Our Guinea Pigs

It all started with Ernie, a greyish brown Abyssinian that stole our hearts from the moment we met him. A raging alpha male, Ernie spends all his time patrolling the divider in the big C&C cage I built for him and his brother, rumblestruttling (asserting his dominance) and attempting to gnaw through the metal to get to him. Ernie is our "problem child" who doesn't get along with anyone but his parents (i.e., us). He's very friendly and really athletic. When given the chance, he'll explore everything quickly, possibly mark it, and will catapult himself off my chest(!).

Ernie, about to chow down.

And three weeks after we got Ernie, we found out guinea pigs do significantly better with at least a friend, so we adopted Leonard, a black and white Abyssinian (much like a skunk) whose fur is so soft I called him a "silk." Leonard was rescued from a hoarder who had 33 guineas and wasn't properly socialized, so he runs whenever we try to pet him, unless we feed him first (and even then, only sometimes). He's kind of a genius, though. He somehow escaped the cage once the first day his mom was away on a weekend vacation, and was found wandering the family room. We often find random objects in his half of the cage . . . Leo is an ongoing conundrum and a surprise almost every day.

Perhaps because Ernie is so dominant, Leonard is the ultimate beta. He has only ever attempted to rumblestrut once in his entire life -- and this was only because Pamela was babysitting some other guineas and introduced them. (Leo gets along with others of his kind -- and with Philip! -- much better than Ernie.) Surprisingly, he is shy around female piggies!

At the Critter Corral Guinea Pig Rescue's annual Pignic

Leo (at left) meeting a long-lost brother at the Pignic?

Because the guineas don't get along (Leonard will fight back after he's had enough of Ernie), they live divided in the same large 3x5 C&C enclosure. Every Christmas, Pamela insists we do an over-the-top photoshoot and create holiday cards. This requires tremendous efforts in props and costumes, as well as my Photoshop talents.

A favorite from 2012: Leonard showing off his little beard,
and Ernie as an elf.