Anthropomorphizing hamsters

"Bruce C. Miller" wrote in message

> I've been a hamster owner now for about 8 months. I watch and play
> with them every day, so I've had plenty of time to make many
> observations of hamsters and the way their owners (sometimes
> mistakenly) view them.
>

Youve not been watching properly!!!lol!

You have to understand each animals intelligence within its own specific
species related activities. You cant for example compare the intelligence of
another species against human behaviour (or another species). In a lot of
areas we score very poorly on the intelligence scale.

For instance:-

Dogs can now be used to smell the difference between normal skin cells and
melanoma cells. Our sense of smell is pathetic in comparison. Its an
accepted fact that everytime we evolved, dogs adjusted their evolution to
match ours.

Cats are clever in a different way. A 6-week kitten walks into a new home
and immediately subdues a 7 stone GSD with a clout. The dog then spends its
whole life protecting the cat with its life.

Our kittens grew up loving the hamster (who was dominant - it demonstrated
this with well placed nip when one tried to give it a wash through the
bars). When they were spayed the hamster removed their stitches a week
later. This meant they had laid around the cage and held still while she
performed the surgery. The vet said she'd timed it just right and he would
have taken the stitches out had there been any left. Finding the stitches in
the hamsters bed left me feeling somewhat queezy I must add!!

The queue for treats was assembled with both cats at the front and the dogs
behind. The hamsters then pushed their way through in the playballs so they
were in front of the cats. This may give a clue as to their place in the
household pecking order??

My syrians would come when called in their balls. A couple of them would
come when out of the ball. They clearly respond to certain words like
"apple". The last 2 would get up on top of their loo jars when asked if
they wanted to come out of the cage. Asking them "are you ready for the
lift" and they would sit still ready for for me to pick them up.

They also had enough communicational skills to indicate by banging round my
ankles in a certain way whether they wanted to go back into the cage for a
wee or snack. Admittedly i have kept hamsters for 50yrs so maybe I'm very
well trained? I'm also part nocturnal myself having worked nights for
years, so maybe I spent more time with them than the average. They knew
which nights i worked and were waiting up for me in the morning.

Now to your observations:-

1.Hamsters like some other species recycle some faeces. They do it to
promote the digestive flora within their guts. Its essential for good
health.

2. Animals have advanced "smell" techniques which we as humans find
distasteful. Native trackers still use taste as do many reknowned trackers.

3. They are very tenacious. A hamster will keep trying until he succeeds.
Youve only seen the failed attempts.

4. Cage chewing can be the symptoms of a bored or neglected hamster. But in
most cases they are simply honing their teeth to a fine edge. If you watch
carefully you will see the hamster stop and run his/her tongue across his
teeth then either stop or continue. All my syrians preferred bars to wood.
If I put a wooden chew in it was nibbled briefly then discarded. However
during an escape/adventure they can go through 2 inches of wooden barrier in
a few minutes. For some reason wooden spoons found on the floor have to have
the bowl severed from the handle.

5. Cannibalism - most animals do in certain circumstances. A mother will
"recycle" a dead or deformed baby. If a mother is disturbed or frightened
its not uncommon for her to kill the babies. Its part of natuure - if she
has to run then she couldnt raise the babies any way and she must preserve
her strength to breed again - so no waste.

Syrians are solitary and shouldnt be housed together much past 5-6 weeks.
Sooner if bullying starts. They will fight to the death and again instinct
cuts in.

Keep watching its better than tv.

:o)




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