Back in college, one of my pledge brothers had a pet chinchilla in his dorm room (Freshmen year). Why he had it, I have no idea. It crapped all over the floor.

At any rate, one late night, someone scooped the chinchilla up in a lacrosse stick and sent it sailing out the third floor window, never to be seen again.

Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."