contemplations on scrabbles

I have successfully kept my pet hamster, scrabbles, alive for about four months now (granted two of those Tom's mum was looking after her, never mind). What an accomplishment!

I was playing with her this evening, and realized, I really don't understand hamsters. They run and run and run constantly. From one hand to the other to the other. You let her free for a second, she rapidly scrabbles away, catch her, move her to starting point and there she goes again, Repeatedly. Where is trying to go? What is she looking for? She can't possibly just be scavenging for food can she? Are hamsters just A.D.D. and incapable of sitting still? At times I really do wish she would just sit in my hand cuddling as I watch telly, should have got a cat.

Really though, do they possess any ability for cognitive thought? Every now and then she will pause, look up for a second, then carry on. It is obvious she was thinking something, but what? And they can hear, but what do their thoughts sound like? squeaks?

Can they really stay entertained running around and around a cage all day? I think she truly is. She knows where her food is, so when hungry she must think, "my tummy is rumbling let me go look in my food bowl (fridge) and see if anything is there" (just like a human). But what else could a hamster think about... maybe, "man my legs that seem to small to support my body are tired I can't wait for the sun to come up so I can go burrow in my home and rest."

Humm, would it be worth it to spend a day as a hamster????

love