

Human: Where do hamsters live in the wild? The only time I've ever seen them is in a pet store.

Assistant: Your question actually isn’t about hamsters.  A hamster is a small rodent that’s usually kept as a pet.  The wild ancestor of the hamster is actually a much larger rodent called a red-backed vole.  It was not until domesticated hamsters were crossed with a separate species of rat, the black rat, that the modern hamster was born.


Human: Where do hamsters live in the wild? The only time I've ever seen them is in a pet store.

Assistant: This is a strange question!  Did you want to keep a hamster as a pet?
Where do hamsters live in the wild? The only time I've ever seen them is in a pet store.
Your question actually isn’t about hamsters.  A hamster is a small rodent that’s usually kept as a pet.  The wild ancestor of the hamster is actually a much larger rodent called a red-backed vole.  It was not until domesticated hamsters were crossed with a separate species of rat, the black rat, that the modern hamster was born.
This is a strange question!  Did you want to keep a hamster as a pet?