So, when a hamster rolls in its little hamster wheel inside its cage, does it think it’s getting anywhere?
I used to think not. I gave them the benifit of the doubt. But then I actually got a hamster and noticed a few things. For one thing, it seems to stop periodically specifically for the purpose of checking out its surroundings, to see where it is. For another thing, quite often if it runs in the wheel in one direction for a while, it will then turn around and go back in the opposite direction for a while.
So these could be interpreted either way, right? Well, so can this: One day, I was being mean to my hamster. (Not cruel, just mean.) I made a loud noise to get its attention, which ended up being much louder than I thought it would be, and scared the bejeezers out of the little guy. His reaction? He froze for a second, then scampered all the way to the other side of his cage, jumped into his little wheel, and ran as fast as he could for several seconds. Then he stopped and looked around, as though to see if the coast were clear. Then he got out and went about his business.
So, I could be totally anthropomorphizing - but it sure seemed like he thought he was running far away from where he had been to get away from the scary loud noise. Which would mean he thought he was actually going somewhere when he ran in his wheel.
Any research been done on this? Do hamsters understand the concept of the hamster wheel, or do they actually think it goes somewhere?
I don’t know of any scientific studies, but my wife’s hamster seems to understand his wheel is just for exercise. When he is through running, he goes straight to his water bottle and then his food dish for a snack. No looking around, just straight to it. I wonder if I could move his stuff around and make him think he went somewhere? Nah, my wife would be pissed if I screwed with his little rodent mind like that…he’s her baby.
I had a gerbil once who, in addition to having a wheel in his cage, also had a rodent run-around-ball, and free range through the house (both enclosed in the ball and on his own four little paws). He had a pretty clear understanding, if that’s what you want to call it, that if he wanted to get anywhere, he needed to do so out of the cage. He just ran on the wheel to torment the cats and keep me awake at night.
A friend’s fully enclosed hamster would run on his wheel, then look around for just a second before dismounting. I think it was less to orient himself to his new position than to give his balancing mechanism time to re-orient itself to standing still.
Er, how would you “do research” on this, anyway? How would you ask a hamster, “Excuse me, but do you have any sort of clue that you’re really just a helpless pawn in the machinery of the whole Western industrial complex, that you are allowed to exist only for the amusement of the spoiled and idle wealthy of the Western nations?”
[Diana Ross voice]
[Do you know… where you’re going to…
Do you like the things that life is showing you…
Where are you going to, …do you know…]
Hamsters are very different from gerbils, but this at least debunks the idea that you can’t investigate this scientifically. About 30 years ago, a study was performed on gerbils to investigate their wheel-running behavior:
If “wild” hamsters in flight mode exhibit behavior which is similar to a caged hamster “escaping” on a wheel, it might be reasonable to conclude that the hamster thinks it’s running away from danger. I don’t think you’d have any trouble setting up a scientifically valid study. I couldn’t find any evidence on the internet of such a study for anything other than gerbils.
Interestingly, hamster wheel-running is so reliable and predictable, that the activity is used in experiments involving biological timing, circadian rhythms and such. I can’t believe that some bored scientist somewhere hasn’t thought to himself - “I wonder what the little critter thinks he’s doing?”
