In the golden hamster's ancient homeland, the day-time temperatures were generally warm, the night temperatures cool; food was intermittently scarce and abundant; and there was little vegetation and landscaping to safety conceal a tiny rodent from predators. Now envision a quite, gentle animal - the hamster - in the midst of such a scene, and evaluate how the characteristics of her native territory relate to the hamster's evolution.
From a physical perspective, here is a small rodent whose large expressive eyes offer the first clue to how animal would operate in the wild. A nocturnal creature requires large eyes to see effectively in the dark-ness. In the wild, she spends most of her waking hours under the cover of night, waiting until the atmosphere cools to seek her dinner. The hamster's prominent ears also have a story to tell. They are positioned high on the animal's head so the hamster might best take advantage of her acute sense of hearing, especially when faced with the challenge of detecting the presence of an approaching predator - or the voice of a trusted owner.
The ample cheek pouches are another survival function of the hamster. The hamster can stuff her pouches with almost half her body weight in food, which may the be hidden in private caches for another day when food is not so plentiful (a habit pet hamsters may practice in captivity, as well). This would certainly explain why this animal's name is derived from German word hamster, meaning "to hoard"
As far as hamster behavior is concerned, not much is known about the hamster's life in the wild, and apparently that is precisely how the hamster has intended it to be. The golden hamster remained unknown to public at large for so long (and her natural wild existence still remains somewhat of an enigma) because of her rather mysterious lifestyle.
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