A snake has (allegedly) befriended a hamster that was put in its enclosure for it to eat, according to reports from a Tokyo zoo. [Update: I just noticed that this story is from 2006; somehow I came across it today and took it to be new. No matter!]
Their relationship began in October last year, when zookeepers presented the hamster to the snake as a meal.
The rat snake, however, refused to eat the rodent. The two now share a cage, and the hamster sometimes falls asleep sitting on top of his natural foe.
[…]The hamster was initially offered to Aochan, the two-year-old rat snake, because it was refusing to eat frozen mice.
[…]The apparent friendship between the snake and hamster is one of many reported bonds spanning the divide between predator and prey.
Really? Continue reading “And the snake shall lie down with the hamster …”