Tuesday, July 8, 2014

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.


18 comments:

  1. My dad used to tie fishing flies professionally, and stored his supplies of feathers and fur in our freezer. I see nothing wrong here. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Exactly! I'd rather have feathers and fur (which, now that I think about it, I do have) in my freezer than the stinky knee pads, even sealed in a bag.

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  2. I will confess...I stopped reading at "At that time, we decided we were not hamster people."

    As much as I heart you Dyanne....enough is enough. I will leave it at that. <3

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    Replies
    1. Hamsters are not hardy animals, especially those teeny little Dwarf Russians my daughter was fond of.

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  3. I was going to say I am completely against any and all animals being frozen. Until I realized I have a dead pig in my freezer.
    Yours are still gross, though. Get rid of them!

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    1. I can't just get rid of them! I have to bury them! Believe me, I'd rather have dead pig in my freezer, especially the backside of one, nicely cured.

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  4. Blech - they're STILL THERE?!?!? Minging! You were AT THE LAKE HOUSE! Someday you gotta remember them and GET RID!


    And the tick? Why is that still there? *grinning* you do make me larf :D

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    Replies
    1. I KEEP FORGETTING TO TAKE THEM WITH US! They are in the freezer of an extra fridge that we don't get into very often.

      We still have the tick, apparently, and this is according to the bitee, because he still has a red spot where it was and he wants to make sure it doesn't turn into something deadly.

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  5. Ummmm...yuk! I think it's time to do something about the frozen critters.
    I put my son's stinky baseball hats in the freezer because I heard that it gets rid of the sweaty smell. I guess it doesn't work for volleyball knee pads....this is good to know.

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    1. One of y'all should REMIND ME next time I say I'm going to the lake house.

      Oh, the knee pads. Stink, stank, stunk. Gives you something to look forward to, doesn't it?

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  6. Remind me when I come for a sleepover that I should only eat FRESH foods and nothing from your freezer ;)

    As an aside, soccer shin guards also absorb and retain the highest funk. Knees I can see sweating, but shins?!? Seriously, they are the worst. And now I won't bother putting them in the freezer...thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'll be fine as long as you don't eat anything served from a toilet paper tube....

      Ick, I didn't realize that about shin guards. My son played soccer for a few years in elementary school, but he spent all his time avoiding the ball and any chance of being kicked and really never worked up a sweat. I am resigned to the fact that the knee pads need to be replaced once a year, minimum.

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  7. I can totally understand where your son was coming from with the tick in the freezer - it would have been handy to know exactly WHAT bit him if he did succumb to some deadly disease but as he's still living and breathing then I think you could dispose of it now.

    I also get where you're coming from with the hamsters - I've had hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits and the odd cat in my freezer (not all at once though!) if they've died during the winter months and the ground has been too hard to dig a hole and bury them. I've not kept anything as long as you have though!

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  8. so where is the logic in "ick" re shin guards and not re dead hamsters in the freezer... As someone who ran a cadaver lab with a walk in freezer I can honestly say I never thought of storing my lunch in there despite the fact we didnt have a refrigerator in the department. hmmmmmmmm.... maybe its just me. NAW...

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  9. When I had my fish tank, I had a snail problem (as in, they reproduce faster than rabbits) and the internet said to put them in the freezer to humanely kill them. Unfortunately, I was in college and my freezer was about 4inches wide, so I would throw them in the pond on campus... until I got lazy and just started flushing them down the toilet. My roommate eventually found out what I was doing and would take them to the marine bio lab on campus.

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  10. Weirdest thing I ever saw in a freezer was pantyhose. (Well, until now...)
    My Grandmother used to freeze them before wearing because she swore it kept them from getting runners. Know what? She was right - it totally works.
    Of course, I gave up wearing pantyhose for Lent about 20 years ago, so what do I know?
    Those critters gotta go, but I still love you!

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