike:) I mean, leave them in the car. Coming from one teacher to another, you should have totally taken them in so you wouldn't of had to teach that day:)
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