An Ode to Ande ~ My Belated yet Beloved Clever, Cheeky Chinchilla 💖✨️ (1st Medal, 1st Win?! THANK YOU!)

An Ode to My Ande, named after The Andes Mountains, with an amazing 13 years together during my teenage and young adulthood years...

Ande was a middle-aged rescue, coming from a neglectful group of humans who "collected" less/ uncommon "exotic" animals, for reasons I will never understand. I saw plea for help to find him a loving home, one who would be willing to give him the physical AND emotional attention he needed, to TRY to be nursed back to health, with a "high possibility" he would never be a "companion pet" (I despise the word "pet"!), as his fear of humans had sunk deeply during the first 6ish years of his life. (DID YOU KNOW, the AVERAGE lifespan of a healthy Chinchilla is 20+ years?!)...

I was accepted by the rescue as he "surprisingly" allowed me to hold, let alone touch him. The ONCE scrawny, skittish Ande lived the remaining years of his life with his cage door OPEN, running around freely with me, kitties, & other furry children! Transformed FLUFFY CLEVER TRICKSTER! ❤️