Hammie the Hamster

Hammie the Hamster

5" X 7" pen and ink

2009

Here's a first for PenPets -- a hamster portrait! Hammie's not just any hamster, however. She's a rare tortoise-shell hamster -- dark chocolate brown with orange splotches. Here she is in color.

Hammie also has quite the dramatic life story, full of the pathos of abandonment, the joy of adoption, the thrill of escape, and the comfort of friendship. Here is Hammi's story, as told by Lisa Meijer:

Hammie "Houdini" Meijer

Hammie came into my life in the most unusual way and she continues to make each day an experience. I was at the mall one Saturday afternoon, minding my business, eating at Chic-fil-a (I love their sweet tea), when I saw this man at the table across from me yelling at his son. I am a social worker so my first thought was, “Oh please, don't make me work on the weekends!” LOL. The child was about 7 and I am not sure why he was getting yelled at but, all of the sudden, the dad grabbed his son's half eaten pizza and yelled, "Let's go!" as he threw the food in the trash. They began to walk away and the boy turned around, pointed to the table, and said, "Daddy my bag!" To which the father responded, "Leave it! You don't deserve it!" and he stormed off.

I sat there for a minute feeling sorry for that little boy when the bag began to move. OMG, I freaked out! I waited about 20 minutes thinking that the father would come back for whatever was moving in that bag. When he did not return, I took the bag to the pet store and ask them to open it (I was sure it was a snake). When they opened the box, out popped little Hammie. I explained the story and told the pet store to resell the hamster but they wouldn't take her back: store policy. So I looked at the clerk, took one look at Hammie's cute little face, and that was all it took. She became part of the Meijer Clan.

I took Hammie home and, after testing several cages, we finally found her the perfect Hamster Mansion.

We originally thought she was a boy but just another surprise from this little critter. We quickly learned that Hammie had a mission...escape to China. We can never figure how she does it but she has escaped more times than we can count. Once she pushed her tiny water bottle out of her cage and squeezed through the hole. She has eaten through my internt cord and phone cord, and she has chewed a large hole in my carpet, padding, and wood floor. She eats my cat’s food right out of her bowl with the cat drinking water out of the other bowl.

My cat Penny is intrigued by Hammie and thinks she is a kitten. Hammie can run across Penny's stomach and Penny doesn’t move. She just watches in amazement. Hammie is the cutest little critter and she gives us something to laugh at daily!!

Penny

10" X 8" pen and ink

2006

Not to be outdone by a hamster, who walks all over her, Penny has had her portrait done, too -- FIRST!