# What's... umm... what's a... a umm... \*cough\* gerbil? \*cough\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2000, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555 "2000-10-19T17:27:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MadHatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/1 "2000-10-19T17:27:25Z")
I have absolutely NFI. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/2 "2000-10-19T17:37:51Z")
Well, I’m not sure it begins to get to the heart of your question, but gerbils are little rodents that are kept as pets, about the size of a hamster, but with a long tail, and longer back legs (like little kangaroos.) I believe they are native to some desert area. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/3 "2000-10-19T17:38:13Z")
It’s a small rodent, often kept as a pet. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/4 "2000-10-19T19:43:52Z")
You know, kind of like a doormouse. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/5 "2000-10-19T19:50:12Z")
Photo of a gerbil is at the top of this page: [http://www.geocities.com/amergerbsoc/Breeders.html](http://www.geocities.com/amergerbsoc/Breeders.html) Hope that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/6 "2000-10-19T20:18:24Z")
> [@](#): > > You know, kind of like a doormouse. 😉 Or a _back_door mouse! (As Urban Legend would have it.) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/7 "2000-10-19T20:51:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > You know, kind of like a doormouse. 😉 > > Or a _back_door mouse! (As Urban Legend would have it.) 😃 > \*\* Now, now. That’s not _door_mouse, that’s _dor_mouse, as in _dor_mant. The dormouse is the champion hibernator among mammals, often spending as much as seven months out of the year sleeping off its riotous hunt for seeds. Crossing this with the [You ate WHAT?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=42719) thread, the Romans considered candied dormice (yes, the plural is really “dormice”, not “dormouses”) a delicacy. I’ve seen clay plots that were essentially primitive Habitrail sets; you put a dormouse in, and fed the little sucker grain until it was to fat to squeeze out of the holes again. Then you poured in the boiling honey… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/8 "2000-10-19T21:44:34Z")
**Akatsukami** , consider yourself WHOOSHED! ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/9 "2000-10-20T03:28:03Z")
I have the feeling that the OP was maybe referring to the rumored sexual uses of said rodent… if so, we probably haven’t helped him much… and I don’t intend to right now either, because my girlfriend is here, and may wander over at any moment to see what I am up to… if she sees me typing furiously away about stuffing gerbils up people’s assholes, I’m liable to end up with my keyboard stuffed up there as well (she thinks I have a dirty mind…) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/10 "2000-10-20T05:15:27Z")
Let’s get this straight. A gerbil is like a small beaver … no, that’s not right … they enjoy being in confined spaces … um … they enjoy nibbling on nuts … well… ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/11 "2000-10-20T09:09:36Z")
Another thing: how is it pronounced? I’ve heard both options. So, is it gerbil with a g as in “gigantic” (the first g, of course), or with a g as in “glue”? ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/12 "2000-10-20T09:12:57Z")
I have always heard it pronuonced with a g as in gigantic. ---
**Author:** ![Eggs\_a\_la\_Ted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Eggs\_a\_la\_Ted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eggs_a_la_Ted)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-umm-whats-a-a-umm-cough-gerbil-cough/37555/13 "2000-10-20T14:08:27Z")
You can also shoot them out of a cannon. [http://www.adcritic.com/content/outpost.com-gerbils.html](http://www.adcritic.com/content/outpost.com-gerbils.html)