Published: July 10, 2008 10:59 pm            

Pocket pets competition take center stage

While some young girls were playing with Barbie dolls, Lauren Flowers was busy playing with her hamsters.

“I like all little rodents,” she said.

Showing them off for the 4-H pocket pet competition seemed like a natural fit.

There were 13 small, furry creatures and two birds in Thursday’s Howard County 4-H pocket pet competition.

Lauren, 15, was named champion in the hamster competition. This marks her last year with hamsters, as she’s moving up to rats after having passed her love of dwarf hamsters down to her sister, Kristen.

“You can litter train a rat,” Lauren said.

Her mother, Debbie, wasn’t too thrilled at the prospect of having a rat in the home.

“I said, ‘Over my dead body,’ all these years,” she said.

Since Kristen will be competing next year, Debbie decided it would be best if the girls weren’t competing against one another. “It will solve the sibling squabble.”

“I love my daughter, so I told her we can learn to love rats,” she said.

While Debbie was hesitant to bring rodents into the home, some welcomed the idea.

“We’re animal people,” said Shawna Werst.

The Werst family also has guinea pigs, rabbits, a gerbil, a toad, fish and dogs.

Her son, Thomas Werst, 15, showed off his cockatiels, Eli and Claudia, in competition. Thomas enjoys his birds in particular. “I let them out of the cage, let them sit on my shoulder and fly around.”

Werst also won champion.

Asa Sheffer, 12, and his family have enjoyed playing with his guinea pig, Twitch.

“They respond to you,” he said.

Twitch responds to playfulness and to his brother, Guy, 10. “He rolls over and tries to kick his hand,” Asa said.

“There’s a little more emotional attachment to pocket pets,” said Dick Kelter, an exhibit associate. “A lot of kids keep them in their bedrooms or family rooms.”

Raising a pet can also help children with their futures. Lauren is planning to be a veterinarian, said her mother, Debbie. “We sometimes call her the hamster whisperer.”

        

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