MESOCRICETUS AURATUS ~ the name means "medium-sized golden hamster"...
THE GOLDEN OR SYRIAN HAMSTER many of us knew as childhood (or adult) pets is actually an endangered species in the wild.
It is said (and DNA typing backs this up) that every pet hamster in the world pet trade came from ONE nest unearthed by accident at an archaeological dig near Aleppo, Turkey in 1930.
Whether these are actual wild golden hamsters or faked up pictures who cares, but you get an idea of what some Syrians and Turks might encounter on a hiking weekend:
Some of the original captive hamster-family died, but at least two of the young did breed, and from this pairing every hamster sold in the pet trade today is descended.
Here's a family of golden hamsters out for a ramble. Don't they look cute:
"HAMSTER" is a German word meaning "hoarder" ... Watch this!
Haha loved the video. Is that the same one that can spell? They are definitely cute. Had one as a child in England but they're not permitted here. We only have mice and rats because they made it of their own accord.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't believe the amount of food that hamster stored away, although that last piece of carrot needed a bit of rearranging.
ReplyDeleteThat was a cute video, especially run in reverse.
Loved the vid!
ReplyDeleteOver the summer, I encountered some furry creatures and thought of you, Gledwood, but I was so preoccupied with the kids I never had time to write on my blog or any place else!
Hamsters in the wild. Sounds terrifying.
ReplyDeleteAleppo is in Syria not Turkey by the way. And recent evidence has shown that there were at least two other instances that wild syrian hamsters were introduced into today's pet syrian's breeding lines. Meaning that all pet syrian hamster do not descend from one family.
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