It’s a HAMSTER, not a GERBIL, Jpod. But this is one of those things people never get straight, like tortoise (feet) vs. turtle (flippers).
You want gerbil stories? I got gerbil stories.
My sister Judith was an elementary school teacher. One of her classes had a pet gerbil, which of course the kids adored. One day the gerbil went missing. Kids heart-broken. Still missing after several days.
Then, cleaning up after class, Judith happened to disturb a folding table stacked in one corner of the classroom. The leaves of the table came apart, and there, reduced to two dimensions, was the gerbil. Judith: “I can handle any classroom situation so long as I have a pair of rubber gloves.”