Pebble's Solemn Collection

Pebble (a different Pebble) was a Chinese hamster, slender with a dark stripe down his back. His hoarding instinct extended beyond food. He had a secondary cache, separate from his food stash, where he kept small, interesting objects: a smooth river pebble (hence his name), a glass bead, a button (monitored for safety), a dried bean. He would periodically take these items out, examine them, and put them back. It was as if he were a curator. His cage was a natural history museum of tiny, curated finds. His passing felt like the closing of a unique, small museum.