I had wanted to call this blog ‘Hermaphrodite Gerb’ rather than ‘gerbil’, but I was informed folks who hadn’t had a whole heap of the li’l critters would be unfamiliar with the abbreviation. I also thought a little pic of gerbil genitals would make a fitting logo, but nothing came up in Google images under ‘hermaphrodite gerbil’. Growing up, my big brother was allergic to just about everything so I couldn’t have the dog I longed for, instead I made do with endless gerbils. Of course, they bred like a bunch of mofo’s and before long we had a family of inbred buckles. Some had dental trouble, others had dual-gendered genitals. Just the luck of the draw, I guess. I have yet to realise my doggy dream, but I am the proud owner a ratty little fellow, one Mr. L. Cakes Esquire, but more on him later…
October 20, 2006 at 1:40 pm
I had tonnes of gerbils as a kid as well, back before you could get all the fancy new clours and they were just sand colour. They bred like mad, I don’t remember having any that where hermaphrodite’s though. Could the hermaphrodite ones breed and if so did they act as male or female?
October 20, 2006 at 2:33 pm
Interesting query there feral cat, and one which I don’t have the answer to. But yes, they all used to be standard sandy colour. Emma was my first gerbil. I used to take her shopping in my pocket. She had a sister, Teela, named after the heroine in He-Man (my bro was a big fan). I taught all the gerbs to climb the stairs in case they needed this skill in the event of a fire.
October 20, 2006 at 4:43 pm
Did it not run off when you kept it in your pocket, mine would have, pretty fast gerbils are too if I remember rightly.
December 11, 2006 at 7:34 pm
You probly dont remember rightly, when was the last time you were even with a rodent? I’m with my mouse Reatis all through out the night. In fact it wakes me up so much trying to escape, i even started wetting the bed. And that my jolly friends is the true science behind christening the mouse that stirred.