Adventure This Morning

This morning Hillel was getting ready for work, the kids were running around the house and I was nursing Adel and trying to hold on to the last bit of sleep.
Then Hillel came over and announced that he saw Moorkitz (one of our hamsters) run into a hole under the kitchen cabinets! :O

WHAT?? I flew out of bed and into the kitchen. I heard him behind the counters and cabinets. Sent the kids to their room and tried to listen... calling him softly. Pulled out everything from all the cabinets because they have holes in the back wall for pipes. I thought that if he wanders far, he should have several exit options. I put banana pieces near the holes next to which I heard him scratching.

I sat on the kitchen floor for about a half hour. Zusha was crying, "I want my hamster. I want him! Is he sad? Is he scared?" I went and got a flashlight so I can see into the hole and so that Moorkitz can see the exit by the light. I actually saw him pass by twice. I felt so helpless because I could not reach him. There was a hole leading down into the floorboards, and he passed over it. I was sure he'd fall or crawl in and that would be the end. But B"H he didn't.

By then I was guarding the hole for an hour. I needed to take a break so I went online and googled tips for finding lost hamsters. I found many suggestions on how to figure out what room he can be in, but B"H I knew where he was.
I read that they can come back up to several days later, so I gained some hope.

Off to the kitchen once more. I took a bucket, put some food inside and attached a ladder from the hamsters' cage. I shone the flashlight into the hole, and believe it or not, there was a nose with whiskers! I tried not to breathe. I willed the kids not to choose this moment to come barraging into the kitchen. Moorkitz was coming so tentatively- two steps forward, one step back. When he was out far enough, I grabbed him up! He was scared and tried to wriggle away, but I got him!

I covered him in cuddles and kisses and gave him the banana I used as bait. Now he's safely back in the cage. I hope he didn't hurt himself on his fall out of the cage- it's pretty high up!

{In retrospect, things worked out so well. When I called Step by Step last week, they had three days available for an appointment: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. At first I chose Tuesday because it was the soonest, but then the lady told me that on Thursday they have a very good therapist doing evaluations, so we settled on Thursday. Well, Tuesday Adel had a fever and was in no position to go. Wednesday (today) I would have had to go without finding Moorkitz and would have been worried sick all day. We might have never found him at all. Let's just hope there are no adventures in store for us tomorrow and we get a good evaluation and get approved for therapy!}