Pets Corner

JEAN ELLIOT, of Upminster, warns readers not to be too hasty in declaring their hamsters dead (Independent Traveller, 23 October). 'Years ago, after disposing of one I believed was dead, I was told they sometimes go into comas, indistinguishable from death, but wake up later. Was mine really dead? I was sure it was, but for years I've wondered if I could have made an awful mistake.' Perhaps the appropriate legend for hamsters' headstones should be: Not dead, only sleeping.