M2 



THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. 



faces of the fore legs down to the feet, the inner 

 surface of the hind legs, and a band over the fore- 

 head are black, while the feet are white. There are, 

 in point of coloration, a great many varieties, how- 

 ever: some are quite black, others are black with a 

 white throat and a gray scalp; others again are pale 

 above and light gray below, with whitish shoulders; 

 completely white individuals are also found occa- 

 sionally. 



The Burrow of Its burrows consist of a large living 

 the Ham- chamber, from three to six feet deep, 

 ster. a sloping tunnel, termed a "creeping 



hole," and a perpendicular entrance tunnel. The 

 chamber communicates with the store-room by pas- 

 sages. A Hamster's burrow is easily recognized by 

 the heap of earth in front of the creeping hole, 

 which is usually strewn with chaff and pods, the ref- 

 use of its food. The entrance tunnel is always per- 

 pendicular, sometimes being so straight that one can 

 thrust a long stick into it; it does not lead straight 

 to the sleeping chamber, however, but diverges from 

 a right line either horizontally or obliquely. The 

 secondary tunnel, on the other hand, seldom runs 

 straight, usually describing a curve. One can easily 

 see by the appearance of the tunnels whether a bur- 

 row is inhabited or not. If moss, mould or grass be 

 found in them, or if they have a rough, unbeaten 

 appearance, it is certain that they are deserted; for 

 every Hamster keeps his house and its doorway 

 remarkably clean and in order. Of the chambers, 

 the smooth-walled living room is the smaller and it 

 is always filled with very fine straw, usually the 

 sheaths of grass blades, which form a soft bedding. 

 Three tunnels converge in it: the one from the en- 

 trance tunnel, the other from the creeping hole, and 

 the third leading from the store-room. The store- 

 room bears a complete resemblance to the first 

 chamber, and is usually filled with the winter store 

 of corn toward autumn. Young Hamsters have 

 only one store-room, but old ones dig from three to ' 

 five store-rooms, and in each at least a peck of grain 

 may be found. 



Formerly it was erroneously believed and asserted 

 that the Hamster piled up different kinds of grain 

 in separate heaps. The fact is that it brings in the 

 grains as it finds them and the depositing of these 

 grains in separate stores is not due to the sense of 

 order in the Hamster but it is because it finds only 

 one certain kind of grain at a certain time. The 

 burrow of the female differs in some respects from 

 the one we have described; it has only one creepiiig 

 hole, but from two to eight perpendicular entrances, 

 though only one of them is in constant use as long 

 as her progeny are still young. 



Physical Pecul- The Hamster is a comparatively 



iarities of the agile animal in spite of its apparent 

 Hamster. clumsiness. Its gait is of a creeping 

 character and resembles that of the Hedgehog, the 

 abdomen nearly trailing on the ground; the length of 

 its steps is short. When it is excited or aroused its 

 movements are more violent and it may then make 

 fairly long and high leaps. It is an expert in digging. 

 If put into a barrel containing earth it immediately 

 sets to work. It usually breaks the ground with its 

 fore-feet, but when the soil is hard it uses its teeth 

 also; the earth is first thrown under the abdomen; 

 from there the hind legs fling it backward. When 

 it reaches a depth too great to thus cast out the loose 

 earth it walks backward and pushes out quite a 

 quantity at once; but it never conveys earth in its 

 mouth or fills its cheek pouches with it, as has been 



erroneously asserted. Its movements when swim- 

 ming are not awkward, though it sedulously shuns 

 water. If it is thrown into a vessel filled with a 

 liquid it swims briskly around, growling furiously 

 all the time and generally showing that it feels 

 highly indignant and uncomfortable. When taken 

 by surprise by an enemy it immediately rises upon 

 its hind legs and lets its fore-paws hang down, one 

 usually being a little lower than the other. In this 

 position it glares at the object of its resentment, 

 evidently quite ready for an opportunity of rushing 

 at it and using its teeth on it. 



The perceptive faculties of the Hamster' seem to 

 be developed pretty uniformly;' at least oiie does 

 not perceive any one of them to be specially keen. 

 Its intellectual endowments are not such as to makd 

 it a favorite of Man. The feeling of vicious pug- 

 nacity is exhibited by it to an extent unknown 

 among other Rodents of this size, with perhaps the 

 exception of Rats and Lemmings. At the slightest 

 provocation it assumes a defiant attitude, utters a 

 deep, hollow growl, grinds its teeth and opens and 

 shuts them with exceeding rapidity and violence. 

 Its. courage equals the violence of its temper. It 

 defends itself against any animal that attacks it as 

 long as it can. It often foils unskilled Dogs; only 

 the cleverest Terriers know how to seize it and then 

 to escape injury themselves they must almost in- 

 stantly shake it to death. , All Dogs detest the 

 Hamster nearly as much as the Hedgehog, because 

 it vexes them that they cannot force so small an 

 animal to acknowledge their supremacy. The Ham- 

 ster defends itself, not only against Dogs, but boldly 

 attacks Man even if the latter does not take the ini- 

 tiative in the combat. It happens not infrequently 

 that a person in quietly passing by a Hamster's bur- 

 row suddenly has the ferocious animal hanging from 

 his clothes by its teeth. It also flies at Horses, and 

 if a bird of prey lifts it from the ground it continues 

 to defend itself in the air. Once it has fastened 

 upon something it retains so firm a hold that it must 

 be killed before it lets go. 

 The Vicious Dis- It is easily understood that so viciqus 

 position of the an animal is not of a sociable disposi- 

 Harfister. tion. In captivity Hamsters seldom 

 live in peace with each other: old ones probably 

 never do. Young individuals, less than a year old, 

 agree somewhat better. I have kept three in a box 

 for some time; they never quarreled, but, on the con- 

 trary, huddled together in a quite friendly manner, 

 one usually sitting lipon the other. Y9ung'Harnsters 

 from different litters attack each other immediately, 

 however, and the fight is a deadly one. An amus- 

 ing spectacle is afforded when a Hamster is given a 

 Hedgehog as a companion. At first it looks with 

 curiosity at the queer looking animal, which pays no 

 attention to it, but calmly goes about its business. 

 The quiet is soon disturbed, however. The Hedge- 

 hog happens to come near its fellow-prisoner, an 

 angry growl greets it and the frightened creature 

 rolls up into a ball. Then the Hamster goes on an 

 exploring tour. It sniffs at the bristly ball and a 

 bloody nose teaches it an impressive lesson about 

 the formidable exterior of the Hedgehog. Fiercely 

 it pushes the ball away — alas ! the ,paw is also 

 wounded! Then it gnashes its tefeth iiiTa^e, hisses, 

 squeaks, jumps on the ball, hops down in anguish, 

 then tries to push the spiny mass with its back and 

 pricks its shoulder; its fury waxes hotter with every 

 fruitless effort to rid itself of the monster; it only 

 reaps new pricks in its feet and lips and finally, 



