RANDOM STORIES - The Christmas Tree Visitor

Once again our family decided we wanted to buy an Ikea Christmas tree. When we brought it home we set it up in the kitchen for the day, allowing it to thaw/warm up. Then for Family Home Evening we moved it into the living room, cut the twine that was binding the branches, and watched in delight as the tree begin to unfold and show it's true form.

A few minutes later we were sweeping up fallen needles on our hardwood floor. As I was collecting them in the dust pan I noticed something very tiny that was moving on the floor among the needles. I took a closer look and was surprised to find a tiny grasshopper.

I scooped it up and put it into a small plastic container. It didn't try to jump away at all. We concluded it would be good to put some soil in the container, and also a small piece of fresh lettuce from our fridge. It has been almost two weeks now and our little friend is doing well.

It was not the same for our new hamsters. A month earlier we had gone to the pet store to get a new pet for the girls. Our hamster Cornpop had died. Instead of buying one hamster we came home with three, one for each girl. Which required two more cages to house them.

Unfortunately Jami's little white hamster died nine days later. We bought her a new one and he died the same day that Karren's panda hamster got away and died from the experience. Linda's hamster was about a month older from the start and is still doing well in her room. Despite one over night escape.

All in all it seems kind of fitting that we inherited an unexpected new visitor. We have done our best to make his stay a happy one. I noticed that he was starting to jump so I thought it a good idea to buy him a proper terrarium. We added more soil, planted some tiny carrot seeds and added a few rocks. It was good to see Grady Grasshopper perched on one of them early this morning. I believe this means he likes his new digs.

I started to wonder if he really is a grasshopper. Apparently crickets look a lot like them. When I did an online searched for identifying features I learned that crickets invariably have long antennae, and he does not. So I was pretty sure this proved him to be a grasshopper. As to his/her gender, that's not been definitively decided yet so we are going to consider him to be a boy grasshopper for the time being.

He is rather low maintenance, very quiet (another sign he is not a cricket) and doesn't take up a lot of space or attention. Maybe this is our Christmas gift to make up for the sad times we have had lately. But I won't be surprised if come spring time we go out and find some more hamsters for the girls. It's inevitable. Once a pet lover, always a pet lover. Our dog Caleb just takes all the new additions in stride.