What beast can teach us.

I still remember 2 nights ago, at mid night, I just came home from a reunion. I thought of bringing Guai Guai with me that night but somehow I ended up not doing it. I came home with Xu Xu's favourite Almond soup desert, honestly saying it didn't taste as great as usual... dunno why. You bet she knows, she sniffed a bit and pushed the spoon away. How picky can a hamster be? Look at Xu Xu and you'll see. I offered it to the enthusiast Ching Ling which gulped it away. Then I moved on looking for Guai Guai. She had moved her nest to the right side of second floor recently (a 3D sphere, a ball basically), which supposed to be her exercising area. Yet, she was no where to be found on the second floor. Then I saw her downstairs, with red creatures crawling.... I looked closer... babiesssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OHHHHHHH MY GOD!!! I was jumping up and down like a little kid filled with glee... I saw 2, then 2 more came around.

After a while,  I found out that they felt cold, so I put small shreds of cloth under them, yet, Guai Guai kept digging it, I was worried that she'd burried one of the babies. So, I took her out, babies out on THose extra small cloth... and.... the biggest baby rolled and slipped... and..... flat on the floor.... I was petrified... After I put a full towel in the cage, I put the Guai Guai and the other 3 babies back in, then I picked up the seemingly dying baby.... T_______T and put it under Guai Guai. Guai Guai looked at her, felt her.... and after a while, put her in her mouth and brought it to the side and left it there.... as if she knows that the baby is ..... close to death's gate. She then brought it back under her for 3-4 minutes before covering it under the towel. So, I thought maybe I should take it out. I was wondering what I'd do with it.... all kinds of possible plans fill my mind.... that is when I started to write the blog titled LIFE. Thank God I went back to check on Guai Guai, gosh she buried one of the "living" baby under the towel. I was so shocked. I took it out and put it under her and placed the dead baby beside her. She picked up the dead baby and then hid it under the towel. Gosh, I felt terrible, I almost cost 2 lives.

The whole night I felt terrible, so bad I felt I owed Guai Guai a life. I didn't sleep well at all that "dawn". When I woke up few hours later... I found Guai Guai crying.... LITERALLY crying. She's eating her dead baby.... from bottom. A lot of  people told me hamsters eat their babies from head, yet, Guai Guai started from bottom. I saw 2 streams of tears down her face. To some people, this might be a gruesome  scenery, yet, to me somehow it was relieving. I stopped feeling guilty. I couldn't believe what Guai Guai is showing me. She was so sad that her baby died, she waited for 10 hours to make sure it's dead. What is the most nutritious thing on earth? babies as they are the core of nutrition that is taken out from mothers. Human takes it as a cruelty. Yet, to beast who gives birth in batches, before they became pets, food is scarce and they had to take care of the other youngsters. What could be the closest, greatest energy and nutrition boost? A ready to serve fresh dead baby.  You must think what the hell am I talking about? I can't see anything more humane than that of what Guai Guai did.  She was crying because she was devastated and because it's innate  in her to eat her dead baby. It doesn't mean she enjoys it but she knows she needs it. If she is to take good care of the others, she has to TAKE GOOD CARE of herself  FIRST. That's why she is crying while she's doing it.  She loves it so much, she won't let it die in vain. The absorbed baby will become a part of her forever and also transfused to the other 3 too. She must be strong to take care of her other youngsters. She was sad, yet even a hamster knows how to make the best out of a tragedy and move on treasuring what she has this moment. Eating it, forgetting it and letting it be a part of her forever, as that is where it came from originally too.

Of course different hamsters have different personality but that is what my hamster showed me. No, I do not suggest people to be cannibal. THAT IS WRONG!MOREOVER, if I were to drop my own or friend's baby dead on the floor, I might be giving my police statement right now instead of writing a blog about it. However the morale Guai Guai taught me is there are things in life that I cannot control, we cannot control. Things happen, tragedy takes place. Yet, if we want to, I suppose we can make the best out of it. Yes, it hurts, you can cry, however, pick yourself up, learn from it, gain from it and move on because you have much more important task and purpose to carry out in life then sitting there feeling for yourself. There are many more things for us to take care of. How far can a beast be full of sense and wisdom than a human? Something we view as cruelty might as well be a lesson.

Now, Guai Guai is taking care of the 3 babies very very well. She asks for caress sometimes and shows me her babies. She also let me play with them.... very nice of her. However, she stayed with them most of the time which means she couldn't go to grab food even if it's just 2-3 inches away. I found moving and replacing it with a shallower and wider container helps as she can just sneak her head out and eat. She's funny. ^_^

For the first time in years after I came to Hong Kong, I found the courage to have hope again. I figured out things would work out in the long run but I was not sure of short term goals or expectations. Experience taught me that much hope = deep disappointment. Faith goes for long runs. Nevertheless,  Guai Guai's surprise baby birth and the wonderful babies with 1 dead baby eaten for good = miracle. I felt hopeless to get baby hamsters this year... yet... WOW! OK! This little creature taught me to face life with enthusiasm and give thanks. So, I really am suddenly FILLED with hope and confidence. Not only faith, as faith is for something that is not here yet. While confidence means you know you can do something well. At least she teaches me it's never wrong to hope. BE CAREFUL what you wish for.

PS: I thought Guai Guai would be a terrible mother which she turned out to be a great one. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

PSS: Thank God I didn't bring Guai Guai with me that night,... imagine.... A crash baby birth at public places?

PSSS: My friend just called and said I killed Guai Guai's "possibly" fatest cutest baby hamster to-be.  I FEEL BAD ENOUGH!!!!! DON'Trub it in.