My Childhood: Guinea Pigs

Shortly after we moved into our new house, dad decided we needed some animals. I’m not sure what was on his mind, although I vaguely remember discussions about minks and furs and other similar things.

Dad built a cage, a very large cage, next to the garage. It was large enough for him to stand up without hitting his head on the roof, and had about as much floor space as our bathroom.

Dad went to the local lumber yard, and purchased some two-by-two’s, along with a large roll of chicken wire, and some nails. He also bought some tools, including a staple gun and the first of many cheap Japanese hammers.

I remember this trip vividly, because it was the first time I’d been in a lumberyard, and the first time I’d been in a hardware store. It was great fun, and my love of such places continues to the day.

Then he built the cage, with my help, of course. Actually, I was probably in the way more than I helped, and I’m sure my dad would rather I helped somebody else. But I enjoyed myself, and it was a good learning experience.

After the cage was finished, we went to the pet store for some animals. My parents had decided that guinea pigs were the perfect creature, so they bought several of them.

Guinea pigs are little rodents, about the size of rats, with stubby little tails and a piercing whistle. They whistled constantly. They whistled when they saw heard someone coming, especially if they heard the rustle of the feed bag. They whistled at the weirdest times during the night. They whistled when the sun came up and when it went down.

I grew very fond of those whistles, although at first it was very annoying. But the creatures were fun pets, even though they had a bit of a bad tempter. But since they soon learned it was not to their advantage to bite a young boy who wasn’t afraid to hit them back, we soon became fast friends.

I don’t remember what happened to those animals. I think dad got rid of them when we remodeled the house, or extended the patio or something. I just remember that suddenly, my little friends were no longer around.