Wow, so many people have listed guinea pigs as an interest. When I threw it in my profile, I thought it was a weird interest to include, but I did it anyway. The guinea pig is the underdog when it comes to pets. Everyone, it seems, wants a dog or cat. But at least films like "Dr. Doolittle" have brought guinea pigs into the limelight. Side note: There's is a real Dr. Doolittle at Yale who is a pediatrician and apparently has written children's books.
My first pet was a brown guinea pig, affectionately called "shark guinea" by my brother and sister. "Shark guinea" because it had a tuft of hair right over its back that couldn't be flattened. The only reason my dad brought it home was that a summer school teacher was giving away her pets. "Shark guinea" was the only one left without a home at the end of the school day. My dad thought if we liked it, we would keep it. If not, he would see if another neighboring family would want it. My sis and I of course were scared it would bite us. My younger brother wanted to keep it. Later he confessed that he only wanted it because my sis was frightened by guinea. For a long time, we thought it was a male guinea pig. It was just so huge to be a female (we hypothesized). But late that summer, when dad took "shark guinea" out to eat some of the grass in front of the school, he noticed guinea was not alone. There were 2 or 3 smaller versions around shark guinea. Apparently, we received a pregnant female guinea! Little did we know shark guinea would give birth that evening. So one shark guinea eventually exploded into 14 (yes, 14) guinea pigs. In the beginning, it wasn't easy to differentiate the males versus the females. So they stayed in the same cage to mass produce. Eventually we learned which ones were males and promptly separated them from the females. The guinea empire eventually had to come to an end since my father was allergic to guinea pigs among other things. Some guineas were given away to pet stores, and the others we kept until they went to guinea heaven.
One day I hope to have another guinea pig. Guinea pigs make wonderful pets because they are so adorable. They make noises to communicate their mood. They whistle when they're hungry. They purr when they are angry or annoyed. We were able to teach them some tricks. You don't have to take them out for walks like dogs. You can keep them in a cozy cage thus preventing damage to the furniture. If you do let them run around the house, protect any electrical wires from their sharp teeth. Later, I will post photos of my guinea pigs.
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3 comments:
My friend has a little guinea pig and he is adorable. I contemplated the possibility of getting one but decided it wouldn't be fair to bring an innocent little guinea in a home where two cats already reside and might pounce on him.
I had hamsters as a kid, frisky little suckers, and they'd be always trying to escape. But, last year I bought a guinea pig. I had no idea they were so docile, had I known this as a child, I would have had a farm of guinea pigs. I named my guinea pig Kirby, but for some reason, that name never stuck and everyone, including me, calls him "Guinea." Sadly though, I found out I am allergic to him, I have no idea how or why, I am suddenly allergic to cute furry animals :( but I am. And now, Guinea lives with my parents, his grand-parents. :P
We also called some of the other one "Guinea" as well. After all, guinea is a fun word to say. But Kirby is also an excellent name for a guinea pig.
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