Mark Tucker, age 9, of Chattanooga, Tenn., for his question:

BOW MANY BABIES WILL A HAMSTER HAVE?

A hamster is a short tailed, chunky rodent that has a thick, soft fur. Many people keep the pleasant little animal as a pet. A female hamster may bear several times each year and have from five to twelve babies in each litter.

A hamster has a large pouch inside each cheek which is used for carrying food, nest materials or even baby hamsters.

The common hamster is about half the size of a rabbit. In the wilds, it stores food for the winter in burrows that are underground. Some of the little animals pack away as much as 200 pounds of grain or potatoes.

The most popular pet is the golden hamster, which is a native of Syria. It is extremely clean and easy to tame. In 1930, a family of golden hamsters was discovered in Syria and it was raised in a laboratory in Israel. All hamsters now raised in the laboratories of Europe and the United States have come from this original golden hamster family.