Christmas is coming — Are you ready? The two busiest shopping days of the year — the Friday and Saturday before Christmas — are right around the corner. Have you checked off all the items on your Christmas list?

When it comes to this season’s hottest toy, it’s time for Elmo to step aside and set the stage for… a fake hamster. Yes, that’s right. Introducing Zhu Zhu Pets, tiny automated hamsters that scamper out of stores as quickly as they arrive. I’m not sure I understand the attraction.

They are interactive, emitting chirps, little phrases and other noises when their backs are stroked or their noses pressed. They can zoom in all directions and act accordingly to where they are, like snoring in their bedroom. On the plus side: unlike actual hamsters, they don’t bite, smell — or potty. But other than the lack of cleanup, why have these rodents become the rage? 

“The first thing to remember about any fad is it’s not science — we really don’t know,” New York-based toy industry consultant Richard Gottlieb said in The Patriot-News. “It’s a matter of the right product at the right moment in time.” It could be the high cute factor… and the low retail price of just $10.

But whatever the reason, people are going cuckoo over Zhu Zhus this holiday season — and they are becoming more and more elusive in stores and online. If you’re still looking to capture one before this Christmas, let the hunt begin!