Saturday 28th October 2000
Nuffin the Hamster reminisces on the sad demise of Dak the hamster


I remember my first tentative efforts at putting paw to word processor and attempting to express what I felt deep within all those months ago. Of course, by then, Dak was already famous and his articles were what every hamster strove to emulate. Yes, I can remember that first article I saw in the Rodent Weekly that my owners used to get and the beaming grin on the face of the 'reporter-of-the-moment' as he detailed what we as hamsters could expect from the Ganjette Presidential Campaign.

My own efforts always seemed so futile by comparison that I have very little which still survives from those early days for I regularly screwed up the ode or article and discarded it in the ever expanding waste paper bin.

It was just such one of these scraps of doggerel that eventually found its way into the possession of Dak at the Rodent Weekly - sent there by my owners - who noticed a budding writer. How he was ever able to perceive that undeveloped talent even at that early stage I have no idea. Especially when the verse he read was my 'Diatribe to the Pet Shop owner on the corner' which ran to eight volumes.

But, being summoned to the offices, I met Dak early one morning after a supper had been set before us all. He was as gracious as I'd always imagined him to be and took large amounts of time to show me writing techniques, how to hold a pen and how, even when you couldn't read what you'd written shortpaw, it was fairly easy to make up whatever you wanted the interviewee to have said because they rarely read the articles anyhow.

These tiny snippets of wisdom will never leave me and I feel indebted to have once been regarded as his assistant and 'junior'.

Dak died on Tuesday 24th October as most will be aware who access the daily RW bulletins and I was given the almost unenviable task of going through his possessions. But, even though I was filled with immediate apprehension, I uncovered a wealth of new material which, as far as I'm aware, never saw the light of day in the final pages of the RW.

Here was a secret Dak the Hamster that very few people had ever discovered - a hamster who was defiant in his quest to write the truth where possible and to make up stories only at the very last resort. Here was a hamster who cared for his fellow rodents with a kindness that even I hadn't realised was possible.

Therefore, with the permission of the editor, I've chosen one such article which, to date, has never seen the light of day and will run it in next week's RW. Entitled 'Headline News', it seems to be rather poignant seeing as it deals with the Hamster Presidential Campaign and it will, I assure you, reveal to everyone a Dak that no one knew.

Before I close, I must add my condolences to his two owners - Lee and Kath - who looked after the great Dak through his last moments when his health got the better of him. May they have many more hamsters like Dak - and may the rodent world take care to appreciate the commitment of both these humans to self-financing workers here at the RW.

Editorial Note

We have decided to grant the mirror site of the Rodent Weekly - attached to the George the Hamster web site - exclusive rights to run the articles we produce (notably those written by Nuffin) until the Presidential Elections have ended. Even though Nuffin isn't a pet owned by Lee and Kath, we feel that their contribution to this magazine warrants such an honour.

Nuffin the Hamster writes for the Rodent Weekly.
This article appears courtesy of that paper.

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