Carol Ann Ryan, age , of Sioux City, Ia., for her question:
Can hamsters see in the dark?
The hamster is one of the most charming little pets in the world, but he has one very bad habit. He loves to dig holes in the cushions and furniture and hide his extra snacks in the stuffing. Another thing, the hamster likes to sleep by day and play by night. You must stay up late if you want to enjoy his Merry games, and this is not good for a young lady's complexion.
The pet hamster is Very different from his cousins who raid the farmlands of the Old World. The soft little bundle of silken fur is only half as big as his wild cousins. But what he lacks in size, he makes up in charm and character. He is a polite and friendly little fellow., not given to scrappy fights. His wild relatives are blood thirsty rascals, mean and bad tempered and always ready to bite.
By nature., all hamsters are burrowing animals. And by nature, all of them doze by day and gad about during the night. The eagle who sleeps at night has very sharp eyes for seeing in the daylight. The cat takes cat naps and goes for short prowls during the day and the night. Her eyes can see well in the daylight and can change themselves to see things by the dim light of the stars.
The small., bright eyes of a hamster are not very sharp in the daylight or at night. He cannot See colors, and his world looks like a blur of hazy patches of light and dark grays. He can see black and white, but even if he could read he could not read the fine print. The little cutie can never see small details in the Scenery.
No animal can see in total darkness, not even the sharp eyed cat. At night, the special eyes of Miss Puss make the dark patches darker and the light patches lighter. Hut she needs a little light to see the different shades in the first place.
The little hamster does not have special eyes of this kind. He sees only dimly in the daytime and only dimly at night. If there is not a single ray of light, he cannot see at all. He is color blind., and if the only light comes from a red lamp, he cannot see anything at all. But the little cutie makes up for his poor eyesight with his very sharp ears and his very sharp nose.
The eyes of an animal warn him, of danger. But his eyes do not have to be very sharp to do this. Even Poor eyes can spot a moving shadow, and a moving enemy is a dangerous one. A hamster becomes alert when he sees a moving object. His eyes can warn him of a prowling enemy, even though he cannot See the clear outlines of his foe.