Rodent Spotlight: Pallid Gerbil

The pallid gerbil--also known as the pale gerbil--is a North African species of rodent found mainly in Egypt. They are notable for being unusually skinny with protruding eyes which are very expressive. As it is with many species of gerbils, they are very friendly and enjoy the company of others... and THOSE are the basics. This would be a really short blog if I didn't have more to say on the matter.

I'll be honest, I am clearly running out of rodents to write these blogs about, but there are some species that catch my interest purely on the basis of imagination. The pallid gerbil appeared like it had an interesting personality whether I look into the research or not. That said, the research was very interesting.

Picture--if you will--a group of three pallid gerbils in a cage sitting around a food bowl during their lunchtime. I know what you're thinking! You think that I am about to tell you some sort of cute story, aren't you? You're fears are not unfounded!

"Ah! To be eating together with all of my fine fellows and friends!" said one of the gerbils to his mates. "I doubt we would enjoy these little nibbles if we were alone!"

"I know it," agreed another. "I hear many other rodents dislike being alone. What are we going to do after we finish?"

A third suggested, "I propose we do something silly."

"Why is that?" asked the first.

"Well, if we did something proper, it would hardly constitute a celebration of this fine feast. We have to be a little silly once in a while."

"Agreed," said the second. "I like the idea of being silly. But if we are going to be silly, what sort of silly shall we be?"

The pallid gerbils all looked at each other but could not think of anything silly at the first of it. Then the third gerbil had an idea. He sneakily moved his head over to the tail of the one aside of him, and gave it a little nip. The victim was so startled that he hopped straight into the air bumping his head into the top of the cage.

"Oh! It is war then, is it?!" cried out the bitten. "Then let there be war!"

Following this, all the pallid gerbils chased each other around the cage while giggling madly--nipping tails whenever they could. Being silly was a nasty business, I suppose; however, they wore themselves out enough to have a fine sleep afterwards. They did this in a little pallid pile in one corner of their cage. Life could not be any happier.

Following this incident, the traditional tail chase became a daily event. While some of this activity may have proven slightly painful, they all agreed that it was silly, and silly was a wonderful way to end a meal.

Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoyed it, you can leave a comment below, or you can email me at tooie@tooiekangaroo.com. Hehe!