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Hamster, Snake Best Friends at Tokyo Zoo
http://www.comcast.net/news ^
| 1 18 05
| Associated Press
Posted on 01/18/2006 10:03:24 AM PST by 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.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Japan; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: at; best; friends; hamster; japan; petalist; snake; tokyo; zoo
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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)
To: freepatriot32
2
posted on
01/18/2006 10:04:48 AM PST
by
mlc9852
To: freepatriot32
a 120 yard-long rat snakeSumpin' ain't right here.
3
posted on
01/18/2006 10:05:52 AM PST
by
Lekker 1
("Computers in the future may have only 1000 vacuum tubes..." - Popular Mechanics, March 1949)
To: freepatriot32
> a 120 yard-long rat snake
HOLY CRAP!!!
4
posted on
01/18/2006 10:05:58 AM PST
by
orionblamblam
(A furore Normannorum libra nos, Domine)
To: freepatriot32
DemocRATS make a pact with Satan.
To: Lekker 1
Yard, centimeter, what's the difference?
To: freepatriot32
Alls well until the snake gets hungry.
7
posted on
01/18/2006 10:08:26 AM PST
by
Blood of Tyrants
(G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
To: freepatriot32
the other is a 120 yard-long rat snake.!
8
posted on
01/18/2006 10:09:29 AM PST
by
Diddle E. Squat
(“I shot the SHERiff....I shot the sherRIFFFF....I SHOT the sheriff....I shot THE sheriff...”)
To: thoughtomator
That's what my husband used to say....
9
posted on
01/18/2006 10:09:51 AM PST
by
mlc9852
To: thoughtomator
To: Blood of Tyrants
The definition of "living on borrowed time" is a hamster sharing a cage with a snake.
11
posted on
01/18/2006 10:11:01 AM PST
by
Campion
("I am so tired of you, liberal church in America" -- Mother Angelica, 1993)
To: Campion
Three months and ONE missed meal will put a real test to that "friendship'.
12
posted on
01/18/2006 10:12:10 AM PST
by
SJSAMPLE
To: freepatriot32
The only good snake is a dead snake.........
CC&E
To: thoughtomator
Yeah, but 120 cm is more like 4 ft than a yard.
14
posted on
01/18/2006 10:13:08 AM PST
by
-YYZ-
To: freepatriot32
..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.
15
posted on
01/18/2006 10:15:08 AM PST
by
skinkinthegrass
(Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :^)
To: thoughtomator
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.
16
posted on
01/18/2006 10:15:42 AM PST
by
Lekker 1
("Computers in the future may have only 1000 vacuum tubes..." - Popular Mechanics, March 1949)
To: mlc9852
It will cease being cute when the rat snake gets a little bigger and hungrier. Snakes are very simple animals and will eat....eventually.
17
posted on
01/18/2006 10:15:52 AM PST
by
EricT.
(Join the Soylent Green Party. We recycle dead environmentalists....Thanx to Kenny Blankenship!)
To: mlc9852
:-) Um. I think that the rodent will be someone's dinner soon.
18
posted on
01/18/2006 10:17:01 AM PST
by
saveliberty
(Proud to be Head Snowflake, Bushbot and a new member of Sam's Club)
To: freepatriot32
They should have named the hamster Liberal.
To: freepatriot32
The snake is preparing to moult, note the milky eyes. It will likely get hungry again, really soon!
20
posted on
01/18/2006 10:19:23 AM PST
by
SWAMPSNIPER
(MAY I DIE ON MY FEET IN MY SWAMP)
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