Hamsters Get Winter Blues, Researchers Find

THE INDY CHANNEL ^ | 01-10-2006 | AP

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Scientists Trying Prozac To Cure Depression

POSTED: 11:06 am EST January 10, 2006

Even hamsters get the blues.

Researchers at Ohio State University say they've done a study suggesting the rodents may get depressed during the winter, just as many humans do.

They say their findings also seem to show that winter's darker days can weaken the immune system, explaining why illnesses such as the flu occur more often at this time of year.

In the study, some hamsters were exposed to 16 hours of light per day, others to just eight hours. After about two months, the researchers found the hamsters that spent less time in the light ate less and appeared more anxious.

As the study continues, student lab assistants are trying to treat the depressed hamsters with Prozac.

[sully777]

Just don't tell Lemmiwinks.

[Lorianne]

My daughter's hamsters escaped one winter and entered the heating system ducts and became mummified. Nice smell.

[ncountylee]

How about gerbils in San Franscico?

[FearlessFreep]

What about gerbils?

[phoenix0468]

THey are perpetually depressed.

[ncountylee]

What about gerbils?

Do they get depressed?

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

My daughter's hamsters escaped one winter and entered the heating system ducts and became mummified.

We had the same thing with one of our very white, long-hair hamsters. I called him the "escape artist" given his various attempts to get out of his cage. I quietly called him "Roast Fluffy" after I realized what had happened the last time we saw him! ;-)

[thoughtomator]

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

That one pictured in this .jpg is the spitting image of Fluffy!

[FearlessFreep]

Do they get depressed?

----

Probably decompressed.

[sully777]

http://www.southparkstudios.com/downloads/display_image.php?img=http://images.southparkstudios.com/media/images/614/614_image_16.jpg&img_name=Lemmiwinks%20journeys%20though%20the%20intestines&tab=30

[ncountylee]

Or impressed?

[spiffy]

My daughter's hamsters escaped one winter and entered the heating system ducts and became mummified. Nice smell.

My dog once knocked my hamster's cage in a lake. I jumped in after the little furry fella and revived him using CPR that I had learned in the Navy.

[Recovering Hermit]

I still have not located one of my daughter's dwarf hamsters that escaped over a year ago, but I have dogs that'll eat just about anything.

[Paleo Conservative]

Do they get depressed?

They don't get enough sunlight.

[Cicero]

Watch out. Hamsters on Prozac today, hamsters with guns tomorrow. Our schools will be turned into shooting galleries.

[Minnesoootan]

snort!

[BluH2o]

Drab gray Ohio winter weather will depress anyone. It's not unusual to go for a week or more and not see the sun. The weather is not unusually cold, just drab & dreary. In fact, unusually cold weather typically is the result of a CDN cold front which brings clear sunny conditions ... much preferred in spite of the cold.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Do they gere up for cold weather?