Hamster Across America - What's This?

The Question

How far does our hamster run each day? One night, we began pondering this simple question. This discussion soon devolved into the grander question: If she ran east starting from San Francisco, would she make it across the continental United States in her lifetime?

The Hypothesis

Hamsters run a couple of miles a day and Syrian Hamsters (like Lizzie) live approximately 2.5 - 3 years. A trip across the US is approximately 3000 miles coast to coast. At this rate, she only needed to run 2.5 miles a day which is definitely possible!

The Experiment

We decided that we should try and track how far she runs to test this hypothesis. After giving it a little thought, we figured we had the resource to put something like this together. That night Max registered HamsterAcrossAmerica.com and over the next couple of months we created this site in our free time.

The Conclusion

We don't know yet! Check back often and follow her progress on the blog to find if she can do it!

Answers

1. Who is Lizzie and is she real?

Lizzie is a banded Syrian hamster, and she is most definitely real. The sound of her running in her wheel keeps Steph up at night.

2. Who are you?

We are three roomates living and working in the Silicon Valley area . Tommy Nourse and Steph Lee created this site with some help on the idea and seed investment from Max Etchemendy (he bought the domain name).

3. Isn't it cruel to make your hamster run such a long distance?

Actually, no. Hamsters evolved in environments in which they had to run great distances every night to forage for food. They have been known to run distances of over 10 miles in a single night. Though their domesticated cousins don't have to travel quite so far to find their food, they still have a very strong instinct to run. An exercise wheel is not a luxury but a necessity for a hamster. Lack of regular exercise will result in a significant decrease in the quality of life of a hamster and can eventually cause physical disabilities due to muscle atrophy.

4. Is Lizzie actually running across the United States?

Not quite ... not only is that extremely impractical, but probably also dangerous for Lizzie and us! In reality, Lizzie is running on the exercise wheel in her cage, safe and sound in our house.

5. How are you measuring Lizzie's distance and speed?

We count revolutions of Lizzie's wheel and multiply by the circumferance of the wheel to get the distance. To get the speed we measure the time it takes to make one revolution and then divide by the distance. To count revolutions we put a magnet on the wheel like this one. We then attached a magnetically activated switch (a reed switch) to the stand so that each time the wheel rotates the switch is triggered. The state of the switch is then read by a computer through a serial port which updates the website as Lizzie runs. For a more detailed description see Question 6.

6. How can I set up my own hamster wheel tracker?

Since we've received this question so many times we've write a well documented step by step guide called Track How Far Your Hamster Runs showing you how. We've used a site called "Instructables" that allows people to share how to's just like this. Our guide was even featured on the main page of the site! Feel free to post comments on the Instructable or bug Tommy if you have any questions or suggestions.

7. Why doesn't she run during the day?

Hamsters are nocturnal animals, so they are only really active at night. Lizzie sleeps through most of the day.

8. Why are there gaps in the data at night?

Woh, calm down there. Just like any other animal, you can't expect Lizzie to run continuously. She likes to take frequent breaks to eat, drink and nap. Also, the data does not include her activity when we take her out of her cage to play, put her in her hamster ball or remove her exercise wheel from her cage during cleaning.

9. Why doesn't Lizzie run straight across the USA? Wouldn't that be faster?

As it turns out, the direct route across the United States is a little boring. To liven things up a bit we decided to send Lizzie through a variety of interesting landmarks, attractions, and cities. Take a look at they places she's been before. Can you guess where she's heading next?

10. What do you do with the money you make from the merchandise?

We strongly believe in the need to protect animals from cruelty and neglect and find them loving, responsible owners who can provide them with good homes. A few of us have also saved animals from our local shelter. Therefore, 100% of the royalties we earn from selling Hamster Across America merchandise is donated directly to the Humane Society of the United States.

11. I have more questions, how can I contact you?

You can ask any additional questions at questions@hamsteracrossamerica.com. Want more graphs? Have an idea for the site? Think our methods suck? Let us know! This is a work in progress and we'd love to hear your feedback.