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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The Guinea Pigs

The guinea pigs, Chester and Pinky, arrived at our home last night. We were to look after them for Aunty M whilst she and her family are away.

Aunty M and her two gorgeous children will cause more that just a bit of excitement in our children. Bringing guinea pigs on bedtime created bedlam! So of course, Tank's first words this morning were: "Can we go see the guinea pigs?" And Joybug had an excited giggle and kept saying "Pig! Pig!" We went out and had our little hold, and put them on the lawn to eat under a wash basket.

But just on 12 hours after they arrived, poor Chester fell victim to an excited child not waiting for Mummy. I picked him up, he jerked around a bit and we initially thought he was okay...but he died in my hands.

Apparently, according to a Google search, guinea pigs can lie still for up to half an hour, "play dead". Dr Daddy tried to feel the heartbeat, then out came the stethoscope. He even used Pinky to check he was checking the right place. But he was upset at the thought we might bury a live animal, so Tank and I took a trip down to the local vet who confirmed it for us. It felt rather amusing, looks dead, feels dead...yep, it's dead!

The Man told Tank that Jesus is looking after Chester now, and that when we die we will see him. Tank talked about this all day. "We'll see Chester when we are dead, and when we are in Jesus' house"

We buried Chester under the climbing tree in the front yard, after a proper Lutheran funeral. Lutheran's have a rite for everything! The children covered the little grave with flowers and a cross...beautiful!

Now we have bought another guinea pig, a girl, because in Sweden it's illegal to keep a guinea pig alone (so Christian keeps telling us).

This girl guinea pig has a "Mohawk" right down the middle of her body, and an orange marking on her head. Tank is holding her by herself up the top.

Note to self: We look after kids fine, pets appear to be less resilient!

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