Could a hamster survive in the wild in UK?

[lisab]

I would say no way. If they can die of cold in a cage in a house then all it would take was a cold night. not to metion the lack of food and water, and cats.

[fsrv]

I agree with Lisab, even if a hamster would survive the predators, it wouldn't be able to survive the cold.

[alli624]

I'd say no they can't live in the wild either x

[souffle]

If they can avoid predators and find enough food they can survive but only during summer. I knew someone who had an escape of a LH cream and they lived on the edge of a wheat field. He was found after several weeks living wild, very dirty but still alive and fed. The wheat was ready so he was getting enough food. They think he'd slept under a shed!

[Hope]

We dont have European Hamsters in this country, not in the wild anyway, as FM says there are probably some in captivity.

This is interesting actually, I wouldh ave said no, due to predidtors cold etc, and also that they are not used to finding for themselves, Boris wouldnt last 5 minutes, he thinks treats come down from a big hand in the sky!

Souffle, amazing that the hammy survived for so long, on the edge of a field there would have been a good food supply, but also more risk of preditors I would have thought, such as foxes and birds, amazing that he was found again!

[Tammy22]

Hiya Guys,

Sadly i have had both syrians and robos escape here over the years. 2 Syrians have found their way outside and have never been seen again but i have had two groups of robos also escape (both sets chewed out of bins) and both of these were found a number of days later living outside in and around our barns and stables.

We have german shepherds, foxes, rats and birds of prey around here and these tiny little robos survived for days outside! They were very dirty when found but due to us having chickens, pigeons, guinea pigs and rabbits they found plenty to eat and hadnt lost any weight!!

I cant remember where i read it but i have heard of a hamster that was buried when it had hibernated and was thought dead, which woke up in the spring and dug it's way out after spending all winter under the ground!!

I think that with a constant supply of food and shelter they could survive perfectly well if they learned to avoid predators well enough.

European Hamsters would definitely be capable of living over here in the wild due them already surviving in the cold winters of hungary, belgium and russia, and already knowing how to avoid and protect themselves from predators.

but, i really hope not! as i have recently read about a new law coming out that prevents animals from being kept in captivity if they would be capable of living in the wild over here!

I will try to find out the details and post them here.

Tammy x