Mrs. Jacobi’s Hamster Epidemic

By Rachel von Hollen 
​On April 20th, eleven baby hamsters were born at ALJ. The proud mother and father are Mrs. Jacobi’s own class hamsters, Flynn (the Papa) and Elliot (the Momma). It was a fairly unexpected event. Although the male and female hamster were living together no one expected babies, the two hamsters had been raised together since birth. There was no indication that they would ever mate. But, nature took its course and roughly 23 days later, during the Activity Block on April 20th,  Mrs. Jacobi left the room momentarily and returned to an explosion of miniscule fuzz balls.
The students who were studying in her room were awestruck, as was Mrs. Jacobi. It was unanimously agreed to leave the mother (Elliot) alone, and to remove the father (Flynn) from the communal cage. It’s often an issue that father hamsters try to attack their young, so in an effort to avoid this behavior Flynn was removed from the situation all together. He’s living happily in his own cage now, right next door to his family.
A few weeks later, as the babies were beginning to open their eyes they were recounted. Sadly, the number of babies has decreased from eleven, to nine as two of the babies didn’t survive. Thankfully, however, the remaining nine babies are happy and healthy. Three of the babies have their mother’s dark fur, and five of them look like their father. Strangely, there is one unique baby who has a creamy tan fur that neither of her parents possesses, as well as different colored eyes (one is red, one is black). Still, each baby hamster is 100% adorable Mrs. Jacobi held a lottery in May to find homes for the adorable critters. She is in search of loving families for all of them. She wants to be sure that the hamsters, “will be taken care of with the same love and affection as they were brought up with in the classroom, because it is all they know.” The seven sisters and two brothers found their forever homes through a lottery system instituted by Mrs. Jacobi.