The prodigy son’s return

Mocha Rurik was a light brown male, one of the three first-born sons. At the age of two months he left with his sister-wife Bebang II for Angono to live with my in-laws. They sired offspring there, all given for adoption.

On the 10^th month of their stay there, Bebang II died of a trauma. She escaped being devoured by the household cat, but the cat’s bite inflicted a fatal fracture on her spine. Mocha, wanting to forget this sad memory of her, returned to the land of his forefathers and was reunited with his parents and the twin. He was later married to Snowy (of the third litter) but she gave birth to stillborn offspring.

Mocha was the sensitive and nervous type. But even when he gets startled by my handling him, he just turns over his body snappily, pressing his snout firmly against my hand, unwilling to bite. He was a very patient hamster.

What made him extraordinary were his acrobatic skills and ingenious ways of wheel-turning. Though he was very cautious, he was not scared to climb and jump from high places. This I never allowed because his dauntless character could harm him.

He lived to a ripe old age of over 28 months. When he died, he got no son to succeed him, but his grandnephew Berio (fourth generation) was there for his funeral.

A hanging bridge that will span the gap between the pension house and the tower will soon be built, bearing the name of this one great and mighty hamster.

Separate lives (part 2)

The humbled big brother

Boromir was a typical big brother who always gave in to his little brother’s wishes. He was the ‘elder’ son and yet he got the old rugged ancestral cage as his playpen and his father’s transport carriage as his daytime sleeping box.

He preferred to sleep here during warm weather and the hot summer months.

Occasionally he sneaked down the Hall for a tread or two…

…whenever Faramir was not around!!!

As the elder son, Boromir took over the business affairs of his father. Here he was shown inspecting the nearly completed Pension House.

Boromir died at the age of two years and 21 days, only two days longer than Faramir’s. He got weak sooner than Faramir did, but even in death, the big brother only got a silver medal. I am not saying that Boromir was a loser. Nobody who gives really loses.

Today, surmounting Ikabod tower was a monument serving as a memorial to the twin reunited. Boromir’s Bell and Faramir’s Beacon remind me of these two brothers — the strong one carrying and upholding the weaker one.

Separate lives (part 1)

The weaker takes all

Hamsters are born ‘naked’ and there is no way to tell what color their coats will be until they are about four days old. I can not tell you for sure who among the twin came out first. Faramir was the smallest among the litter; I assumed that he was the youngest.

In dispatching my ‘extra’ hamsters, the smaller and apparently weaker ones always win my favor. I am not a breeder. I am not concerned about keeping the best ones. Neither do I consider myself as a hamster expert. I am only hoping that a bigger and healthy hamster has greater chances of survival in case the owner-to-be has no prior experience in keeping hamsters as pets. I always tell them that their attitude towards the pet and their sense of responsibility are what really matter. Skills can be learned. Passion is the starting point, but persistence is the key to perfection.

It worked the same way on deciding who among those left with me will get the best home. So you got it… Faramir was the first in the list — he was the one chosen to stay in the Hall. He spend the rest of his life with Bulwagang Bitoy as his home enjoying its eight-inch- diameter wheel even during the hours after midnight.

Faramir was two years and 19 days when he died.