After Míriel passed away, I stared at the empty aquarium for weeks while I daily checked online for a Syrian to adopt as that is my preference. I couldn't find any Syrian hamsters within a 100 miles on Petfinder, and eventually I decided that I couldn't look at the empty cage any longer. So on a Saturday morning, Joe and I went to Petsmart, and I fell in love with a boy they named Moo. We bought him and then made a quick stop to pick up our breakfast order. For most of the drive home, this little guy was rummaging around. When we got home and he got to go into his new home, he stayed up for hours running on his new wheel, only taking short breaks to explore a bit. Eventually he tired himself out and went to bed. He was already tame when I brought him home and has been such a joy to have!
Pretty quickly, Joe and I settled on the name Beorn. It was on the top of my list for boy names, but I hadn't used it before because I thought it sounded too close to Beren, or Border collie we had years ago. Beorn is, of course, a character from Tolkien's works, who you meet specifically in The Hobbit. He was a great warrior who had the ability to change into a great black bear. He was a lover of animals, and gave hospitality to Gandalf, Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the Dwarves on their quest to go to the Lonely Mountain. Beorn is an Old English word, which originally meant "bear" but also "warrior", "hero", and "man of valour". I thought Beorn was the perfect name for this little, mostly black, teddy bear. :) Having this precious hamster has been such a blessing to me!
