Freezers: Not Just For Ice Cubes

A month ago, I was taking a stab at straightening out the contents of my freezer when I came across what I thought was an empty quart-sized freezer bag tucked in the freezer door. Just as I was throwing it away, I saw something in the bottom of the bag.

A tick. A frozen tick.

I went to the most likely culprit for stashing a tick in my freezer and asked why it was there (note I did not bother to ask if he were the one who put it there).

"Because I got bitten by it, so I saved it in case I get some horrible disease," said the College Boy, holding out his arm and showing me a small red place on his forearm.

He is still alive.

And there is still a frozen tick in my freezer.

I am unmoved by this, because I have two dead hamsters in a toilet paper tube in the basement freezer.

I cannot be exactly sure about how long they have been in there. I know it was before August of 2010, because that's when we got the two guinea pigs, and we were rodent-free when we got those. 

Hamster #1 is buried at my parents' lake house (next to two of my cats - hey, the ground is sandy and diggable). Hamster #2 dropped dead two days after his pet store warranty expired. He got wrapped in a kleenex and tucked in a toilet paper tube and put in the freezer (in a quart-sized freezer bag) for interment at a future date. Hamster #3, who only had three legs and one ear, as an aside, joined Hamster #2 about a year later. At that time, we decided we were not hamster people.

(We are no longer guinea pig people, either, since I was the only one who played with them after the initial cuteness wore off and was the only one who took care of their other basic needs in any way. Do you have any idea how much a guinea pig can poop? I swear they are the only animal that can manage to poop more than they eat. They went to live with a nice family with two kids. Really. This isn't one of those "we sent Shep to live in the country where he can run freely" scams.)

You may, at this time, be relieved to know the only other thing I have ever had in my freezer that needed to be buried was my daughter's volleyball knee pads. Did you know that knees sweat? And that volleyball knee pads absorb all that sweat and then stink to high Heaven, and no manner of washing or using baking soda concoctions will get rid of it? Trust me when I tell you it is a stank you don't want to experience. My husband got the bright idea to seal her knee pads in a freezer bag (gallon-sized this time) and freeze them for a few days, thinking this would kill whatever bacteria was causing the God-awful aroma. 

Stinks even to her, and she licks
her own butt.

She now has new knee pads.

Interment of the hamsters and tick is still pending.