Koda our black bear hamster died today, after a short illness. She was 2.

2 years ago, my daughter's little hamster died, and my son decided he wanted to buy her another, so off we went to the pet store where she chose a cute little ball of black fur. A few days later, after being repeatedly bitten, she wanted to take her back and trade for a friendlier one. Good thing we didn't, as the next morning we had not 1 but 8 little hamsters. No wonder she was biting!

All the babies looked like little chipmunks, complete with black stripes down their backs. We found homes for most of them, and kept one for ourselves. Little Merrygold took after her mama, in that she loved to be held and cuddled. While we were away, Merrygold was billeted out to a friends, where she came home with a broken back. A trip to the vets (yeah, I know) showed she had "some" feeling in her feet, so there was a "small" chance she would regain use of her back legs. As the weeks wore on, we saw that she beat the odds, and while she doesn't have full use of the legs, she can move them enough to run around. Even a trip through the ducts and a fall downstairs into the furnace room didn't stop her.

Koda had no such mishaps, but she did escape her cage a few times, where she hid out downstairs, gathering crumbs and the food left out for her, stockpiling it where I couldn't quite reach her. Each time she eventually allowed herself to be caught and returned to the comfort and safety of her little home.

The last few days, Koda has gotten noticeably skinnier, even though she still stashed the carrots, apples and sprouts we gave her. One of her eyes was getting weepy, but she didn't seem to be in any pain.

This morning, we found her curled up in her log house, where she must have died sometime during the night. She's joined the other critters in a special corner of my garden, lovingly wrapped in a warm scrap of cloth.


Rest in peace, Kodes.