After two years Teddy died and I decided not to replace him as life was becoming more hectic as the children grew older. At this time Ray had become self-employed as it gave him the freedom to come and go as he pleased. One afternoon he phoned to say that he had a surprise for me when I got home but would not tell me anymore, leaving me to try and guess what it might be. Once home I asked what this surprise was and with some trepidation he took me into the bathroom and in the bath was a Rotostack cage with the largest, ugliest hamster that I have ever seen. Be careful he warned me, he is savage; don’t put your fingers near his cage.
After a few minutes looking at this creature, he took me to the kitchen and said he would explain. Whilst making a cup of tea he said that he had been visiting a client in St Georges Hills and the lady offered him a cup of tea. Whilst sitting in the kitchen drinking his tea he spotted the Rotostack cage on top of the kitchen cupboards and was told that she did not know what to do as the creature was savage and her husband was threatening to release it into the garden and leave it to fend for its self. She said it was the children’s fault as they used to tease it by sticking pencils in the cage and watch him destroy them. She said that the only way to clean the cage was to put it into the empty bath and use gauntlets to carry out the task. Ray, being the softy that he is, asked if he could take it home and it was handed over immediately with great relief, hence the creature in the bath. We proceeded to clean his cage using the gauntlets provided and brought him into the kitchen and put his cage on a small shelf above the breakfast table. Fed and watered, we left him after dinner to sleep for the night and decide on a name for him. This was not difficult because he looked exactly like a smaller version of Yogi Bear.
The following morning we were having our usual breakfast of boiled egg, toast and marmalade when Yogi got very excited in his cage. I was spreading butter on my toast and we both started to gently laugh at his antics and Ray said that he thought Yogi wanted a piece of my toast and without thinking I cut off a piece and stuck it through the bars. With great delight, he carefully pulled it through the bars into his paws and proceeded to sit up and eat it with great relish. A second piece was offered and gratefully received and he then curled up in his bed and went to sleep. This ritual proceeded for a couple of days until Saturday arrived and it was time to clean his cage. We put him into the empty bath and Ray said it was a good idea to leave him there with some of his toys as he had not had any exercise since we had brought him home. After about fifteen minutes I went to see how Yogi was doing. I knelt down at the end of the bath and very quietly started to talk to him. He was very attentive and I offered him some tidbits which he carefully accepted. I ventured to give him a stroke and after a few minutes, he climbed into the palm of my hand and accepted the caresses with delight. Ten minutes later Ray came back and seeing Yogi in my hand said to me with a big grin, I was told he was savage! I held out my hands towards Ray and Yogi gently went up to his fingers and sniffed several times before climbing into his hand and curling up in a ball.
Yogi’s favourite place when we were at home was sitting on our shoulders whilst we were working but every evening after dinner he was let out of his cage and one of the golden retrievers would go up to the table and put their nose so that he could climb onto their head and be carried into the lounge where he would go exploring until he was tired and then he would curl up in-between a pair of front paws and a warm chin and go to sleep in front of the fire. He shared our lives for nearly two years until one day we got up in the morning to find him curled up in his bed where he had died in his sleep and we finally said goodbye to our “savage beast”.
With subtitle or not?