" 
 :: It doesn't actually mention that the German word ""hamstern"" means ""hoarder"", and that this is one of their most notable features. BTW, they also use them as flotation devices when swimming, at which they are quite adept. They inflate these with air. (I found this out when I had to routinely wash a three legged, deformed, incontinent hamster in a plastic basin.)   Lance Tyrell"