After dinner, he came out and was boldly climbing from person to person. I had given him a couple of bites of pound cake and I think he was on a sugar high. He was somewhat hyper and jumped on Joe (Nell's husband) and dove inside his shirt. Joe was not happy and wanted him out... especially since Chuck found a "treat" on his chest ;-)

We retrieved him and he jumped to the floor and disappeared. I called to him and he came running ...unfortunately to Sylvia, climbed up her leg and shot up her short's leg. She screamed and spun around in circles hopping. I grab her as she pulls her shirt up and unzips her shorts. I spot Chuck and grab him from her crotch as she continues to yell and jump. Now, he's really revved up. I got him into my shirt and out to the car as we leave prematurely.

When we got home, I put Chuck in his cage with difficulty. He is pouting and escapes when I change his water. Another struggle and back in he goes. Then I discover that I forgot to put his food dish in with him.When I open the cage door, he's on my hand in a flash and I barely get the dish in before he can get out. I close the door with my hand still inside and block his exit with my other hand. He starts to squeal loudly (a first) while stomping his feet up and down on my hand. I'm certainthat if he weren't covered with fur, he'd be blue from holding his breath as he does the FS "war dance" i.e. temper tantrum.

But, all is well ... I got a bath, he cooled off and he napped inside my shirt. I may call for help now when I put him to bed. :-)

11-5-02
Musical Prodigy

Chuck has taken to grooming me lately. He cleans my fingers with his tiny tongue and works very hard at it, also checking under the nails forany "debris" he wants to remove. To date, he has confined this activity to my fingers ... I guess I should be grateful:-)

It's a bit disconcerting to have a member of the rodent family question your hygiene and try to spruce you up.

Tonight he discovered hats and music. I have several baseball typehats and a wind chime hanging from a clothes tree near the bed. He was doing his "hide and seek" routine and jumped onto a bag on the clothes tree and into a hat, setting off the wind chime in the process. That fascinated him and he jumped among the hats and played a tune as he went.

11-6-02
Chuck is starting to enter puberty as 12 weeks approaches. His testicles have descended literally overnight ... about the size of peanuts. But, I understand that during breeding season (Nov. to Feb.) they can get as large as his head! I'll see if that hampers flying ;-) Isn't this more than you wanted to know about FS. LOL

11-7-02
WOW! His jewels doubled in size overnight. Definitely got to cut back on the vitamins.

11-20-02

Chuckie is a Bad Boy!

Chuck is so fast now that I can barely catch him on my own body. He does not like to go back in hiscage and will resist as much as possible. He runs to my lower back and when I reach there, he runs upmy spine between my shoulder blades. When I do get him, he wiggles out of my hands and runs up ordown my arm and does a rapid shirt dive. When he's out of his cage, he hides when I want to put himback. Last night, he learned that he can get behind his cage on the blinds and I can't reach him.Usually, he runs around the room and explores different areas. Not last night! He just hung on theblinds motionless and scampered behind the cage when I approached. He wouldn't come when Icalled and escaped my grasp several times. When I finally got hold of him with both hands and puthim in the cage, he just glared at me ... after a little cussing.

11-26-02

Chuck now has discovered "pants diving" and doesn't stop at the shirt. He keeps on going and runsup and down the legs of my jeans. It's a very strange feeling when he races across my butt. His nailsare tiny, but able to grip human skin like he had glue on his feet. Right now, he's resting in a fold ofmaterial under my knee. That's OK ... it's when he "explores" that it gets exciting.

11-29-02

I have a large 5.8' X 6' window in my bedroom which has a pleated honeycomb shade. Chuck hasdiscovered he can jump to it from where I sit at the computer. He is now using it as a race track withoccasional breaks to jump on my head. He can also reach a Yuan Yin statue that I have on a nearbynight stand.  The statue has wooden Tibetan prayer beads around the neck and I hear the metal"ping" when Chuck jumps on her. I don't think the prayer beads are long for this world :-(Too bad, Igot them on a trip to see the Dalai Lama when he was in Indiana a few years ago. The wooden strikerfor a small brass "singing bowl" already had little teeth marks in it. I guess I'd better keep an eye onthe wooden frame that holds a  note from Mother Teresa ;-)

11-29-02

Chuckie Does Jail Time