IN LOVING
MEMORY
BACCHUS (Sept.9, 2002- Jan.12, 2006) RIP_
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BACCHUS
(Sept.9, 2002- Jan.12, 2006) RIP_
Our dear Bacchus (Sweety-boy), Dionysius’
brother, Phoebe’s son, has died. It is the end of an era.
I remember the first day I saw them. It was the day I met Karen Biehl and
Gary Marfisi of the AGS, in Manhattan. We went to different pet stores,
looking at their gerbils. Then we went to Karen’s house. She had two
adorable gerbils, Saturn and Samhein, whom she had bought as a present for a
friend of hers. They were so cute! She told me their brothers, mother and
sister were still in the pet store. She owned their father, Pan and their
uncle, Prancelot.
I called Stuart and told him
to expect two new friends. We went to the pet store, and I bought the twins,
Bacchus and Dionysius. I felt guilty leaving the rest of their family. A few
weeks later, when Karen told me someone had bought their sister, I
immediately went back and bought their mother, Phoebe. Bacchus was an
adventurer, explorer, tunnel chewer, and wheel runner, extraordinaire! He
and his brother were mischievous; they were clowns. The loved playing and
truly relished their food. They were incredibly mellow, gentle and
affectionate. Both Bacchus and Dionysius inherited their mother’s sweet
face. Bacchus and Phoebe, in consecutive years, each won Second Place (in
the Spotted Class) in the American Gerbil Society’s Virtual Show.
When Dionysius became ill, Bacchus took care of him for months. He
was a wonderful caregiver! After his brother died, Bacchus started playing
and exercising again. He was a strong animal, surviving a cancerous
sebaceous gland tumor, which was removed about two years ago.
Both boys had
started losing weight months ago- Inherited genetic defects took over.
Bacchus ate a lot, but continued to lose weight and was becoming weaker and
weaker, sicker and sicker. He was an old animal, living three years, four
months, and three days. He died Jan.12, 2006. RIP, our darling boy. We
miss you terribly.
From The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
The Fox says to The Little Prince-
“… But if you tame me, then we shall
need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world…;
If you want a friend, tame me…You become responsible, forever, for what
you have tamed….
The Little Prince leaves the Earth, and the Narrator says, “One runs the
risk of weeping a little, if one lets himself be tamed.”
Judith H. Block
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DIONYSIUS (Sept.9, 2002- Dec. 2, 2005) RIP
One of Phoebe’s boys. Like his brother, Bacchus, he inherited his mother’s sweet
face (but not her art talent), and had the strength of his father, Pan. He had
the wonderful disposition of both parents. Dionysius and Bacchus, were inseparable,
since the womb. They were practically twins, in appearance (he had more white on
his forehead than his brother). Dionysius and Bacchus just adored each other!
They loved using each other as pillows, sleeping or resting in their tissue box
house.
Dionysius was a wonderful wheel runner. He was also an adventurer! He
showed his brother how to push papers under the wheel to make it stationary,
climb on top, chew the plastic of the tank rim, run the wheel from the outside,
and ultimately, push up the rather heavy tank cover and jump down over 4 feet
onto the kitchen floor. He explored the exciting world of the kitchen and foyer,
playing hide and seek with me- HE was having a blast; I was frantic until I
managed to trick him, catch him, and safely put him safely back into the tank!
What fun he must have had, because he encouraged his brother to also explore the
world beyond their tank. He was a wonderful eater, and relished his food!
Dionysius had been losing weight over the last few weeks. He would seem
very ill (no pathogen involved) and weak, and then gain more energy. A few days
ago, he had a stroke or seizure. He recovered and was still comparatively
active. He was acting normally the day before he died- running into the cage
carrier with his brother and playing there while the tank was being sterilized.
He relished his raw almond, a treat they each get, after they are put back into
the clean tank. He took his gerbil vitamin that afternoon, and ate it, as usual.
He took a turn for the worst and we thought he would
slowly get weaker and weaker over the next few days, until he died. His brother
lay next to him, keeping him warm. Then, suddenly, he must have had a massive
stroke or heart attack. I went into the kitchen and found him dead. Bacchus was
in their house, hiding. He later came out, saw his brother lying dead, and went
over to him - important he understood what happened.
Dionysius was very special to us. We just adored him! So sweet, and gentle, and
loving and mellow.
One of Phoebe’s boys.
Judith H. Block
FAIRFIELD
What is courage? What is endurance? What is fighting against all odds, and
winning, over and over again? Combine all these with an incredible sweetness and
decency of character, and you have the gerbil, Fairfield, our “special needs”
sweetie.
Fairfield was born with a deformed left paw, which turned in like a
fist. When he was a baby, he used it to make a fun game- he would run very fast
on the wheel; then he would grab onto a wheel spoke and let the momentum carry
him around and around! As he grew older, the deformity became worse, and the
color, shape and texture of his nails changed. His top left tooth fell out as
well, never to grow back. This necessitated the periodic cutting of his left
bottom tooth. Along with this, every month, he had to endure going to the vet
for a paw cleaning to prevent infection, and a complete manicure and pedicure.
Throughout all this, his sweet, gentle nature prevailed. He did not like going
to the vet’s, and he would struggle, but he never tried to bite. And the next
morning, as I fed him, he would nuzzle my hand, as always, to let me know he had
“forgiven me”.
He had wonderful character. He and his cage mate, Compo, did not get
along- they tolerated each other, each ignoring the other, playing and sleeping
on opposite ends of the cage. But when Compo was ill and was dying, Fairfield
slept next to him, keeping him warm.
Fairfield loved his wheel. Even as an older animal, no longer able to
grasp anything with his now horribly deformed paw, he would still run the wheel
as best he could.
He adored his food. Every morning, Fairfield would come to the front of
the cage, look at me, move his mouth, and wait to be fed. Stuart compared the
Fairfield breakfast ritual to a Japanese tea ceremony: First, a spirulina tablet
would be pulverized and put onto a small piece of paper plate. When he finished
eating this, he would be served the next course: 3-4 cooked, organic green
soybeans, the skin removed from each one, and the halves separated and placed
facing up, so Fairfield could somehow grasp it. He relished his food. Sometimes
he would take one of the soybean halves and run under the wheel, his safe spot,
, to enjoy it. Then came some cooked organic broccoli. The gerbil menu
continued, later in the day- dinner time he was given, on various days: ground
up mixed, organic grains; separated, cooked organic sweet pea halves; cooked
sweet potato, cooked spelt pasta with tomato sauce; ground up raw walnut or
almond, and other treats.
When he became ill, he hid it from us as best he could, still running the
wheel and playing, still eating, but his lessening appetite worried us. I cut
his tooth, but that was not the problem. Kinesiological testing showed a
bacterial infection. We put him on an antibiotic and took him to the vet. But
here was something else going on too, which is what ultimately killed him. He
received an injection of B complex, an injection of fluids, and his monthly paw
cleaning and nail cutting. He went downhill fast. He died early morning, on
March 14.
He was about 3 ½.years old. He taught us about goodness, bravery,
overcoming obstacles, and the importance of enjoying each moment. We were
blessed to share our lives with this noble animal, to have him as a cherished
part of our family. He enriched our lives, and was deeply loved.
It was an honor…
Fairfield, the lilac gerbil (ca.Nov.22, 2000- March 14, 2004) RIP.
Judith H.
Block
PHOEBE
Every beloved gerbil is unique, with a
singular, wonderful personality, face, and character. But never, in our over
thirty years of sharing our lives with gerbils, have we experienced such an
unusually sweet, amazingly talented little soul, that was Phoebe. The beauty of
her personality matched the special sweetness of her face. As a dear friend told
us, “God sent you an angel a year ago.”
This gerbil, Phoebe, produced more in
her short life- five beautiful children (we have two of her magnificent boys,
Bacchus and Dionysius), and those ten magnificent sculptures, became more
famous, and brought more smiles and happiness to more people, than most humans
do in a lifetime.
For five months, she worked
feverishly on her cardboard tube sculptures, almost as if she knew she didn’t
have long to live, and had a body of work she needed to accomplish. Phoebe died
of genetic kidney failure. Near the end, she went quickly, and did not suffer.
We feel miraculously blessed to have experienced this happy, charming,
extraordinary little super nova. And we are devastated her life was so short.
I felt she was my little, spiritual,
artistic soul mate. She was so deeply loved. I feel like part of me has been
ripped out. Gerbils are heartbreakers.
Phoebe of Knolls Gerbils-
www.phoebe.agsgerbils.org
(circa May 24, 2002- Jan. 15, 2004) RIP
Judith H. Block
COMPO
Our beloved Compo
died June 30, 2002, probably from cancer. He
was an incredibly beautiful animal and had a wonderful, gentle personality. He
was loved and is deeply missed!
STROMBOLI
Stromboli was a sweet boy and an amazing chewer! He chewed hard plastic,
and even managed to repeatedly
climb almost to the top of his tank cage, to chew the plastic around the
top edges. He was a jumper, extraordinaire! He just loved jumping! We always had
to worry he would jump out of the cage! Strombie was a beautiful, lean animal.
His black fur was very intense
and
shiny, like Blackgamma mink! We loved him. We miss him a lot!
ISHKABIBIL
I don’t think I ever loved a gerbil
more deeply than I did Ishkabibil. I saw him in the Petland near our
neighborhood. He was adorable! I never saw a cuter baby gerbil! All the other
gerbils in the cage were older than he was, and they were ignoring him.
B.K. had just died, and Stuart said to wait a week before buying a new gerbil.
All I could think about all week was that sweet animal! I went back
to get him and couldn’t find him in the cage. I was devastated! I kept looking
In the cage. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t there! Then, from under the pile
of older gerbils, out popped Ishkabibil! I screamed, “That’s him!”
Everyone must have thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care. I came out of the
pet store with the sweet gerbil and a huge smile on my face! Ishkabibil had a lot of genetic health problems. He had a
bleeding tumor on his sebaceous gland removed by our wonderful vet, Dr. Fried.
He was afraid the tumor might return, and alas, it did, and had to be removed a
second time. Ish then developed
cancer internally, and finally died of a seizure.
When
he was well, he used to play ‘tug of war’ with us with a paper Q-tip. I also
would give him a small piece of seed or a grain- he would gently take it from my
hand, run to the back of the cage, drop it down, and come back up front for
another piece. He would do this over and over! He had a great time with this
game! This was the game B.K had loved. Ishkabibil would also come to the
front of the cage to say, ”Hello,” while I was reading. We would just look
at each other. He let me pet him on the head. He felt so soft and wonderful!!
I think I became too attached to Ishkabibil!
Gerbils
are heartbreakers!
Judith H. Block
B.K. and STRUDEL
B.K.’s
original name was Babka- we thought he was a she! Babka and Strudel! We had to
change his name and separate them fast! We had seen gerbil births,
years ago, and they were amazing, magical experiences. Each time. The
miracle never lessens! Then we had, at one point, four cages and inter-cage
communication. It was great, but we don't have the space now. The picture is
artistic license- those adorable cuties were not living together at that point.
Strudel
was a real sweetheart and a good chewer when she was young. She had genetic
problems with her front teeth, and when she became older, she only had one
tooth. I learned how to cut gerbil teeth, so
they wouldn't grow into her jaw. She lived for a long time on organic baby food. She was loved
and cherished.
B.K.
was Stuart’s favorite gerbil of all time! He used to play with B.K., handing
him grains and small pieces of nuts. B.K. would take one, run to the back of the
cage, put it down, and run up to Stuart for more. We later played this same game
with Ishkabibil. B.K. was a pied gerbil. As a baby, he had a long face. He became
cuter and cuter as he got older. He was incredibly gentle and sweet. Stuart became
very attached to him. I loved him, too.
Judith H. Block
