Carleigh BakerJan 7, 2023
Cab
Scientists left a hamster wheel in the woods, and wild mice, frogs even slugs had a wild time running in it. #Science #Mice #Rodents #Hamster https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2014.0210
Wheel running in the wild | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

The importance of exercise for health and neurogenesis is becoming increasingly clear. Wheel running is often used in the laboratory for triggering enhanced activity levels, despite the common objection that this behaviour is an artefact of captivity and ...

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Jan 6, 2023 at 10:04amWeb
Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
I should point out that our hamster, the latest in a line of pet hamsters stretching back decades, has a palatial residence with miles of chambers, tubes, pods, cages and burrows. And like all other hamsters she STILL loves her wheels. Escaped twice, first time emptied her treats box and took them all home, second time trapper herself in the recycling bin. She's happy at home, and loves to come out and play with us.
Show threadEmmaMJan 6, 2023
@cabd
I love this study!
Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
@EmmaM Makes me want to leave a hamster wheel in the local woods.
Show threadEmmaMJan 6, 2023
@cabd
Wonder if it will start a trend!
Show threadAlison CreeksideJan 7, 2023
@cabd @EmmaM Do it!
Show threadRuth MottramJan 6, 2023
@cabd beautiful study - and surely a shoo-in for the #IgNobelPrize this year?
Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
@Ruth_Mottram Sadly it's quite an old study.
Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
@Ruth_Mottram ...although obviously you mean shrew-in...
Show threadCoolJojo 😄Jan 6, 2023
@cabd @Ruth_Mottram haha! Such a cool experiment! Thanks for sharing 👍
Show threadbruttlJan 6, 2023

@cabd

a) The linked article is worth visiting for the field experiment pictures alone, thank you!

b) This explains. SO. MUCH.

Show threadMarc MoskowitzJan 6, 2023
@bruttl @cabd If you click the "Supplemental Material" item on the left there are videos.
Show threadAlison CreeksideJan 7, 2023
@bruttl @cabd
;-)
Show threadSusanne GöttkerJan 6, 2023
@cabd
A slug having a wild time in a hamster wheel ... 😊
Show threadRyan PetersJan 6, 2023
@cabd I'm impressed that slugs came in at the #2 slot
Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
@ryan I do wonder whether they're picking up their own slime trails and following 'another' snail of the same type. That'd be a pretty sluggy thing to do. They're surprising creatures, from a behavioural point of view, but they're far from smart!
Show threadOliverCJan 6, 2023
@cabd Clearly there is an opportunity here: scatter hamster wheels in the wild; hook each of them up to a dynamo; wire the dynamos to the grid. No more fossil fuels needed!
Show threadAlex, the Hearth FireJan 6, 2023

@cabd okay, now how do we get adult humans to start thinking of exercise as play and not work

Recess for grownups anybody? I'll bring the chalk if you bring the kickball

Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
@WizardOfDocs Ain't that a question of the ages. It's weird, why are we meant to want to -not- enjoy activity as we get older? I haven't got answers to that.
Show threadAlex, the Hearth FireJan 6, 2023
@cabd I blame the Victorians and industrial capitalism
Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
@WizardOfDocs Maybe, I dunno. Lots of old pub games, urban and rural sports, etc. have been effectively lost -since- then though. I wonder if we'd play more if we didn't have TV. Indeed I wonder if 'gaming' has replaced 'playing' in the lives of many.
Show threadAlex, the Hearth FireJan 6, 2023

@cabd I reject this distinction between gaming and play

but I can't deny how much less legwork we're doing for fun

Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
@WizardOfDocs In many ways 'gaming' is 'play'. But it's not physical like running in a hamster wheel, which is the point here I think.
Show threadPamWingedHorseJan 6, 2023
@cabd All animals love to play. 😍
Show threadRev. Watt deFalk, O.C.D.Jan 6, 2023
@cabd Zark me but I have never experienced a more cheerful and willing spasm of clickbaititis than reading of a wild slug in a hamster wheel. Alas, aside from its breifest mention near the abstract's beginning, my desire for lascivious details of the slug's method of propelling the wheel remain unsatisfied and I must be continent with my imagination uneducated in limacidaian anatomy, along with the accuracy of its metaphor for my life accomplishments.
Show threadCabJan 6, 2023
@wattdefalk Well someone just shared this with me. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=U32BwQau1UI
Fireshonks der RemoteRheinRuhrStage

YouTube
Show threadRev. Watt deFalk, O.C.D.Jan 6, 2023
@cabd Thank you!
I heartily recommend to all to drag the cursor forward from 7:02 for maximum pleasure.
Show threadBrent, in a jarJan 6, 2023
@cabd I hope @jeffvandermeer makes note of this. It seems to be more popular than his racoon trampoline!
Show threadkravietz 🦇Jan 6, 2023
@cabd

> snail

🙄

@vfrmedia
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJan 6, 2023

@kravietz @cabd

according to the full text, the snails seemed to struggle to get the hang of using the wheel (going back and forth in different directions), but the slugs worked it out (it was also quite popular with frogs)

Show threadRozzychanJan 11, 2023

@vfrmedia @kravietz @cabd

Where are the videos?
I wanna see those snails.

Actually, they should try putting a human sized one up near a jogging path. How many people would try it?

Show threadCabJan 11, 2023
@Rozzychan @vfrmedia @kravietz to the left of the main text is a column where you'll find 'supplemental material'. Alas, while there are videos with a mouse, a frog and a snail, there isn't footage of a snail there.
Show threadFionnáinJan 6, 2023
@cabd this is amazing, thank you for sharing.
Show threadsue_beyerJan 6, 2023
@cabd cool study!
Show threadCalvin JonesJan 7, 2023
@cabd this makes me happy.
Show threadTim JJan 8, 2023
@cabd I felt the slug version was a bit sedate to be called running, even though it looked as if it might be enjoying itself . . . Positively sluggish in fact.
Show threadCabJan 8, 2023
@timtfj Watching the videos in the supplemental information, it seems to be the frog who struggles most. Hopping mad, from the look of him.
Show threadTim JJan 8, 2023
@cabd Designing a running wheel just for mammals isn't very inclusive, is it? Nobody ever consults the amphibians . . .
Show threadCabJan 8, 2023
@timtfj It's toadally unpredictable that they'd want to use it. I mean, who'd newt?
Show threadJames WagnerJan 8, 2023
@cabd "..note that birds visited the recording equipment occasionally, but never ran in wheels."
Show threadpermacultureandpoliticsJan 9, 2023
@cabd i always assumed rodents looked at their wheels like we look at treadmills… pointless exercise to do when you’re bored. Inspiring that they (and the frog and slug) exercise just to exercise!
Show threadDr Grace PengJan 9, 2023
@cabd this had me hooting Of these, only the snails caused haphazard rather than directional movement of the wheel and were therefore excluded from the analysis