Other forms: hamsters
A hamster is a furry little rodent that's sometimes kept as a pet in North America. Unlike gerbils and mice, which have long tails, hamsters have stubby tails and cheek pouches for storing food.
In the wild, hamsters don't just use their cheeks for carrying food — they also fill them with air in order to float in the water. If you've ever kept a pet hamster, it may be strange to imagine them as wild animals, but most of these nocturnal rodents aren't domesticated. Before the adoption of the German name Hamster, the English word for these cute little animals was German rat.