Hamsters rising from the dead sounds like an after-school low-budget horror film for children. For one family, such an ordeal actually happened, but the result was far sweeter.

Lisa Kilbourne-Smith and James Davis were watching Tink the hamster as its owners were gone. Everything was apparently all right until they found Tink dead at the bottom of his cage. After the shocking find, they buried the little guy under a foot of dirt.

Then something “miraculous” happened – Tink was discovered the next day alive and well rummaging around some old boxes. As it turns out, Tink was merely hibernating. Hamster hibernation is frequently mistaken for death apparently.

Stil, the family thinks that Tink’s natural resurrection is nothing short of a miracle. The hamster’s reemergence on Good Friday has only added to the wonder with the family reportedly now calling the hamster “Jesus.”

[Arbroath via Gawker]