I knew it, Astro can count!

"A variety of animals, including pigeons, parrots, raccoons, ferrets, rats, monkeys and apes are to varying degrees capable of either counting, adding or subtracting numbers."

My little male syrian hamster Astro, and his sister Princess and step brother Paddy paws are my current companions. I had for years considered Hamsters for kids and not very fun. However, my friend Alison convinced me one day when I was a bit bored and perhaps feeling a little lonely that I needed a pet. I am alergic to cats and with my disability having a dog would be hard for the dog since I could not walk him as much or fast as he or she might deserve.

Then hamsters came to mind and I rescued mine from the shelter. I am simply overwhelmed daily by their amazing nature, individual personalitys and endless compassion and kindness. They know my mood and know how to communicate theirs to me. Astro for instance likes to yawn at me with his mouth wide open when he rests on my hand. I am convinced its a high sign of comfort and affection. Princess comes to the edge of her palace to greet me when I walk over to get clothes from my drawers and Paddy Paws knows my voice intonation and knows before I hide his food where I am thinking of putting it and waits for me.

I think we too often forget how wonderful these creatures placed among us are. Regretfully, we don't treat many of them fairly and do so much harm to their habitats. The article in the italic link above spurned this for me since I had always known animals were very intelligent and its nice to see someone took the time to quantify it in a way that can't be argued with.

However, anyone that holds or visits or watches these creatures knows this. Perhaps they are one of the most humanizing elements we come across each day in this pretty human eat human world.