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European Hamsters face new crisis
#1
The European Great Hamster is very much an endangered species. Human encroachment of their habitat is the real problem. Still there is food from human farms. That should help, but humans tend to plant all of one crop. Right now hamsters are eating a mostly corn diet and ending up with vitamin deficiencies.

They tested out the diet issues with captive colonies. The hamsters are deficient in B vitamins and develop problems similar to the human deficiency known as Pellagra.

"Vitamin B3 deficiency has been linked to ‘black-tongue’ syndrome in dogs, and a condition in humans called pellagra, also known as the “3-D” disease: diarrhea, dementia and dermatitis, such as eczema."

Hamsters suffering this condition eat their young.

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&ur...OcA5Vn1X8A

This is an example of how our interference in ecosystems is having consequences we never considered.
We forget how very important biodiversity is. We think it just means having lots of different stuff in an ecosystem. Ecosystems are a delicate balance between species. We are seeing consequences in the hamsters right now, but what else will be effected. What part of the system is dependent on the hamsters and will suffer if their numbers decline.

The hamsters might be a warning to us that we have made yet another mess of things.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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#2
Intensive farming, the way it usually works, never did anybody any good. I hope a solution can be found to help the biodiversity and give the Hamsters a chance. As they are an endangered species, let's hope that happens soon!
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#3
It is tragic. I live in western France, but over the past 18 years I have seen the difference in farming methods. France used to be much more traditional in its methods, with smaller farms and a range of crops and animals. But over the years, older farmers have retired and their lands have been bought up by other farms. Thus farms have got progressively bigger and bigger. Hedgerows have been cut down, to make way for massive maize prairies.

In western France there are still quite a lot of smaller traditional farms, but they are also disappearing gradually. A sad story....

The poor European great hamster is an innocent victim of so-called "progress". Sadly, I fear that it will not be the only species to suffer from modern farming methods.
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#4
Corn (Maize) is in everything! More items than one would imagine.
There is a person on another forum I go to, and she is allergic to corn. I read how difficult it is for her to find foods without corn!
Now why? Because of the starch? Starch can be found in alternative vegetables...a whole range of vegetables.
Some corn will be good for most of us but not all the time, in everything! And for those who have an allergy....they haven't got much of a hope with any commercial foods.

It is also predominant in many pet foods. Read the labels. You will find CORN!
Now a little bit is okay for dogs (so long as it isn't genetically-modified) But not the bulk of their food. And for dogs if it is fed to them occasionally, it must be broken up, otherwise it comes out the other end exactly the same as it went in! And can make their bellies very upset.

And for cats it is just a cheap filler, does them NO GOOD at all. As obligate carnivores, and exclusively carnivores, cats should not be eating corn! So what are we doing feeding cats food with corn to bulk it out?

So why do we need so much corn to the exclusion of everything else?
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#5
They also turn corn into corn syrup. Just look how many things are sweetened with corn syrup. It is a form of sugar that is very bad for us.  It is probably a major contributor to the diabetes epidemic.

Corn starch was never meant to be eaten in quantities, not by us and not by our pets.

The hamster crisis may be a bit of a warning to us all.

We certainly haven't learned anything about farming. Whenever we get into vast tracts of monoculture farming it seems to work at first then problems arise. Soils get depleted by the same crop over and over. Lack of hedge rows and wooded areas invites drought or flooding damage. Areas of wild plants help stabilize the soil. Also if some blight attacks the corn crop it will  spread and  everything will go.

I doubt they have enough sense to plant different kinds of corn.

It is an agricultural disaster in the making.
It is a dietary disaster in the making.
Hamsters are the first casualty. If we would listen to them and help them we would also be helping ourselves.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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#6
They also turn corn into corn syrup. Just look how many things are sweetened with corn syrup. It is a form of sugar that is very bad for us.  It is probably a major contributor to the diabetes epidemic.

Corn starch was never meant to be eaten in quantities, not by us and not by our pets.

The hamster crisis may be a bit of a warning to us all.

We certainly haven't learned anything about farming. Whenever we get into vast tracts of monoculture farming it seems to work at first then problems arise. Soils get depleted by the same crop over and over. Lack of hedge rows and wooded areas invites drought or flooding damage. Areas of wild plants help stabilize the soil. Also if some blight attacks the corn crop it will  spread and  everything will go.

I doubt they have enough sense to plant different kinds of corn.

It is an agricultural disaster in the making.
It is a dietary disaster in the making.
Hamsters are the first casualty. If we would listen to them and help them we would also be helping ourselves.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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