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Did anyone lose a Chinchilla? Because someone in Wicker Park found it. (Funny poster) (imgur.com)

submitted ago by MustardMcguffLogan Square

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[–]traditionology 56 points57 points ago

DUDE. THAT WAS US. Roommate found the flyer, I taped em up everywhere, and when I got home that night I made some joke about Reddit finding them.

Turns out the owner was some bitch who lived just below us; she let it get out because she was keeping it in a dog kennel. We're keeping him now. I'd post pics if I was home, but I'm outta town right now. (EDIT: One of the pics from the flyer, as proof.)

But fucking awesome.

EDIT: WOW. I've gotten five or six offers to take him off our hands, and wanted to say thanks to each and every one of you! I'm pretty sure we're keeping the little guy, but if that changes I'll be contacting everyone who expressed interest. Stay classy, Chicago, and enjoy the upvotes I'm giving to every single person who posts here!

[–]mepardo 4 points5 points ago

I don't get it. Do you mean she was keeping it in a crate in her apartment? But she couldn't take care of it so she let it go? Or she was just trying to let it get some fresh air? And she's cool with you just taking it?

EDIT: ah, never mind, just read what happened further down in the thread. What an asshole. And good on you guys.

[–]DrVoodoo 6 points7 points ago

Posting here as a reminder because I want closure when you deliver pictures, OP.

[–]traditionology 6 points7 points ago

Well I can post one of the pics we used for the flyer, at least... Gimme a minute.

EDIT: Here ya go.

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] 12 points13 points ago

God it's so fucking cute. I wouldn't ever want to have to take care of one but I would love to pet it lovingly.

[–]traditionology 12 points13 points ago

I mean there's a ton of stuff to keep in mind, but really, once you get past the barrage of "THEY CAN GET DIABETES IF YOU GIVE THEM TWO RAISING IN ONE DAY" and "IF THEY GET WET THEY GET MOLDY AND DIE" factoids, you realize that it's really no different than taking care of any other pet. If the first thing you read about dogs was "THEY CAN'T EAT CHOCOLATE OR THEY DIE" you'd probably walk away like, shit, I can't be trusted not to leave half-eaten Hershey Bars laying around the house, I probably shouldn't own a dog.

Maybe. I dunno. I'm way too sober today.

[–]mepardo 7 points8 points ago

Just for the record, if you give a dog raisins (or grapes), even as little a handful, depending on the size, its kidneys could fail and it will also die, and people don't really know why. There's actually a lot of stuff dogs shouldn't eat. THE MORE YOU KNOW (the less likely you're gonna feel responsible enough to own a dog).

[–]traditionology 5 points6 points ago

Jasper eats every goddamn thing he finds. Our house isn't particularly messy most of the time, but that doesn't mean he can't always find something inedible to eat if he wants to. And if he REALLY WANTS TO, there is almost nothing that can be done about it. I spent half an hour the other night trying to pry his mouth open to get a wad of paper towel out of his mouth, and the whole ordeal with spotted with snarling and growling.

He's a fantastically happy, friendly, lovable, well-behaved dog, for the most part. Except when he's found something he really, really wants to eat.

[–]mepardo 4 points5 points ago

Well if we're sharing dogs eating things stories, my sister's beagle ate a needle as a puppy, and it poked holes all up in her insides. She had to have emergency surgery, and is ok now, with the exception of the fact that she farts something awful after eating, sometimes as much as probably once every 10-20 minutes on a bad night.

Also, my family's dog (sorry, apparently the only picture I have of her on my computer is this polaroid I drew on during some of her worse days), once ate a whole chocolate cake while we were out of the house. We had to make her drink peroxide as soon as we realized what happened. Also, when she was younger, we're pretty sure she ate a soda can.

So it seems like dogs have a pretty indestructible digestive system. Except for when it comes to chocolate, macadamia nuts, and grapes.

[–]traditionology 3 points4 points ago

crazy! jasper's triumphs include the day he ate an entire leather belt (not ripped to shreds, but actually consumed), and he's eaten at least an eighth of trees. generally i don't feed him table food, though i will make sure to "accidentally" drop raw, unseasoned ground beef on the floor when i'm cooking. he also likes carrots, and the occasional raw egg (though those make him fart something awful)

[–]Chicoconut 1 point2 points ago

My parents have two 100+ goldens that they adopted through a rescue. The biggest one, Chief (125lbs, thinks he's an aligator) LOVES to eat candy wrappers. LOVES them. There is NO getting them away from him when he makes up his mind to eat one. Like your Jasper, he will growl and snarl at you. He tried (not hard, mind you) to bite me the last time I wanted to get aluminum out of his mouth. He's a sweet dog, but just like Jasper. Once he's got it, that's it. You'll never get it from him.

[–]traditionology 1 point2 points ago

the ONLY way i can get stuff out of jasper's mouth is to push his cheeks in between his teeth while prying his jaws apart, so he can't bite down without hurting himself. then it's just a matter of getting my fingers in there before he swallows whatever it is i'm trying to get.

the cheeks trick works wonders, though.

[–]DrVoodoo 8 points9 points ago

IF THEY GET WET...

You can never start a sentence about a cute furry creature like this without it ending with this.

[–]traditionology 4 points5 points ago

There were a LOT of Gremlin references in the house that first day.

[–]apox64928Uptown 1 point2 points ago

I also heard that they aren't supposed to eat after midnight otherwise they mutate and I heard that if they get wet, they don't die, they multiply.

[–]Fact-or-Factoid 1 point2 points ago

Fact or factoid?

Fact: a truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true

Factoid: a non-established piece of information commonly believed to be a fact, but which may not actually be true

[–]traditionology 0 points1 point ago

Thanks!

[–]DrVoodoo 3 points4 points ago

I believe this guy.

Nice job saving that little creature.

[–]traditionology 4 points5 points ago

Didn't do it for the kudos, which is why I didn't bother to make a thread about it myself. But I did let loose one hell of an excited yell when I saw this on the frontpage.

Thanks, but honestly I'd like to believe anyone would've done the same thing. I know it's not true, but I like to think most people are decent enough people where they would see a critter like this and immediately want to take care of it.

(But I'm so close to the front page right now, and I know this is my only shot at it, and that little attention whore in me is getting giddy with excitement)

[–]thenedzone 2 points3 points ago

I used to have a pet Chinchilla. They are the best pet ever! Wait till you give him/her a sand bath :D

[–]traditionology 2 points3 points ago

Oh my god, we did that, and the air was so thick with adorable that we almost suffocated.

[–]elcanovi 1 point2 points ago

Milwaukee number! As someone who lives almost halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago, I'm curious.

[–]traditionology 0 points1 point ago

Haha. Roommate is from Milwaukee, just recently moved down to Chicago with us. I was raised in Wisco as well!

[–]elcanovi 1 point2 points ago

Awesome! Where at?

[–]traditionology 1 point2 points ago

Kinda all over. Kenosha area, Wisconsin Dells area, went to college in Oshkosh.

[–]elcanovi 1 point2 points ago

Very nice! I've lived in Western Kenosha County most of my life, going to college in Madison.

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] 39 points40 points ago

I didn't edit out the phone number, because seriously...that has to be SOMEONES chinchilla.

[–]traditionology 13 points14 points ago

No worry. I'll just warn my roommate that he might get a mess of calls from the internet.

For that matter, it's worth clarifying that it's not my phone. So if you try to call that number and say something about reddit, you're just gonna hear a lot of confusion. I'm the only redditor in the house.

[–]quietyoufool 1 point2 points ago

Might be a bit of work, but that'd be a good time to use Google Voice.

[–]apox64928Uptown 2 points3 points ago

I never successfully got google voice to not give me three fucking notifications for one message: email, text, and voicemail. No thanks. I just changed my voicemail to: it is the 21st century, I see that I missed your call. Please call again later or send me a text and do not leave a voicemail, thanks.

[–]theLastHokage 35 points36 points ago

It looks like a grayish-brown Pikachu

I lost it

[–]oxhappyhourxo 56 points57 points ago

You should probably call them then if it's yours.

[–]traditionology -1 points0 points ago

I think he meant he lost it as in he laughed hard.

[–]sicasadyEvanston 19 points20 points ago

Woooooosh

[–]apox64928Uptown 2 points3 points ago

If I was not on mobile, you sir, would be tagged in RES as "doesn't get sarcasm."

[–]traditionology 3 points4 points ago

And it would be accurate.

I am going to tag you, "sees that i dont get sarcasm"

[–]oxhappyhourxo 1 point2 points ago

That was the joke.

[–]traditionology 2 points3 points ago

tagged as, 'also sees that i dont get sarcasm'

[–]oxhappyhourxo 0 points1 point ago

Tagged as 'has no original ideas'

[–]traditionology 1 point2 points ago

man, you just get me, don't you?

[–]traditionology 3 points4 points ago

We're calling him Chu, because we can't agree if he looks more like a Pikachu, Pichu, or Raichu. I maintain Raichu, but either way "Chu" is much easier to say.

[–]BGirlTokki 1 point2 points ago

And I officially love you guys.

[–]drunk_otter 24 points25 points ago

Not really relevant, but Chin Chilla was the name of a Chinese ambient techno DJ I once knew.

[–]Colecoman1982 6 points7 points ago

He should have been nicknamed "Chill" Chin Chilla.

[–]DrVoodoo 2 points3 points ago

This makes me think of "Chill" Chin Chilla at the Chili Con Carnival.

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] 5 points6 points ago

That's entirely relevant. Happy cake day.

[–]technorobot 6 points7 points ago

I have got a female chinchilla that I love to death, they are cute as fuck and super easy to maintain. Lets make chinchilla babiesss

[–]traditionology 8 points9 points ago

I wanted to make a comment about how I'm cute as fuck and super easy to maintain, and that we should make some people babies.

Then I checked your comment history and deduced that you're probably a guy. I'm not sure science has advanced far enough for that one, yet.

[–]technorobot 7 points8 points ago

haha butt babies. Yeah I am a guy but that would have been a damn good response, enough to get in my pants had I been a girl.

But yeah if you've got any questions about the chinchilla you can ask me, they are awesome. but they do need a pretty big cage to hop around and wood to bite on, if it's hot in your place get a cheap tile and she'll like to lay on it to stay cool. Here is a pic of my Minusha

[–]bettorworse 2 points3 points ago

EWWWWW! Butt babies.

[–]supergoodAustin 2 points3 points ago

i want oneeeeeee

[–]traditionology 0 points1 point ago

Do a little research, make sure you've got the time and money to take care of him properly, then go get one! They're not terribly expensive, and wayyy cute.

[–]therealmccoy13 7 points8 points ago

I love how the poster has a straight on and profile shot, like some mug shots.

[–]comradeKatze 4 points5 points ago

Not actually my chinchilla, but I will take it.

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] 3 points4 points ago

I've actually heard Chinchillas are quite temperamental difficult animals that have very specific needs in order to keep happy and healthy. They're like larger high maintenance hamsters that don't really do anything.

[–]traditionology 6 points7 points ago

Very true. When we first got him and I started trying to figure out what they eat, I started realizing that they're basically the most diva of all pets. Everything kills them.

I will say that he's not as skittish and temperamental as I expected. He seems relatively well-adjusted, now that he's not outside; never tried to bite any of us, doesn't fight too much when we pick him up - which has to be done very carefully, because their floating ribcage is just one more reason why it's the most fragile pet ever.

We got those fliers out instantly because we were terrified that we'd accidentally kill it before the owner came and got him. He's in no danger, though; critter got lucky that we were around to take him in.

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] -1 points0 points ago

This kills the chinchilla

[–]chinchillakilla 3 points4 points ago

oh really?

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] 2 points3 points ago

I think you have too much time on your hands.

[–]MamaDaddy 4 points5 points ago

Could be that he was released on purpose, then. Somebody thought he was cute, and brought him home, only to find out he is a pain in the ass and released him. Happens enough with other kinds of pets, probably chinchillas too!

[–]traditionology 2 points3 points ago

Half right. She didn't release it on purpose, but once it got out she clearly had no interest in retrieving him. For chrissakes, I made sure to put some of the flyers up on our block, as I'd guessed (correctly) that the owner was real nearby. There's no way she didn't see those flyers within 24 hours of us putting them up, and it was two or three days before we finally figured out who it was.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

Temperamental and difficult just like me !

[–]traditionology 3 points4 points ago

I think we're gonna hang onto him, but now that this thread is here I might talk to the guys in a few days and see if we want to find him a better home.

[–]subzer0funLogan Square 9 points10 points ago

Who looses a chinchilla? Mind is blown. Hope they find the owners though!

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] 15 points16 points ago

What I'm amazed of is that there was a chinchilla surviving on its own on the mean streets of Chicago.

[–]traditionology 4 points5 points ago

Well, the guy in our basement called us one afternoon asking if we knew anyone who owned a chinchilla. He gathered that our stunned silence meant "No," then told us to come down and check it out. He was huddled against the side of his door in the alley between houses, and while it wasn't particularly easy to get him into a box, he also didn't seem at all interested in getting far away from the house - which is why I guessed from the beginning that it belonged to one of the girls on the first floor.

Turns out we got him inside just in time, as a storm rolled through about an hour later, and apparently water is one of the million things that can kill a chinchilla.

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] 5 points6 points ago

I was just reading about them. What kind of animal cannot fucking get wet?

[–]traditionology 7 points8 points ago

The kind who needs to take twice-weekly baths in volcanic dust to get their fur clean, apparently.

[–]thecottonBuena Park 3 points4 points ago

Chinchilla's feel like clouds and the reason for this is that they have 60 hairs per follicle. That's right, 60. That means if they get really wet, it's fucking hard for them to dry and the dampness can lead to a cold and a cold for rodents is usually not good.

Also, Chinchillas can't have fleas or other parasites because their fur is too dense. This is also what makes them a 'hypoallergenic' pet ... the dander doesn't really escape.

The downside is they lack sphincter muscles and shit all the time. I mean like -- you can clean their cage and the bottom pan will be full of shit in like one day. I actually had one for awhile and had to use a fucking shop vac to clean the cage. No one warned me about the poop .. oh god... there was so much poop ... T____T

[–]posthumousHorner Park 3 points4 points ago

He must be very effective with his thunderbolt

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] 4 points5 points ago

Apparently the comparison is made often.

[–]pussyham 6 points7 points ago

Honestly, it's probable that someone just let it go outside because they didn't feel like taking care of it anymore. People do it all the time with chinchillas and other small pets.

[–]traditionology 13 points14 points ago

Kind of. Apparently she wasn't as interested in keeping him as she thought she'd be, and when it got out of the dog kennel (sigh) she was keeping him in, she was in the midst of a 10-day absence from the house. Which is insane, because they need daily care. I still can't figure out how it made it from a dog kennel in her (presumably closed) bedroom door to the alley outside.

The fliers were up for a few days before we figured out who it was, and even then she didn't approach us - her roommates ratted her out. When we figured out that she'd basically just given up on it, we demanded she give us all the supplies she had for it. We're not rich, we've already got an enormous dog, not really in a position to take care of a new pet, but goddammit you do not abandon an animal like that. Family and friends have helped us finish getting the supplies for him, all we really need now is a decent cage.

[–]youhatemeandihateyou 5 points6 points ago

So you're keeping him? That's great news. It sounds like he was being severely neglected by his former owner.

Also, try /r/chinchilla for some help getting him settled in.

[–]stacecomSummit 10 points11 points ago

Hi. Not poking fun, just helping out.

Loses, not looses.

[–]Danarky 2 points3 points ago

Upvote for helpful, non-dickish grammar and for being from Summit.

[–]subzer0funLogan Square 1 point2 points ago

Thanks. Typing on a phone after 6 hours in a car can make brain related things difficult. Also, very tiny keyboard!

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]stacecomSummit 6 points7 points ago

No, just trying to be helpful and nice, and not be an asshole about it.

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] -1 points0 points ago

I know. I was just messing with you.

[–]thatdudeguydude 2 points3 points ago

Teach it to waterski. Or at the very least, breakdance. I'd pay to see that.

[–]traditionology 3 points4 points ago

look up video of them taking a dust bath.

[–]thatdudeguydude 1 point2 points ago

That might break my internet.

[–]singingTurtles 2 points3 points ago

Why can't I ever find cool pets outside. :(

[–]fe3o4 6 points7 points ago

Hey, thanks for posting... I was looking for that. Now I can finish my coat!

[–]Dustypeace 1 point2 points ago

414 is Milwaukee. Is it a cell phone? How come you are the lucky one?

[–]traditionology 1 point2 points ago

roommate's cell phone, he is from milwaukee. good eye. and how am i the lucky one? shrug

[–]Dustypeace 1 point2 points ago

All these people on Reddit find kittens, dogs, and apparently Chinchillas. All I ever find is an insect. You get to play with the Chinchilla, lucky.

[–]traditionology 1 point2 points ago

Hey, I'm sure some amazing things have happened to you too!

[–]chinchillakilla 1 point2 points ago

I'll take care of this one

[–]SourcefourUptown 1 point2 points ago

that looks like a giant rat to me.

[–]tresser -1 points0 points ago

awww. i miss my apartment in wicker park. was on wood street between julian and la moyne.

[–]MustardMcguffLogan Square[S] -1 points0 points ago

Cool.

[–]tresser 2 points3 points ago

it was. we'd sit on the stoop on the weekend. was a nice central location near bars where everyone was playing at. got to fuck with the real world people when they moved in the area.

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