Nip from Hamster Fells Young Boy

Reuters via Yahoo News ^ | 06 Jan 2005 | Reuters

[cyborg]

LOL good grief

[Ciexyz]

Oh great, now they'll be banning hamsters from pet stores.

[Nataku X]

Or, who was dared to eat whatever comes out of those cow udder thingees when you squeeze them...

What really gets me is... how was soap "discovered"?

[Brad’s Gramma]

Now, please?!

[Royal Wulff]

"Although tularemia has been associated with hamster hunting in Russia...

Oh man, that I gotta see. I wonder if my 300 H&H Mag would take down a Russian hamster?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

When hamsters are outlawed, only Outlaws will have Hamsters!

Poor kid. Did he, or did he not survive? "Felled" could mean "died," as in when you "fell" a tree.

Never had a hamster. Mice, gerbils, guinea pigs...no hamsters in our zoo.

[Ryan Spock]

Wonder who was the first person to think of doing that.

You mean the infamous gerbil-into-rectum thing?
("Rectum? Damn near killed him!")

Supposedly it's just a persistent urban legend:
www.snopes.com

[KoRn]

"There will be a bunch of toothless hamsters running around in that area.An even better and more humane idea would be to create little muzzles that fit the hamsters.I bet that would be right up their alley."

I wonder if there's a big demand for vets in SF who 'de-fang' and 'de-claw' the hamsters?

[pickemuphere]

As outlined in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the boy's family purchased six hamsters from a pet store in the Denver metropolitan area. Within a week, all of the hamsters died of diarrhea, but not before one of them bit the child on the finger.

Sounds like a fun Christmas..

[dirtboy]

Oh man, that I gotta see. I wonder if my 300 H&H Mag would take down a Russian hamster?

Are you daft, man? If you're going to hunt Russian hamsters, you better not just wound them. They'd only find your scattered bones afterwards. I'd suggest at least a .458 Lott.

[cyborg]

thanks!

[cmsgop]

I agree, I used to feed them to my snakes!

[Ciexyz]

Most kids have experience with a small pet like a bird, lizard or hamster. I feel sorry for kids if lawsuits drive up the costs of small animals.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

LOL! Same family as toy poodles (ducking)

[Royal Wulff]

Are you daft, man? If you're going to hunt Russian hamsters, you better not just wound them. They'd only find your scattered bones afterwards. I'd suggest at least a .458 Lott.

Heck, I know a guy that hunts 'em with a 12 ga. He crawls around on his belly on the Russian tundra.

[Judith Anne]

I didn't know hamsters could carry this...I've always known tularemia as "rabbit fever."

[Erasmus]

Oh man, that I gotta see. I wonder if my 300 H&H Mag would take down a Russian hamster?

I don't think down is quite the correct adverb. Apart, off, up come to mind.

[dirtboy]

Heck, I know a guy that hunts 'em with a 12 ga. He crawls around on his belly on the Russian tundra.

I once had to put four slugs into a hamster. 'e dropped only ten feet from me. Had to change my underwear when it was over, and I saw those huge rodent teeth chomping down on my innards in my nightmares for months afterwards.

[ORECON]

Tularemia is caused by the bug Francisella tularensis, which is one of the most infectious germs known and for that reason is considered a potential biologic terrorism agent.

Hey, I graduated Redwood High School in Visalia. We hated Tulare High School.

[valleygal]

Actually, rats make great pets. Very smart. We've had a total of five, all now gone to rat heaven. Last two died at about a month old right after we got them. All of a sudden they were sick a died. And I eventually became very allergic to them so I had to tell my son no more rats.

We've been bitten by hamsters, as well (had four of them). Thankfully nobody got sick. My husband has alwys said "hamsters are dumber than a box of rocks."