This is a little off-topic, but the circumstances certainly should concern us all. Last night I heard an animal scratching in the wall behind my bed. Checking to be sure both ferrets were safe (and didn't I get a couple of glares for turning the light on sleeping ferrets!) I proceeded to drag the washer/dryer out from the wall. The scratching was coming from near the plumbing connections. Figuring I had a rat, I primed my trusty pellet gun and grabbed a flashlight and a set of tools. A pilot hole produced frantic scratching and a return shower of gypsum dust. Strange rat. I put away the gun. A few minutes with a knife revealed a nose, definetely rodent in shape. Too small for rat, too large for mouse. And with orange fur?! Sure enough, it was a hamster. I figure he was stuck in the walls for at least three days, as I heard him scrabbling around the inside of the bathtub Friday evening. He now is esconced in an unused cage, while I try and find his old home. In a 12 unit apartment building with a few recent movings, I may be stuck with him. At least I'm fairly sure he's from within my building. You see, I also have a stray cat on the back deck who just kittened last week. A lost hamster out there would've never made it across the parking lot... Bryan McCullough, trapped in the Menagerie [Posted in FML issue 1910]