France Faces Stiff Fines for Great Hamster Headache

Sometimes, the littlest of things can be the biggest of headaches. Such is the case with the Great Hamster of Alsace, which, if unprotected, could cost France more than a bit of a hit in the country treasury.

No less an authority than the Court of Justice, the highest court in the European Union, has handed an opinion that France has failed to protect this hamster, of which only 800 remain on the planet. Since 1993, laws have mandated the protection of this little rodent, the unwitting target of French roading projects and changes in French crop rotations. (The hamster has an affinity for alfalfa, but French farmers in the Alsace region have switched to corn, which is not available when the master awakens from its winterlong slumber.)

Have a look at the photo. The hamster is, for its species, great because it can grow up to 10 inches long. It's a bit special in that its belly is black while its paws are white. Many people would take one look at that brown-and-white face and black belly and say something like, "Ah, how cute!"

You can't blame the farmers, really, because they think of the wee beastie as a pest. The French farmers were generally good at poisoning or trapping the hamsters several years ago. You could probably forgive the French farmers as well because even though the masters exist in Western Europe only in Alsace, they exist in greater numbers in Eastern Europe and in Central Asia.

Tell that to the Court of Justice.

The amount of the fines mandated by the court's judgement could approach $25 million, if France's agriculture policies remain unchanged. That's a lot of cash to spend to say that a pest has been eradicated.

Think it's a joke? Read the opinion here.