are hamsters a genetically altered species that we've invented for childhood pets.. or are there wild hamsters roaming the fields of some far off land?
2006-07-17 00:50:51 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
In 1839, British zoologist George Waterhouse reportedly found an elderly female hamster in Syria, naming it "Cricetus auratus," the Golden Hamster.
Around 1930, zoologist and Professor at the University of Jerusalem Aharoni found a mother and litter of hamsters in the Syrian desert. By the time he got back to his lab, most had died or escaped. The remaining hamsters were given to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where they were successfully bred as Golden Hamsters. They were a bit bigger than the ones Waterhouse found, so they were named "Mesocricetus auratus", although they were probably the same species.
The hamsters were shipped to labs all around the world. They arrived in the United Kingdom in 1931, and in 1938 reached the United States. Just about all Golden Hamsters are descended from the original litter found in Syria except for a few that were brought into the United States by travellers who found them in the desert. A separate stock of hamsters was imported into the US in 1971, but it isn't known if any of today's North American pets are descended from them.
In the wild, hamsters are a nuisance to farmers. Hamsters have been known to hide in excess of 60 pounds of grain to feed them through the winter.
2006-07-17 00:56:27 · answer #1 · answered by fuhreezing 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, there are a number of wild hamster species including the ones from which pet hamsters are derived, found everywhere from Russia to Israel, and beyond. The various oddly colored or furred ones you see are the results of naturally occurring gene mutations deliberately maintained by people.
If they were invented as childhood pets, they wouldn't have had those damned little needle-teeth-of-death that they do.
2006-07-17 08:02:28 · answer #2 · answered by Echinopanax 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hamsters are by nature wild. The first known hamster is a Syrian hamster and all the pet hamsters we see now in the market originated from her ( which is not that long ago ). Like the likings of our pet dogs, hamsters are now tame and breed as pet. Their native enviroments are the cold rocky mountains tops. And by their breed name, i am sure you guys know the country their originated from, right?
2006-07-17 08:21:14 · answer #3 · answered by Larina 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think so. I had a hamster for a pet once and he lived for 3 years. He was an extremely nice hamster. Some hamsters bite, but this one never did. Even my mother wasn't afraid to hold him. He loved to be held and petted.
2006-07-17 07:53:27 · answer #4 · answered by Pinolera 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you ever see NOVA's "Secrets of Lost Empires" on PBS? When they were in South America looking at the Incas, the filmmakers saw guinea pigs in the wild looking exactly like household pets.
Some of the Peruvians were cooking and eating the guinea pigs. Yum.
2006-07-17 09:29:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
they're wild, a form of rodentia not unlike the pika of north america
2006-07-17 07:53:08 · answer #6 · answered by Susie K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsters
2006-07-17 07:53:03 · answer #7 · answered by nick m 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the latter part sounds more correct!
2006-07-17 07:52:14 · answer #8 · answered by Sweetie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
real
2006-07-17 07:53:58 · answer #9 · answered by avbb2006 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hAMSTERS ARE REAL !!!!!!!!!!!
2006-07-17 07:52:35 · answer #10 · answered by The Boss of the World 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋