Hamster, Snake Best Friends at Tokyo Zoo

http://www.comcast.net/news ^ | 1 18 05 | Associated Press

[freepatriot32]

TOKYO - Gohan and Aochan make strange bedfellows: one's a 3.5-inch dwarf hamster; the other is a 120 yard-long rat snake. Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo presented the hamster _ whose name means "meal" in Japanese _ to Aochan as a tasty morsel in October, after the snake refused to eat frozen mice.

But instead of indulging, Aochan decided to make friends with the furry rodent, according to keeper Kazuya Yamamoto. The pair have shared a cage since.

"I've never seen anything like it. Gohan sometimes even climbs onto Aochan to take a nap on his back," Yamamoto said.

Aochan, a 2-year-old male Japanese rat snake, eventually developed an appetite for frozen rodents but has so far shown no signs of gobbling up Gohan _ despite her name.

"We named her Gohan as a joke," Yamamoto chuckled. "But I don't think there's any danger. Aochan seems to enjoy Gohan's company very much."

The Tokyo zoo also keeps a range of mostly livestock animals, and promotes "cross-breed interaction," according to Yamamoto.

But Gohan and Aochan's case was "was a complete accident," Yamamoto said.

[freepatriot32]

Hamster named Gohan, right, and snake Aochan live togther in a cardboard box at Mutsugoro Okoku zoo, outskirts of Tokyo, in this January 14, 2006 photo. Gohan and Aochan make strange bedfellows: one's a 9 centimeter dwarf hamster; the other is a 120 centimeter-long (yard-long) ratsnake. Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo presented the hamster _ whose name means "meal" in Japanese _ to Aochan as a tasty morsel in October, after the snake refused to eat frozen mice. But instead of indulging, Aochan decided to make friends with the furry rodent, according to keeper Kazuya Yamamoto. The pair have shared a cage since. (AP Photo/Mutsugoro Okoku Zoo, Kyota Nomura)

[mlc9852]

What a cute story!

[Lekker 1]

a 120 yard-long rat snake

Sumpin' ain't right here.

[orionblamblam]

> a 120 yard-long rat snake

HOLY CRAP!!!

[johniegrad]

DemocRATS make a pact with Satan.

[thoughtomator]

Yard, centimeter, what's the difference?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Alls well until the snake gets hungry.

[Diddle E. Squat]

the other is a 120 yard-long rat snake.

!

[mlc9852]

That's what my husband used to say....

[When do we get liberated?]

ask your wife.

[Campion]

The definition of "living on borrowed time" is a hamster sharing a cage with a snake.

[SJSAMPLE]

Three months and ONE missed meal will put a real test to that "friendship'.

[Calm_Cool_and_Elected]

The only good snake is a dead snake.........

CC&E

[-YYZ-]

Yeah, but 120 cm is more like 4 ft than a yard.

[skinkinthegrass]

..as long as the snake is well fed...the hamster is not, in danger/prey.
Live prey can injure (mouth rot) a snake's mouth.

[Lekker 1]

Yard, centimeter, what's the difference?

Yeah...that's what I keep trying to convince my wife of. She has the damndest idea of how long 8-1/2" is.

[EricT.]

It will cease being cute when the rat snake gets a little bigger and hungrier. Snakes are very simple animals and will eat....eventually.

[saveliberty]

:-) Um. I think that the rodent will be someone's dinner soon.

[popdonnelly]

They should have named the hamster Liberal.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

The snake is preparing to moult, note the milky eyes. It will likely get hungry again, really soon!