Momongas: the Cutest Ball of Fluff You'll Ever See!!

Cuddly Momongas!

I've just discovered Momongas, super adorable, tiny, fluffy Squirrels! They are a type of flying Squirrel, which means that when they jump and spread out their arms and legs, they have, what looks like, furry wings! They are not actually wings, but skin, similar to webbed toes.

Sleepy nap.

Momongas love sleeping in trees! They live in forests in Japan and like to sleep in tree holes during the day, but wake up at night to do cute things, like glide from tree to tree.

Their big, super cute, eyes help them see at night when they are gliding and collecting food.
Momongas like to eat leaves, berries and fruit, seeds, and tree bark. They use their tiny little paws to hold their food.

Peek-a-boo!

Momongas make their nests using moss and lichen (both plants) that they collect. These chubby, furry Rodents have about 1 to 5 babies once or twice a year. The babies are born between May and July, which means a lot of cuteness during the Summer!

MOMONGAS ARE MY NEW FAVOURITE ANIMALS!! :D

Squirrel Appreciation Day!

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day! 

The word "Squirrel" means "shadow-tailed" and Squirrels are Rodents, like Mice, Rats, and Chipmunks. Rodents are mammals (just like us humans) but have special teeth that keep growing. Rodents must nibble and chew on things to wear down their teeth! Squirrels love climbing trees and have great toes and claws for holding on tight. Squirrels often find food in trees, such as nuts and berries, although its easier if they wait until the food falls to the ground. Then they scurry around, collecting all the delicious treats, and stuff them into their mouth for storage!

Squirrels can be lot of different colors, such as black, red, or brown, with different striped patterns on their tails. Black Squirrels are not a different species, and are actually Eastern Grey Squirrels. They just have a dark pigment to their skin and fur.

Squirrels have pretty big eyes, which means they have great vision, for avoiding predators and finding yummy food.

Squirrels love hiding their food in the ground, and will use their cute little feet to dig holes for burying their treats. These fuzzy creatures will come back for their food when they're hungry. Sometimes they forget where they have hidden their nuts, seeds, and berries, and a new plant will grow from the ground. This means, that Squirrels help plants reproduce by planting their seeds!

Feel free to share any of your Squirrel stories!

A Special Post for my Hamster, Little Panda.

I have sad news: on December 24th, my Syrian/Teddy Bear Hamster, named Little Panda, passed away due to a stroke. He was an adorable, fuzzy, little creature who liked running on his hamster wheel and nibbling cute food.



April 2nd, 2011

This is Little Panda on his first day in my home. He was only a few weeks old and was very tiny, and a little apprehensive. He shred the newspaper into little tiny bits to make a comfy nest for himself.








Little Panda's First Adventure

After a couple of weeks of getting to know Little Panda, I let him venture out of his cage to explore my living room. He was very excited and ran very quickly around! Hamsters are very good runners.









Me and Little Panda :)

Little Panda also liked to climb on me! The sweater I'm wearing has deep pockets that he liked to explore.

In the wild, Syrian Hamsters are active at dawn and dusk, when they awake to run around and collect food. Pet Hamsters are often active all throughout the night because they have no predators to hide from.






Little Panda climbing

Hamsters are Rodents and are related to Mice, Rats, Squirrels, and Beavers. They are great climbers as seen in this photo of Little Panda! He loved to climb all over his cage and had little tiny feet with claws to grip on tightly.

A New Cage!

When I moved into a bigger house in May, I set about building a big cage using old window screens that I found on the sidewalk. I decorated the inside with grass and pebbles, and also made a really cool house for him with medium-sized rocks. It had multiple entrances and levels because Hamsters like to be protected. In the wild, Syrian Hamsters are considered "vulnerable" because people are starting farms on the land where these fuzzy guys live.

I fed Little Panda grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and some treats of cheese and milk. Hamsters have special cheek pockets that they store food in, which makes their face look really chubby and cute!

In September, I embarked on a cross-Canada adventure. I got Little Panda a new travel cage with a wooden house, a water dispenser, and lots of privacy. He traveled with me on the train across all the provinces (except P.E.I), making him a very well-educated and cultured little Hamster.

Little Panda was buried in a cute park on the beach on Salt Spring Island, close to a farm with Alpacas and Sheep. I think this will be a quiet and nice place for him.