Surprise!

Dear Animal Ark,

Please teach your employees how to tell the difference between girl and boy guinea pigs. One of your employees picked up two guinea pigs, checked their nether parts, and assured "Santa" that they were both girls.

No. No, they are not.

And now we have 4 guinea pigs in the enclosure, when yesterday we had 2. Yeah.


Here's an abridged version of the events and conversation surrounding the discovery:

(J and H are playing the Wii. I have just fed the pigs and are talking to them, ruffling up the wood chips in their cage. I notice a little red on some chips under the ramp (yes, there's a ramp -- I'm married to an overachiever after all) and then I notice two tiny brown lumps tucked under the ramp as well.)

E: Oh my gosh! Oh my! O boy! Holy Cow! So, the pet store said they were both girls. Um, the pet store is wrong.

J: How can you tell? Is one of them still super fat?

E: No. No. And that one wasn't fat. And it's not fat anymore.

J: What do you mean?

E: J! Stop playing Super Mario Brothers and get over here! Stop asking me all these questions and just come look!

J: I can't! I'm in the middle of a really hard level! If that's true, that is not even funny.

E: Well, it's a little funny...

And it is a little funny. And they are super cute. And the inbreeding parents will be separated.

Pictures forthcoming. Good thing guinea pigs aren't prone to cannibalizing their babies like other rodents. Good thing.