Haha, silly little ham. I would say scent marking too. I've had a female who got very silly when she was in heat, rushing around the place, digging and wiffling.
Whatever I thought, it must have been attractive in the hamster world. My normally lazy and placid male, who lived on the other side of the room, would be literally monkey-barring across the top of the cage. Don't know how he did it, he was a chubby chap.
He did have her in the end, although he made a right muppet of himself lol.