trystinn | Hilarity in small packages

There's this strange sense of foreboding that overcomes me when I realize that two disturbing circumstances have managed to take place at the very same time: the hamster (Spanky) and the basset (Tracker) were missing. And yes, the cat (Fudge) who most likely participated in the hamster break out did indeed rat them out, pardon the pun.

After a rather thorough search of the house and yard, I found them both in my walk-in closet, where they had managed to trap themselves. Now, this closet is infamous for trapping pets - at any given time, one of the collies and possibly the cat, have managed to get in and close the door behind them. Wagging tails are typically the culprit. But truly, one dog and one hamster is a bit of a novelty for the closet. Not to mention this is the basset's first time at trapping himself in the closet.

It took me awhile to get Tracker out of the closet, bassets do not by their very nature back up in any graceful manner. Just not designed for that purpose, I suppose. Took me another fifteen minutes to remove the luggage, shoe rack and multiple guitars from the closet before I found Spanky - who had managed to get lodged behind a large office supply organizer. Luckily, Spanky is fine, not even a bit upset by the situation and was very grateful to be found by the nice lady who feeds her and cleans her cages.

This is, however, the moment where hilarity sets in: the hamster was absolutely covered in basset drool. Soaked to the skin, I believe is the term. If I had any strength left in my legs at that point, I would have taken a picture of the drenched Spanky, who looked like a victim of an over-enthusiastic application of hair gel. Instead, I put her back in her "town" where she immediately went to the bathing den (chinchillla dust) and proceeded to spend the greater part of fifteen minutes desperately (and futively) trying to get basset drool out of her fur.

So now we must ask ourselves, how on Earth did Spanky get drenched but not eaten? My take, and its only a theory, is that she managed to hide under something appropriately large and unmoveable whereby Tracker's schnoz couldn't get any clearance, but his tongue could. Thereby, cornered her against a wall and licked her to maximum moisture without any dietary benefit. I'm still cracking up, though as I've told this story to my co-workers who know Tracker (he's taken a turn at being the store dog before with annoying results) it apparently doesn't "tell" well and isn't as funny as I think it is. Guess you had to be there.

On other news, the box of Advanced Copies arrived today and I've a whole weekend of dogsitting with which to delve into them!