Hunting Wild Hamsters

Domesticated hamsters, meaning those in pet stores and research labs, appeared to be highly inbred, coming from siblings originally captured in 1930. In 1971 Michael R. Murphy and his wife Janet were the first to bring back to the U.S. live wild hamsters since 1930. The resulting colony of wild hamsters was essential to certain new scientific findings. The couple visited London, the American University of Beirut, and several ancient, historical, and archaeological sites in Lebanon and Syria. They interacted with many influential people there, as well as farmers in the outlying area where hamsters could be found. This interesting autobiographical travelogue documents their expedition.