Gerbil Competition

Yesterday, in Bedford, there was a gerbil show. Oscar Eliot is currently traveling across the country and was unfortunately unable to compete (even though I didn't even know about the opportunity until I read this article on BostonNow.com). Had he competed, he would've definitely won the Best White Belly category, considering the runner-up was a handicapped defect. He would've also placed in Cutest Face, Best Gnawer, and...Best Fed?

Only one top gerbil? Gnaw, they're all Best In Show.

"It's the equivalent to the Westminster Kennel Club in there!" Judith Block from New York City said about the American Gerbil Society's 6th annual New England Gerbil Show. More than 200 people and their 77 show-gerbils squeezed, scurried and gnawed their way through the crowded Lexington Room of the Bedford Best Western last Saturday.

Braving bad weather and even worse directions, the Blocks
made it to the hotel on Thursday. It was worth it - they picked up their brand
new 11-week-old Gerbil pups, Pete and Guthrie.

Block says her special gerbil was Phoebe. "She would chew cardboard into sculptures," she said. "She had an artistic soul."

Amateur gerbilists took part in Pet Class competitions. Best Gnawer, Most Adventurous and Cutest Face were only some of the categories open to these gerbil competitors.

Tracy Kukkonen's Mochi took first place in Most Adventurous.

"He climbs on everything," Kukkonen said.

By the end of the day, Renee and Tom Arena and their son Justin Salmons from Waltham were on edge. It was a nail-biter as Buffy defended her crown for Best White Belly, while Blackie competed for the first time in the Best Color category.

It was looking grim for Blackie. Judges discovered a minor eye injury.

"They're in there splitting whiskers," Arena said.

In the end, Blackie took second place in her category. The Blocks pup, Pete, took third in the Spotted category. Block wasn't upset that Guthrie didn't place.

"All my children are special," she said.