Not all hamsters are evil but for the life of me, I can not understand why people buy these things for their kids. Sure, there are some hamsters with a great temperament but by nature they are introverted, solitary creatures who only desire company during the mating season. Some hamsters tolerate human poking and prodding better than others but all in all, they really want to be left alone.
A lot of rodents can be aggressive but I have to tell you that when I worked in the pet store, everyone was afraid to go near those little monsters. The worst were those tiny, fluffy little Siberian Hamsters. I personally think they were inbred to the point of madness or something but they were the most vicious little creatures you could imagine.
All you would have to do is stick your hand in the top of the cage and nine times out of ten the hamster would go into a psychotic state. They would often flop into a defensive position hissing wildly. It didn’t matter if you got close to them or not, they would spring themselves upon you in full attack mode. There wasn’t a single one of us that wasn’t walking around with a hamster bite at any given time.
Despite the fact that those Siberian hamsters were little maniacs, people would still buy them for their children. I just don’t get it. I would always tell the customers about the temperament defects and be brushed off. People would say stuff like, “I had a hamster when I was a kid and he was great. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine” or my personal favorite, “But it’s so cute! Oh, how could something that cute be mean?” Whatever, it’s your funeral.
One day, we got this customer in who wanted to see the last of the hamsters (until our new shipment arrived) and I tried to explain to her that there was a reason that this one was left behind and on sale. She literally rolled her eyes at me and asked me to let her hold it. I told her it was a bad idea. She got pushy. So, I scooped it up in a box and the Lady went to go pet it with one of her fingers while talking to it in a soothing voice. It lunged up from the box with fierce momentum, trying to get at her finger.
She shrieked like she had been scalded by boiling water. “Get that thing away from me! Get it away!” Needless to say, she didn’t buy a Hamster from us that night. The scary thing is that after a few days off when I returned, the demon Hamster was gone. Someone actually sold that thing. I am not religious but if there is a God, may God have mercy on that pet owner’s soul because he’s going to need all the luck he can get.
