LANSING, Mich. – Have you heard about that time when hundreds of critters broke out of their boxes and took over a Michigan airport?
Yeah, that actually happened. Exactly 33 years ago Friday, more than 250 gerbils and hamsters invaded the Capital Region International Airport in Lansing.
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Remember: 1991 was a different time. It was the last year of the Cold War. The internet was released outside research, and the first website was created. Nirvana released Nevermind. Dr. Jack Kevorkian was barred from assisting in suicides, Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested, and Clarence Thomas was appointed to the Supreme Court.
But most importantly: the hamsters. And gerbils.
On Aug. 23, 1991, hundreds of gerbils and hamsters that were being shipped from Mississippi chewed their way out of their boxes and spread across the Capital Region International Airport.
Have you seen Die Hard 2? I imagine it was exactly like that.
“We’ve found them clear in the other end of the airport,” said then-airport-employee Barbara McWilliams at the time. “A lot of people have been taking them home as pets.”
By the end of the day, about half of the rodents had been captured, but the rest were believed to have made it to hiding spaces.
Realistically, they’re probably long gone today. The Lansing airport saw significant renovations over the next 10 years and I’m sure what remaining nests were either relocated or cleared out.
And while the lifespan of these tiny pets is only a few years, I’d like to imagine there’s an entire community that still lives in secret at the airport.
Have you seen The Terminal? I imagine it’s exactly like that.
This originally was published in ClickOnDetroit’s Morning Report Newsletter. You can get Metro Detroit’s news, headlines, deep dives and more in your inbox every morning.
