The newest member of the family!

When we went to the fair, I was sort of thinking about getting another rabbit (Spot died last summer), but hadn't figured out the logistics.  There are some coyotes that live a little too close to us; we lock our cats in every night for safe keeping.  Bringing the rabbit into the shop every night isn't an option and we're afraid that a rabbit left out would be easy bait.

The club that we were in as kids started a petting zoo (probably sometime in the early 1990s).  The kids always like to go feed the goats, see the llamas and this petting zoo is housed in the rabbit and chicken barn. Well, this year there was a cage full of baby guinea pigs with a "for sale" sign on it.  Totally out of curiosity, I went up to the leader of the club that puts on the petting zoo and asked how much for one of the guinea pigs.  She steered me toward her daughter's 5 month old guinea pig, who was also for sale--cage, food, pig-loo, and all-- included!  She introduced us to her daughter who explained that she is in high school and just didn't have the time to give the pig as much attention as it deserved.  So, of course, Holly fell in love.  We have been telling Holly that --NO MATTER WHAT-- she could buy a hamster with her birthday money in January.  But this kind of was a deal too good to pass up.

So, I spent the rest of the day mulling it over in my head and consulting with Dave  (not really, it was more like, "Hey, we're getting a guinea pig.").  Early that evening, after the cattle show was done, I went back and wheeled and dealed with the nice lady and then after dinner and finishing up cattle chores, we went back and picked up "Elsa" and brought her home!

She is a super sweet guinea pig.  The first night we had her, she sat in our laps and actually purred!  Just like cats, it's a sign of contentment!  Another night we had her out in the living room and she was sitting in our laps chattering away at us, also a sign of contentment, I guess!  I read that when they need to go to the bathroom or are sick of the attention, they'll nibble on your shirt or your fingers or whatever is closest.

Sure enough!  Elsa was sitting on my lap and started nibbling on my shirt, then nipped at my finger, so we put her back in her cage and immediately... um... well, you know... did her "business".

I think that Elsa will be a nice addition to the family.  Holly's really good about going outside to shut in the cats every night, so making sure this inside pet has food and water every day is definitely something I can trust her to do.

I've been reading up on guinea pigs and came across this quote by the French poet Anatole France:

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."