Catching a hamster

[deckertim]

Thought I would share with the group my recent experience of trying to catch an escaped hamster. My eleven year old left the lid of the cage off and he got out. For a week he has been living under the floor boards and obviously I was concerned at the damage he might be making to wiring etc.

We tried rigging up his cage so that he could enter to get food and then make a lid come down over the tube. Unfortunately, he was able to move the lid and escape again.

We also tried some humane mouse traps, but he wouldn't go into these because he was too large.

Finally a neigbour recommended a bucket with smooth sides tilted to one side. We put some food in the bucket and a piece of wood to act as a ramp. This worked a treat and we finally caught him last night.

Perhaps I should have asked this group for advice earlier, as we may have caught him sooner. But at least the solution is now recorded for others.

Regards

Tim

[Alan]

I've used a similar method with a bucket with food in it, and a set of steps made from books for the hamster to climb into the bucket after the food.

Once in, there's no getting out. Worked great for me many years ago.

Alan.

[Peter Parry]

Hamsters? Easy things :-). Some years back I volunteered to look after a sack full of Gerbils for a neighbour. Going in to feed them later on the day they departed on holiday I discovered one of the kids had wanted to say goodbye to them all and had managed to leave the cage door open. Not only did I not know how many Gerbils to look for I also discovered that they orbit walls at about Mach 2.4.

The tilted bucket trick was suggested but it didn't work with Gerbils which seem to find a 6ft standing high jump merely light exercise. The usual things were tried next such as thermal imaging cameras (did at least discover I had 6 of the little sods to capture), a variety of makeshift microwave radar controlled traps (failed miserably) and numerous mechanical contraptions (failed equally miserably).

Eventually they were caught by using a length of PTFE lined wide bore fuel pipe (liberated from something like a Lance missile I think) and food held in place on the sloping pipe by putting it on a small steel plate held by an electromagnet below the (aluminium) pipe. When the Gerbil entered the pipe it was detected by some spare bits from an AIM9 seeker head and an IR source at the end of the pipe. That released the electromagnet and Gerbil, plate and food went into a large container (25L plastic drum)at the bottom. Using PTFE coated pipe meant the Gerbil auto reverse mechanism didn't work and it went forwards even with all legs going full reverse. It still took 4 days to capture all the little sods though. To show their gratitude they bit me (the Gerbils, not the children - they simply complained endlessly that their bedroom now had a funny smell of hydraulic fluid and electronic varnish).

[Mary Fisher]

Brilliant!

But I'd have been tempted to use something more lethal.

I don't warm to gerbils ...

Mary whose hampster once escaped and lived behind the bath for weeks

[Owain]

.... that we all keep handy in the toolbox for such occasions

One of those above the front door might have a greater deterrent effect on the local neds than a CCTV camera.

Owain

[Andy Hall]

I really love these innovative methods derived from the services and aerospace industries, Peter.

I suspect that your experience could solve virtually any problem given the available materials and some ingenuity.

The ultimate in application and lateral thinking.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Another one for the archive. ;-)

[Tim Mitchell]

In article , Peter Parry writes

Our gerbils once escaped from their cage by digging through a piece of

12mm MDF. Like the Great Escape, I think they had been working on the hole for a few weeks, covering it up with their bedding in between so we couldn't see it.

After that we gave them a treacle tin to practice digging in, which they used to enjoy rolling to the glass window of the cage so they could rattle it against the window during their midnight digging sessions.

[Doctor D]

snip.

I salute your patience and ingenuity. I'd have used a Jack Russell, and a trip to Pets R Us for a re-stocking session :-)

[Andrew Gabriel]

Some friends had gerbils many years ago. Occationally, they would let them out to run round the room. On one occasion, the gerbils decided that the inside of the settee would make a better home, so they went in though the bottom, and wouldn't come out. On the first few nights, the cage door was left open so they could return home, but all they did was come back for the sawdust, which they dragged back across the floor into the settee. Several weeks later, they were still living in the settee, and I didn't hear what happened after that.

[Mark S.]

Never had any trouble with mine (keep in a fish tank full of peat moss so he could dig tunnels etc.)

That nosey and inquisitive that you only had to hold an empty jar on the floor in the middle of the room and he'd be over to see what was in it... ;-)

Mark S.

[Mary Fisher]

Our hens are like that ...

Mary

[Clint Sharp]

In message , Andrew Gabriel writes

Bonfire.

[dennis]

I have a rabbit that's like that. Its other specialty is finding places to get stuck..... behind the fridge, under the kitchen units, between the patio doors.....

[Dave]

Number one son had to look after the school hamster several times. He was not that interested after the first half hour or so. So it was up to me to look after the poor thing. It was kept in a cage at school and was kept in an even smaller cage when it went home to a pupil.

First thing I did, when it came to our house, was let it roam free. It explored me and most of my pockets (probably due to its closeness to humans) and then went onto exploring its environment. It had the time of its life in our lounge, never once did it drop any body fluids on any surface.

Being some one that has quite a good affinity to animals, I was quite upset when it went back to its boring school life.

We were also given a rabbit, several years ago, that lived most of its life in a hutch. I hate that. I made the back garden rabbit escape proof and let it live its life out there. Dogs could not get into our garden, but it would play run the fence with next doors dog. I couldn't let it into the house as it would nibble any cable it came across. Whenever I sat in the garden, it would sit along side of me. Though I could never get it to sit on my lap.

The second rabbit we had was quite different in some respects. We were still given it cos the owners didn't have enough time for it.

She would come into the house, not nibble cables, not put droppings onto the floor (she only put droppings on the floor of her ever open hutch). A very conpaniable animal.

Dave