Aochan,a rat snake, would be expected to make a meal of a hamster but instead left it alone. The hamster does not seem afraid of his reptile chum and often sleeps on top of Aochan. At first the keepers thought there might be something wrong with the snake, or that he would eat the hamster in time – but the two remained companions for several months. They became an attraction at the zoo, and the lucky hamster was called Gohan by his keepers, meaning ‘Meal.’