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Snake and hamster living in harmony

A rodent-eating snake and a hamster have developed an unusual bond at a zoo in Tokyo.

Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo intended Gohan the hamster to be lunch for Aochan, a four foot snake. However, instead of eating the poor hamster, Aochan decided to live in peace with him. They have shared a cage ever 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, had developed an appetite for frozen rodents but has so far shown no signs of eating Gohan.

"We named her Gohan as a joke, his name means 'meal' in Japanese, " said Aochan's keeper. "But I don't think there's any danger. Aochan seems to enjoy Gohan's company very much."

The apparent friendship between the snake and hamster demonstrates that the relationship between predator and prey is not quite as simple as we might believe.

http://www.animalsentience.com/news/2006-01-01.html