Hamster
Hamster (subfamily Cricetinae),
any of 18 Eurasian species of rodents possessing internal cheek pouches. The golden hamster of Syria is commonly kept as a pet. Hamsters are stout-bodied, with tails much shorter than
body length and have small, furry ears, short, stocky legs, and wide feet.
Their thick, long fur ranges from grayish to reddish brown, depending upon the
species underparts are white to shades of gray and black. The Dzhungarian Hamster and the Striped
Dwarf Hamster have a dark stripe down the middle of the back. Dwarf Desert Hamsters are smallest, with bodies 5 to 10 cm
long, the largest is the Common Hasmter, measuring up to
34 cm long, not including a short tail of up to 6 cm.
Hamsters are generally solitary
and primarily nocturnal, although they are sometimes active in the early
morning or late evening. They do not climb but are excellent diggers,
constructing burrows with one or more entrances and with
galleries that are connected to chambers for nesting, food storage, and other
activities. They also appropriate tunnels made by other mammals. Their diet
consists mostly of grains but also includes fruit, roots, green parts of plants,
invertebrates, and other small animals. Hamsters carry food in their spacious
cheek pouches to cache in the burrow. None hibernates during winter, but some
experience periods of torpor lasting from a few days to several weeks. Breeding
season is from April to October, with two to five litters of 1 to 13 young
being born after a gestation period of 13 to 22 days.
Hamsters’ northern range extends
from central Europe through Siberia, Mongolia, and northern China to Korea. The
southern portion of their range stretches from Syria to Pakistan. Throughout
dry, open country they inhabit desert borders, vegetated sand dunes, shrubby
and rocky foothills and plateaus, river valleys, and mountain steppes; some
live among cultivated crops. Geographic distribution varies greatly between
species. The common hamster, for example, is found from central Europe to
western Siberia and northwestern China, but the golden hamster has been found
only near a small town in northwestern Syria.
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