264 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1949 
in their normal position. The animals solve this problem very 
readily, however, by throwing themselves on the back or side and 
cutting upward with their teeth. A picture of such an effort is shown 
in which my “Shehammy” has thrown herself on her back and is 
trying to cut upward on the lower edge of a door so that she can 
squeeze through the crack between it and the floor (pl. 1, fig. 1). 
This aperture was only seven-eighths of an inch high and, when she 
tried to force her way through it standing on her feet, she was much 
too thick and her body was much too tense, but in the inverted posi- 
tion she extended her arms forward so that she was able to get a grasp 
on the lower edge of the door and pull herself through the crevice, 
which she did repeatedly. This ‘““chammy,”’ one of my pets, did it 
regularly, and I have seen other rodents do it occasionally. 
Frequently one of my golden hamsters, when permitted to run 
about my study in the evening, would clamber up in the crack between 
a bookcase and the wall a foot or more above the floor and stay there 
for a considerable time. She usually rested by bracing her feet 
against the wall and her back against the bookcase and apparently 
was content to stay in that position. This suggests to me that these 
animals adopt such a position as a means of being comfortable in 
fissures between the rocks among which they live. 
When hamsters want to get down from an elevation that they have 
reached, they apparently do not think of jumping down even a few 
inches, but lower themselves as far as possible with the hind feet, 
sustaining themselves by the top of the hind feet, which are bent at the 
ankle. Next they release one foot and then the other and fall head 
downward, usually landing on their noses, but sometimes on their 
backs (pl. 2). They then sit up, sneeze, rub their noses, and go about 
their business. It will be noted that they do not utilize their hind 
claws or toes which are too small to be effective. This method, 
while probably a relatively inefficient action, has persisted because 
it is not seriously harmful in the circumstances under which they 
live, and is the best they can do with their short fingers and toes 
which are not of much use to them for such descents. 
At night, when foraging for food, hamsters apparently spend very 
little time eating, preferring to fill their pouches, take the load of food 
home, and return for more (pl. 1, fig. 2). In this way they gather 
food when it is available and eat at leisure in their nests without 
being exposed to danger. During the daytime, their sleeping period, 
they frequently wake up and eat, probably consuming much more 
food at this time than during the night when they are actively foraging, 
grooming, exploring, or visiting their neighbors. 
When “‘hammies” are away from their homes or other shelter and 
there is a sudden alarm, they dash for shelter with surprising speed for 
little folk with short legs but if they are touched or attacked before 
