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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Hamster
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INFOTEXT
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1992-12-23
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The hamster was discovered around the year
1930 by I. Aharoni, a zoology professor in
Jerusalem. One day he discovered a strange
burrow near Aleppo, Syria. He followed the
burrow to find a mother hamster and her
litter, of that litter only one male and two
females survived, these are the great
ancestors of virtually ever hamster alive
today!
There are many species of hamster the most
common species of which is the syrian
hamster. The largest specis is the common
hamster which can grow to an amazing 12
inches (30cm) long! The average hamster is
4-6 inches (10-15cm) long.
Hamsters are nocturnal by nature and
coveniently hoard large amounts of food in
their cheeks to eat as daytime snacks. In
fact their name comes from the german word
"hamstern", meaning "to hoard."
Hamsters share other rodent characteristics
such as incisors that never stop growing,
they need to gnaw and chew a lot in order to
keep them sharp and in correct proportion.
Hamsters have incredibly strong front legs
which have four toes and a thumb, the rear
legs have 5 toes. They also have an
exetremely well-developed sense of smell and
can smell food and predators from a
surprising distance.
Hamsters are used in two ways by humans, in
laboratories though mainly as household pets.
Scientists like the hamster because they are
exetremely clean creatures and very disease
free. They are more commonly kept as pets
due to their friendly and lovable nature,
where they are enjoyed by people of all ages.
Hamsters tend to prefer solitude and will
live very happily on their own, some
hamsters, particularily the russian dwarf
species, will live with a partner for life,
but it is rare for syrian hamsters to do
this.
They are very active animals and require a
lot of exercise, so it is unfair to keep a
hamster in a small cage without a form of
exercise such as a hamster wheel.
Syrian hamsters reach sexual maturity at
about 6 weeks and they breed very quickly!
The typical female can have a litter of about
6-15 young. The mother can become very
uptight especially in captivity and may eat
her children if she senses a human or a
mature male hamster.
Subject by: Andy Savage